Ice Age Floods Institute

Quincy Basin Field Trip
2025-10-11 09:00 - 16:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Othello Lions Park, 815 East Fir Street, Othello, Washington, 99344
During the Missoula Floods the Quincy Basin was filled with flood waters mostly arriving through Grand Coulee and the Telford-Crab Creek Scabland Tract via Crab Creek. Some spillover from the Cheney-Palouse Scabland Tract also entered the basin through east-west coulees. The flood water drained out of the basin in four places that will be visited on this car Caravan Tour – Crater/Lynch Coulee, Potholes Coulee, Frenchman Coulee, and Drumheller Channels. Stops are also planned for Moses Lake, the Ephrata Fan, Soap Lake, Lower Moses Coulee, West Bar, and Babcock Bench.
FIELD TRIP REGISTRATION FORM
LIABILITY RELEASE FORM

Lake Wenatchee Area Field Trip - Cancelled (Again)
2025-10-05 10:00 - 16:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Lake Wenatchee State Park, 21588 SR 207, Leavenworth, WA, 98826, United States
Given the ongoing Lower Sugarloaf Fire situation and resulting poor air quality over the region, I am going to cancel the Lower Lake Wenatchee Area Field Trip planned for Sunday 5 October. The indefinite closure of US 97 over Blewett Pass has also entered into my decision as it affects those who would be travelling to the area from the south. I will try to offer this field trip sometime in Spring/Early Summer 2026. I apologize for any inconvenience this has caused you.
Retired CWU Geographer Karl Lillquist will lead a field trip to the lower Chiwawa River Valley near Plain, WA. Plan on gathering in the vicinity of Plain at about 10am. Quick description: Topics will center around alpine glaciation from various sources in the Eastern Cascades near the lower Lake Wenatchee Area. Trip will begin on the beach in the southern portion of Lake Wenatchee State Park (map).
Detailed schedule and the topics to be covered:

10:00 Stop 1—Lake Wenatchee State Park—Topics: Bedrock geology; weather & climate; Wenatchee River alpine glacier.
11:00 Depart
11:30 Stop 2—Northeast of Fish Lake —Topics: Fish Lake lobe of the Wenatchee River glacier; moraines & erratics; moraine-dammed lakes; Glacier Peak & Mt. St. Helens tephras.
12:15 Depart
12:45 Stop 3—Chiwawa River Valley Overlook—Topics: Chiwawa River alpine glacier; Mad River outlet glaciers; declining contemporary glaciers.
1:45 Depart
2:00 Stop 4—Meadow Creek Valley Overlook—Topics: Meadow Creek/Napeequa glaciers; Dirtyface Mountain cirques; Napeequa River capture by White River; moraine-dammed lakes.
2:45 Depart
3:15 Stop 5—Deep Creek at Morrow Meadow—Topics: Glacial meltwater, faulting, lateral valleys, and ice age lakes.
4:00 Depart for home

Logistics:

This trip is free and open to the public.
You will need a Discover Pass for Stop 1.
After Stop 1, we will drive on a mix of paved and good quality gravel forest roads. A Subaru-type AWD vehicles should do fine on the gravel roads.
I strongly encourage you to consider carpooling; parking will be limited at each of the stops and lengthy strings of automobiles can be unwieldy on narrow forest roads.
We will take short hikes at Stops 2, 3 and 4. By short, I mean 0.25 mi or less at each stop. The hiking terrain at Stops 3 and 4 will be fairly steep. Stops 2 and 4 will involve hiking off trail through recently logged areas.
No restroom or picnic facilities are available along our field trip route after Stop 1. Therefore, you will need to use the great outdoors if you need to go. Plan on eating lunch/snacks on the road or at the stops. There will not be a formal lunch stop.
Dogs and kids are fine to bring as long as they are well-behaved.
Dress for the weather. September weather here can be sunny and hot to rainy, windy & cool.
I will post a pdf of the field guide by 29 August on my CWU website at https://www.cwu.edu/academics/geography/_documents/karl-lillquist.php. Scroll down the page to “Field Guides”. You will find it under “Lower Lake Wenatchee Area”. Feel free to download and bring it on the field trip in digital format or print it out.
The Ellensburg Chapter of the Ice Age Floods Institute will also provide ~40 hard copies of the field guide for the trip. There is no cost for the field guides. However, if you are not a member of the Ellensburg Chapter, please consider making a donation to the chapter to help cover the costs of the field guides (each cost ~$13/each).

Cheney-Spokane Chapter Quarry Hike
2025-10-04 13:00 - 15:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Spokane Conservation District Office, 4422 E 8th Ave, Spokane Valley, WA, 99212, United States
🪨 Explore 1.3 Billion Years in One Afternoon!
Saturday, October 4 — Join the inimitable Michael Hamilton for a guided geology hike through Spokane Conservation District’s remarkable new headquarters, nestled in an ancient basalt quarry.
This site is both brand new and unimaginably old. The Quarry reveals a stunning cross-section of Earth’s history—1.3 billion years of geologic drama exposed in a short, accessible hike. Along the way, you’ll see and learn about the effects of Ice Age floods, huge lava flows, tectonic shifts, and more, all woven into a developing geologic trail for the community.
Don’t miss this rare chance to walk through deep time with expert insight and plenty of scenic stops. The new Scale House Market at the Quarry will be open with public bathrooms and the access gate will be open.
We will meet up at 1 PM in front of the SCD office. Good walking shoes are recommended for this easy-moderate hike.
Register for the hike using the button below. Each participant will need to have a signed liability waiver-click on the red button to download one for printing and bring it along. We will have more at the trailhead.

Joseph Pardee - Swiss Army Knife for the USGS! w/ Bill Burgel
2025-09-27 16:00 - 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Hal Holmes Community Center, 201 Ruby St, Ellensburg, WA, 98926, United States
Joseph T. Pardee
Bill Burgel will be speaking on the career and contributions of Joseph Pardee to our understanding of the Ice Age Floods. Joseph T. Pardee was a USGS Field Geologist who, for 32 years (1910-1941), focused on a variety of geologic issues throughout the country. His geologic acumen was vigorously sought after by nearly every department within the USGS.
Pardee is most widely known for quipping that “he knew where Bretz’ water was.” As retirement approached, Pardee used his intense observational skills and his incredible patience to finally devote himself to his secret love of Glacial Lake Missoula (GLM)when he published his “Unusual Currents.” It made clear that GLM drained catastrophically fast and flowed at incredible speeds. He thus provided a possible source for the catastrophic flood that Bretz had been postulating.
Doors will open at 3:30 pm with the presentations beginning at 4:00pm. This event will offer an opportunity to browse and purchase such Ice Age Floods items as books, maps, posters and baseball caps. All purchases must be with cash or check only please.
Bill Burgel, Professional Geologist Registered in Oregon and Idaho, retired in 2015 after a successful 45-year career in the railroad industry. He worked for several railroads nationwide in both the engineering and operating departments. While working for the railroad, his interest and training in geology was often called upon to resolve landslide issues and rerouting studies, implement early earthquake warning strategies, and conduct numerous long railroad tunnel analyses. Bill has given numerous presentations on rail issues as well as earthquake preparedness and topics pertaining to regional geology to local audiences throughout the Pacific Northwest and on cruise ships.

9/18-Mega Floods, Ice Ages, Earthquakes, Volcanic Eruptions, and other Major Earth Events. A look at our dynamic planet of things that could keep you awake at night but shouldn't.
2025-09-18 18:00 - 19:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Connell Library, 118 N. Columbia, Connell, Washington
This presentation by Lloyd Stoess will delve into ten of the causes of ice ages and climate change including the answer to how many ice ages have occurred. It will also look at big earth hazards here in the Pacific Northwest that have occurred in the past and if they should be of concern today.

9/10-Mega Floods, Ice Ages, Earthquakes, Volcanic Eruptions, and other Major Earth Events. A look at our dynamic planet of things that could keep you awake at night but shouldn't.
2025-09-10 18:00 - 19:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Whitman County Library, 102 South Main St., Colfax, WA, 99111, United States

9/3-Mega Floods, Ice Ages, Earthquakes, Volcanic Eruptions, and other Major Earth Events. A look at our dynamic planet of things that could keep you awake at night but shouldn't
2025-09-03 18:00 - 19:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Ritzville Public Library, 302 West Main Street, Ritzville, Washington, 99169

Rescheduled Cheney-Spokane Chapter Hike – Waikiki Springs
2025-07-26 12:00 - 14:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Waikiki Springs Trailhead, Washington, 99218
Join us for a scenic and informative hike north of Spokane, where geologist Michael Hamilton, an IAFICS board member, will guide us through fascinating Ice Age flood features. This newly protected conservation area boasts well-established trails and stunning geological formations.
At Waikiki Springs, the Spokane Aquifer emerges from beneath an ancient, sand-and-gravel-filled valley—evidence of the massive outburst floods that shaped the region during the last Ice Age.
Group size is limited to the first 20 registrants. Once you sign up, we’ll provide full hike details and keep you updated on any changes leading up to the event.

Resources: Waikiki Springs Nature Preserve

Ice Age FloodFest 2025
2025-07-26 09:00 - 15:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Dry Falls Visitor Center, 35661 HWY 17 North, Coulee City, WA, United States
Get ready for the Ice Age Floodfest 2025, an unparalleled celebration of the cataclysmic events that carved out the Pacific Northwest’s iconic channeled scablands! Dive deep into the geological story that spans millennia and reshaped the very landscape beneath our feet. From towering coulees to vast dry falls, the evidence of these ancient, colossal floods is everywhere, and this year’s Floodfest promises to raise your awareness and understanding of their incredible power and lasting impact.
Join us in the Lower Grand Coulee for a day of expert-led talks, fascinating field trips, and engaging exhibits that will transport you back to a time when mile-high ice dams burst, unleashing torrents of water that dwarfed any flood in human history. Whether you’re a seasoned geologist or simply curious about the natural wonders around you, the Ice Age Floodfest 2025 is an event you won’t want to miss! Presenters will share their knowledge and their appreciation of Ice Age Floods Geology, the Channeled Scablands, Shrub Steppe Ecosystems, Anthropology, Archeology, and History.
Field Trip Hike: 9:00 AM – 10:30 AM
Where: Lake Lenore Caves Heritage Area
Bruce Bjornstad, a Research Scientist based in Richland, Washington and author of the popular ‘On the Trail of the Ice Age Floods’ guidebooks, will lead an educational hike from the Lake Lenore Caves trailhead. The park is situated above Lake Lenore, and it offers stunning views of the valley. The caves themselves are shallow basalt formations created during the Great Missoula floods.
Outdoor Booths: 10 AM – 3 PM on the campus of Dry Falls Visitor Center. Featuring Federal, State, Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Nonprofits, Historians, Authors, & Volunteers
Where: Dry Falls Visitor Center – Sun Lakes Dry Falls State Park 35661 HWY 17 North, Coulee City, WA 99115

Ice Age Floods Institute – Lower Grand Coulee Chapter and other Ice Age Flood Institute chapters from Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Washington.
The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation will have historic photographs telling the story and the history of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation. They will also share the legends of the beautiful landscape of the Dry Falls area and surrounding landscape.
Dr. Karen Capuder – Anthropologist and Senior Archaeologist Colville Tribes, will share some of the cultural and political history of the Colville Tribes, from time immemorial to the present day.
Grant County Historians/authors: Dan Bolyard & John M. Kemble – Dan Bolyard has been a lifelong Grant County Big Bend area resident and railroad historian. John M. Kemble is a local historian and explorer highlighting Dry Falls, Sun Lakes, Steamboat Rock, The Grand Coulee, and Banks Lake.
North Central Regional Library –April Harward, learn about the NCW Summer Library programs – captivating storytelling to engaging workshops and fun activities, everyone can unleash their unique voice and explore their passions.
National Park Service – Justin Radford, Program Manager for the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail with a Mobile Interpretive Center showcasing the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail, the Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area, and The Grand Coulee a National Natural Landmark.
Foster Creek & Columbia Basin Conservation Districts – programs on Shrub Steppe ecology, water resources, wildlife, and native vegetation.
Washington Department of Wildlife – wildlife found in Eastern Washington as well as the enhancement and preservation work that is done in the Columbia Basin.
Archeologist – Mark Amara, Kim Lancaster, and Kellie Green; representing the Cascadia Conservation District, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. Their booth will highlight the importance of historical artifacts, tools of the trade, and hands-on activity too.
Bureau of Reclamation – will have an overview of the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project, and the Grand Coulee Dam.

Presentations: 10 am – 3 pm
Where: inside/upstairs in the Dry Falls Visitor Center

NPS Ranger Justin Radford
Ranger David McWalter
10 am – 11 am: Justin Radford, Program Manager, NPS, Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail, will present an overview of this unique geologic trail starting in Montana, through Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.
Interpretive Specialist, David McWalter, will present an overview of Washington’s Ice Age Floods, introduce the rugged terrain of eastern Washington that was shaped by floods of unimaginable power during the last ice age, and share how the scientific views of the landscape have changed over the last century.
11:30 am – 12:30 pm: WA DNR, Geologist Joel Gombiner will present an update on recent studies of Washington’s Ice Age Floods and introduce a new lidar-based visualization of Dry Falls.
1 pm – 2 pm: WA State Parks, Interpretive Specialist 1, Sarah Overby will present “Brushstrokes: The Colorful Story of Lichen“. From rocks, trees, soil, and pretty much anything that will sit still long enough, lichen will spring up in robust colonies. Crusty, leafy, or even… fuzzy? They paint beautiful bright oranges and greens across the dark basalt rock and the branches of the sagebrush, but what are they doing there? This 45-minute presentation aims to dive deeper into the complexities of lichen and discuss its impact on ecosystems as well as its impact on us.
2:30 pm – 3:00 pm: Viewing of Bruce Bjornstad’s – “Ice Age Floodscapes”

Bretz’ Great Cataract Group
Primordial Potholes Coulee
Grand Coulee – NW Exposures
Dry Falls
Deep Lake Potholes

Dry Falls Visitor Center – weather station – up-to-date weather conditions at Dry Falls provided by the National Park Service. Watch a timelapse of the past 24 hours by clicking on the small photo, enlarge, press play, and enjoy!

Interesting Features and Recent Discoveries of the Middle and Lower Cheney-Palouse Tract
2025-06-28 13:00 - 14:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | The Gathering Place, LaCrosse, WA, 99143, United States
Lloyd Stoess
“An Overview of the Middle and Lower Cheney-Palouse Tract of the Channel Scablands – Interesting Features and Recent Discoveries”.
This lecture will include a speculative look at when and how many floods came through present day Lacrosse.
Saturday June 28 at 1:00 pm at The Gathering Place in downtown Lacrosse, WA as is part of the Lacrosse Farmers Festival.
Presented by Lloyd Stoess, Palouse Falls Chapter President.

Northeastern Waterville Plateau Field Trip
2025-06-14 08:00 - 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Leahy Junction, Coulee City, WA, United States
2025 Ellensburg Ice Age Flood Institute Field Trip – “Northeastern Waterville Plateau“.
Topics will center around the Okanogan Lobe of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet and Ice Age floods in a now farmed and ranched landscape in a part of Central Washington few of us visit. Trip will begin at Crown Point Vista north of Grand Coulee.
Detailed schedule and the topics to be covered:
10:00 Stop 1—Crown Point Vista—Topics: Bedrock geology; Weather & climate; Biomes; Cordilleran Ice Sheet; Ice Age floods.
10:45 Depart
11:15 Stop 2—Northeast of Leahy Junction—Topics: Advancing ice landforms (e.g., drumlins and flutes); Soil mounds & patterned ground.
12:00 Depart
12:30 Stop 3—Trefry Canyon headwaters—Topics: Glacial meltwater features (e.g., tunnel valleys and eskers); Farming & ranching patterns.
1:15 Depart
1:30 Stop 4—East of Osborne Corner—Topics: Stagnant ice landforms (e.g., recessional moraines and haystack rocks).
2:15 Depart
2:45 Stop 5—Strahl Canyon—Topics: Glacial meltwater; Glacial Lake Columbia sediments & terraces; Landslides.
3:30 Depart
3:45 Stop 6—Columbia River Overlook—Topics: Changing paths of the Columbia River; Crossing the Columbia River; River transport & rapids.
4:30 Depart for home
Logistics:
This trip is free and open to the public.
 You will need a Discover Pass for Stop 1.
 After Stop 1, we will drive on a mix of paved and good quality gravel roads. A standard sedan should do fine on the gravel roads.
 Carpool if you will make the loop back to Crown Point; otherwise, there should be lots of parking available at each of the stops.
 We will take short hikes at Stops 2, 3 and 4. By short, I mean 0.5 mi or less at each stop.
The hiking terrain is fairly gentle but we will be traipsing through sagebrush and bunch grass.
 There are no restroom or picnic facilities along our field trip route. Therefore, you will need to use the great outdoors if you need to go. Plan on eating lunch/snacks on the road or at the stops. There won’t be a formal lunch stop
 Dogs and kids are fine to bring as long as they are well-behaved.
 Dress for the weather. June weather here can be sunny and hot to windy & cool.
 I will post a pdf of the field guide by 9 June on my CWU website at https://www.cwu.edu/academics/geography/_documents/karl-lillquist.php. Scroll
down the page to “Field Guides”. You will find it under “Margins of the Eastern Cascades”. Feel free to download and bring it on the field trip in digital format or print it out.
 The Ellensburg Chapter of the Ice Age Floods Institute will also provide ~40 hard copies of the field guide for the trip. There is no cost for the field guides. However, if you are not a member of the Ellensburg Chapter, please consider making a donation to the chapter to help cover the costs of the field guides (each cost ~$12/each).
Questions?
Email me at lillquis@cwu.edu or leave a phone message at 509 963-1184. Emails are best as I only check that phone a couple of times each week.
I hope you can join us on Saturday June 14th.
Karl Lillquist

Cheney-Spokane Chapter Hike – Palisades Park
2025-05-17 13:00 - 15:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Palisades Park, 2-198 S Rimrock Dr, Spokane, WA, 99224, United States
The 3-mile hike will be led by IAFICS board member geologist Michael Hamilton. It will take place along Rimrock Drive, which has spectacular views of Spokane and the Spokane Valley. The Glacial Outburst Flood Story will include a lot of “arm-waving,” pointing out flood features both along the trail and with views to the east. The geology discussion will include details of another kind of flood that hit the Spokane area 14 million years ago. The hike will then cut to the west along one of the park’s trails to find mysterious Mima mounds, and then loop back to the parking area.

Sheila Alfsen - Mt. St. Helens May 18,1980 Eruption - Lwr. Columbia Chapter
2025-05-15 19:00 - 20:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Tualatin Heritage Center, 8700 SW Sweek Drive, Tualatin, OR, 97062, United States
The 1980 Eruption of Mt. St. Helens in Washington was the worst volcanic disaster in recorded US history. Geologist Sheila Alfsen, will bring the event back to life; detailing its onset and eruption sequence. She will illustrate its volcanic hazards with examples from other volcanoes and comparing their relative sizes. Sheila will discuss the advances in volcanology made as result of the eruption, and how they are used around the world to gain prediction and offer disaster mitigation.
Thursday, May 15, 2025, In Person 7:00 PM (PDT) at Tualatin Heritage Center, 8700 SW Sweek Drive, Tualatin, OR 97062
ALSO Live ZOOM from THC, Click for Zoom meeting, Meeting ID: 869 4651 3479 Passcode: [REDACTED]
Sheila Alfsen
Sheila Alfsen’s Background:
*Current Instructor of Geology: Portland State University, Chemeketa Community College, Linn Benton Community College
*Researcher
*FEMA Earthquake Publication Reviewer
*Paleontology- University of Oregon, Volcanology, Oceanography
*Master of Arts in Teaching, Western Oregon University
*Bachelors of Arts from Western Oregon University, Geology and Spanish
*Oregon resident since 1970 – extensively traveled in US, particularly the Western states, Alaska, Arctic region, Iceland, Hawaii, Mexico, Puerto Rico
* Thirty-five years in Education: Experience in interpretation for National Park Service

How Do They Know? Major Findings About the Ice Age Floods
2025-05-14 18:00 - 19:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Spokane Valley Library, 22 N Herald Rd, A, Spokane Valley, W, WA, 99206, United States
Maps
Have you ever been watching a science program and wondered “How do they know that?” Dr. Gary L. Ford, President, IAFI, will briefly discuss the how and who “figured it out” regarding aspects of the Ice Age Floods, looking at five questions. These include:

how we know there was a huge glacial lake in western Montana thousands of years ago,
how we know it drained rapidly perhaps a hundred times,
about how many floods there were and when they occurred,
where the floodwater came from, and
about how long it took the floodwater to get to the ocean.

We also go over which answers to these questions are still being debated by researchers.
Presented in partnership with Ice Age Floods Institute (IAFI)

1.5 Million Years of Climate Data from the Antarctic Drilling Project
2025-05-05 19:00 - 20:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | WA
(05Dec2024) The Mid-Pleistocene Transition (MPT), where the Pleistocene glacial cycles changed from 41 to ∼100 kyr periodicity, is one of the most intriguing unsolved issues in the field of paleoclimatology. Jerry McManus is an AGU Fellow who is Chair of Columbia University’s Environmental School. He spent time in Antarctica as part in a European-led consortium project to drill down an existing drill hole to punch back another half-million years of climate data from ice in the Antarctic Ice Sheet. The goal of the project was to get a continuous ice record reaching back past the Mid Pleistocene Transition (MPT) to get a better perspective on the short cycle into the long cycle transition. At our May meeting, Jerry will present an early glimpse on what the team discovered. The May 05 meeting will be held in Bellevue College, Room B104. The program begins at 7:00 PM.

2025 IAFI Membership Meeting - Gorge-ous Gathering May2-3-4
2025-05-02 - 2025-05-04 | Columbia Gorge Discovery Center, 5000 Discovery Dr., The Dalles, OR, 97058, United States
Celebrating Ice Age Floods Institute’s 30th Anniversary
The annual IAFI Membership Meeting is coming to the Columbia Gorge this May 2-3, 2025, and all our members and their guests are cordially invited to come experience some of the best and most interesting features the Gorge has to offer. There’ll be opportunities to explore storied Gorge wildflowers and native plants, geology and winery field trips, whitewater rafting, a membership meeting/dinner and a presentation by the ever-entertaining Nick Zenter.

Friday, May 2nd, will be action packed with activities during the day. Choose between a guided Spring Wildflower Walk, a Journey Through Terroir field trip, an Unveiling the Gorge field trip (repeated on Sunday, May 4).

There are also opportunities available every day for full-day or half-day adventure whitewater raft trips on the Klickitat or White Salmon Rivers with Wet Planet Rafting, a local world-class rafting company. Friday evening will feature our members meeting and dinner, followed by an entertaining and informative presentation by the inimitable Nick Zenter exploring and geolocating J Harlan Bretz’s field notes.

Jim O’Connor
Richard Waitt
Saturday, May 3rd, will feature the main Ice Age Floods Gorge Geology Field Trip – Explore evidence of the Ice Age Floods in the Columbia Gorge led by USGS expert geologists Jim O’Connor and Richard Waitt. This field trip will examine the geology of the Columbia River Gorge with emphasis on the effects of the Ice Age Missoula floods, examining key sites and discussing the latest research. Learn more about the Missoula Floods, explore dramatic flood landforms, and enjoy beautiful vistas, lunch at the Deschutes River Park (order a box lunch or bring your own), and a no-host afternoon recap at Maryhill Winery.
Check-in begins each day at 8:00 AM at the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center
Find more detailed information here

There is also plenty to see and do in the Gorge to keep you fascinated and engaged if you can stay another day.
Visit iconic Multnomah Falls (I-84 access only) and spectacular Vista House at Crown Point overlook.
Visit Timberline Lodge, a stunning 1930’s CCC project, on the snowy upper flanks of Mt. Hood.
Travel the Hood River Fruit Loop or ride the Mt Hood Railroad
Hike one (or more) of the innumerable and spectacular Gorge hiking trails
Take Windsurfing and Kiteboarding lessons or just watch the action
Enjoy fine dining, artisan wineries, breweries, museums and shops throughout the Gorge.
There’s so much more to see and do that we can’t even begin to list it all.

How the Ice Age Floods Changed the Course of the Palouse River
2025-04-28 18:30 - 19:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Moran Prairie Library, 6004 S Regal St, Spokane, WA, 99223
Palouse Falls – Photo Glenn Traver
Before the Ice Age Floods, the Palouse River would have flowed through present day Washtucna, Kahlotus, Connell, Mesa, and Eltopia before entering the Columbia River near the Pasco Airport. Today, it takes a fifty-mile shortcut to the Snake River at Lyons Ferry via the Palouse Canyon and Palouse Falls.
In this presentation by Lloyd Stoess, President, Palouse Falls Chapter, IAFI, we look at the two factors that caused this dramatic shift—either one by itself would not have been enough. To examine when this happened, we look at some possibilities and clues recently discovered by scientists.
Presented in partnership with Ice Age Floods Institute (IAFI)
(Registration required on SCLD website. Registration opens at 6:30 PM Monday, March 31, 2025.)

Tom Pierson - Geology of the Gorge
2025-04-28 17:30 - 18:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | White Salmon Valley Community Library, 77 NE Wauna Ave, White Salmon, WA, 98672, United States
Tom Pierson, retired USGS Geologist/Hydrologist, will present an overview of the catastrophic forces and events that have shaped the Columbia Gorge that we know today. Our majestic ancient river has fended off unceasing, violent geologic attempts to block it and divert it, but it keeps on flowing–it’s quite a story. Tom will describe how small and huge volcanic eruptions, colossal floods, enormous landslides, and the grinding forces of tectonic crustal deformation have all taken their shots, yet the Columbia still flows to the sea. If you know where to look, you can see the evidence of these old heavyweight knockout rounds.
This talk will be hosted by the Columbia River Gorge Chapter of Ice Age Floods Institute at the White Salmon Community Library, beginning at 5:30pm on Monday, April 28.

Mapping the Pacific Northwest's Glacial Legacy
2025-04-15 18:30 - 19:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Cheney Community Library, 610 1st St, Cheney, WA, 99004
Enhanced LIDAR images (WA-DNR)
Glaciers have shaped much of the Pacific Northwest’s landscape over the past 15,000 years. The Cordilleran ice sheet, repeated ice age floods, and expansive alpine glaciation have left their distinctive fingerprints on the topography of our region.
Geologists and cartographers have been mapping and interpreting glacial landforms since the late 19th century. In the past decade, the Washington Geological Survey has created new maps that build upon this rich cartographic history by fusing older datasets and techniques with modern insights and technology, such as lidar.
Using both historical and modern maps, this presentation by Daniel Coe, Washington Geologic Survey, Seattle, will be a visual journey through the Pacific Northwest’s glacial past and present.
Presented in partnership with Ice Age Floods Institute (IAFI)
This event will be live via Zoom. Watch at the library or from anywhere you have an internet connection. Register in-person at the library to view the online presentation at Cheney Library. Register online to view the online presentation from home or anywhere.
Note: as of April 2 at 9 PM there are still 33 in-person seats available and 93 online seats available!
Registration is required.

Cheney-Spokane Chapter Hike - Fishtrap Lake Scablands
2025-04-05 10:00 - 15:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Fishtrap Lake North Loop, Sprague, WA, 99032, United States
The Cheney-Spokane Chapter of the IAFI is scheduling a hike at the north loop trailhead of Fishtrap Lake on Saturday, April 5th. The hike will start at 10:00 a.m. It will be led by Don Chadbourne, geologist and board member of the Cheney-Spokane Chapter. You will meet the leader at the trailhead.
Fishtrap Lake, Washington (BLM Photo)
Description of Hike
The hike will begin and end at the north trailhead at Fishtrap Lake. The hike will follow the north loop trail, with a total length of about 5 miles. The trail is mostly single track over dirt and rock, with an elevation gain and loss of about 500 feet. The hike will provide an intimate view of the channeled scablands that were carved out by the ice age floods. Features will include pothole lakes, rock benches, Mima mounds, and streamlined and scarped Palouse hills. The hike will also provide wide open views of Fishtrap Lake and the surrounding country. This hike is included in On the Trail of the Ice Age Floods – Northern Reaches, by Bjornstad & Kiver. However, we will be following trails that were constructed after the book was published.
Directions to the trailhead
From I-90 take Exit 254 and proceed south 2.4 miles on the Sprague Highway. Turn left (east) on Fishtrap Road and proceed 0.6 miles to the trailhead parking on the right.
Register for the hike using the buttons below. This event will be limited to 20 hikers.
Items to bring with you: appropriate shoes, day pack, water, snacks, appropriate clothing for changes in the weather, sun protection, emergency items, camera and binoculars. Walking poles will be helpful.
The hike is free; however, donations for support of Chapter activities will be accepted.
For addition questions contact Don at 509-891-5875.

Margins of the Eastern Cascades Field Trip
2025-04-05 08:00 - 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Central Washington University, 400 E University Way, Ellensburg, WA, 98926, United States
Margins of the Eastern Cascades: Western Kittitas Basin—Lower Teanaway—Lower Swauk Loop
Topics will include volcanism, tectonics, alpine glaciation, landslides, and stream channel changes in the area between Ellensburg, Cle Elum, and Lauderdale Junction.

Here’s the schedule and the topics to be covered:

9:30 Meet at CWU Parking Lot O-5
9:45 Depart
10:00 Stop 1—WA Highway 10 Along Yakima River—Climate transitions; Yakima River Watershed; Ellensburg Formation origin & age;
10:45 Depart
11:00 Stop 2—Hayward Hill Road—Thorp Gravels origins & age; Alpine glaciation; Outwash terraces
11:45 Depart
12:00 Stop 3—Teanaway River Floodplain—Columbia River Basalts; Teanaway River floodplain, discharge & flooding; Lookout Mountain landslide
12:45 Depart to find restrooms in Cle Elum
1:30 Stop 4—Swauk Prairie—Teanaway Formation flow origin & age; Glaciers & climate; Glacier impacts on Teanaway & Swauk paths
2:15 Depart
2:30 Stop 5—Horse Canyon Overlook—Horse Canyon enigma; Wrap-up
3:15 Depart
3:30 Arrive in Ellensburg

Logistics:

This trip is free and open to the public.
Plan on carpooling. We have, at most, about 30 parking spots at Stop 1.
There will be very little hiking associated with this field trip. On all stops, we will be within a couple of hundred feet of our automobiles.
There are no restroom or picnic facilities along our field trip route. Therefore, we will break briefly so you can make a very quick trip to Cle Elum between Stop 3 and Stop 4. Plan on eating lunch/snacks on the road or at the stops. There won’t be a formal lunch stop given the lack of facilities and time.
Dogs and kids are fine to bring as long as they are well-behaved.
Dress for the weather. Early April here can vary from sunny and warm to windy & chilly, all in a day! A windbreaker is a really good idea.
I will post a pdf of the field guide by 19 March on my CWU website at https://www.cwu.edu/academics/geography/_documents/karl-lillquist.php. Scroll down the page to “Field Guides”. You will find it under “Margins of the Eastern Cascades”. Feel free to download and bring it on the field trip in digital format or print it out.
The Ellensburg Chapter of the Ice Age Floods Institute will also provide ~40 hard copies of the field guide for the trip. There is no cost for the field guides. However, if you are not a member of the Ellensburg Chapter, please consider making a donation to the chapter to help cover the costs of the field guides (each cost ~$12).

I hope you can join us on Saturday April 5th.
Karl Lillquist

Othello Sandhill Crane Festival
2025-03-21 - 2025-03-23 | Othello, WA, WA, 99344, United States
The 27th annual Othello Sandhill Crane Festival – March 21, 22, and 23! Founded in 1998, the Othello Sandhill Crane Festival highlights the spring return of Sandhill Cranes to the greater Othello area and the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge. Not only are there bird lectures and tours on all three days, but the Festival always incorporates many geology talks; and field trips into Flood Country. Please see the events brochure here: https://www.othellosandhillcranefestival.org/_files/ugd/00304c_e3ceea5f94c44279af5e6e7a1cd036d7.pdf?index=true
General admission is $10 and covers lectures and activities at the School and Church. All other tours and activities priced as noted in the schedule along with general admission.

Friday Night Featured Lecture – Bruce Bjornstad – The Grand Coulee Nowhere is the evidence for Ice Age Megafloods so dramatic and awe-inspiring than Grand Coulee. The evolution of Grand Coulee will be presented via a unique bird’s eye view of this unique 50-mile-long canyon. Evidence for dozens of megafloods through Grand Coulee, as recently as 15,000 years ago, will be examined. This Lecture is free to attend in the Red Room at 7 PM.

Saturday, March 22 there will be several talks on geology at the Crane Festival..
Ice Age Floodscapes. Bruce Bjornstad tells of an appreciation of the huge scale of Ice Age Megafloods and the features they left behind are often hidden and lost at close range. An aerial perspective of dozens of different unique flood features will be presented to bring the immense power and magnitude of the Ice Age Floods into focus
Coulees, Canyons, and Valleys, Oh My! Lloyd Stoess will present a somewhat tongue-in-cheek look at how scientists can’t always agree on the definition of landforms, like coulees. Coulees interlace the landscape of
the channeled scablands of eastern Washington which were carved by the Ice Age Floods, but what really defines them and how do they differ from canyons and valleys?
Coyote Canyon: A Mammoth Burial in Ice Age Floods Sediments. Gary Kleinknecht will introduce the audience to Columbian Mammoths, North America’s elephant. He will present evidence for the assertion that this specimen is buried in slack water deposits left by a series of huge floods which created temporary Lake Lewis in the southern Columbia Basin. The discovery of mammoth bones, the on-going excavation of the site, and the paleoenvironmental study at Coyote Canyon will also be discussed.
Sunday, March 23, Geology Field Trips
Mega Floods Through Wild Drumheller Channels Hike, 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. $60.00. This moderately difficult 3-4-mile hike, led by geologist Bruce Bjornstad, will directly explore the flood channels (including the former path of the Columbia River), potholes, erratic, and streamlined basalt islands
rimmed with towering 50’ basalt columns. One hundred years ago, J Harlen Bretz recognized this area as one of the most spectacular examples of Ice Age Flood erosion in the Channeled Scabland. Note that there will be no restrooms available on this hike. Bagged lunches are available for order on the registration form. This tour is six hours in length, so bring food, drink, and sturdy walking shoes.
SONY DSC
The Great Escape of Quincy Basin, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM. $60.00. Join Lloyd Stoess and Ken Lacy on a tour to showcase some of the most impressive floodscape that they have ever shown. It will focus on the impact of flood waters escaping the Quincy Basin. Imagine 150 feet of water dropping 800 feet in less than 3 miles, we will see this at the Potholes Coulee. We will also visit places with particularly dramatic views in the Drumheller Channels, Frenchman Coulee, West Bar, and the Ephrata Fan. There will be no hikes but open-toed shoes will not be appropriate. There will be bathroom breaks along the way. This tour is about 8 hours from start to fin

Cheney-Spokane Chapter Hike – Escure Ranch / Towell Falls
2025-03-15 10:00 - 15:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Escure Ranch, Washington, 99125
The Cheney-Spokane Chapter of the IAFI is scheduling a hike at Escure Ranch on the BLM Rock Creek Recreation Site on Saturday, March 15th. The hike will start at 10:00 a.m. It will be led by Don Chadbourne, geologist and board member of the Cheney-Spokane Chapter. You will meet the leader at the trailhead.
Description of the Escure Ranch Hike
The hike will begin and end at the Escure Ranch parking area, of the Bureau of Land Management, Rock Creek Recreation site. The hike will follow an old ranch road to Towell Falls and return on the same route. The out and back hike will be about 6.5 miles. The trail is mostly double track over dirt and rock, with an elevation gain and loss of about 160 feet. The hike is a pleasant trek through a remote scabland canyon. Features will include rock benches and basins, flood bars, Mima mounds, mesas and waterfalls. This hike is included in the book, On the Trail of the Ice Age Floods – Northern Reaches, by Bjornstad & Kiver.
Directions to the trailhead will be provided to hikers after registration.
Click on the Register button to sign up for the hike. The hike will be limited to 20 hikers.
Items to bring with you: appropriate shoes, day pack, water, snacks, appropriate clothing for changes in the weather, sun protection, emergency items, camera and binoculars. Walking poles will be helpful.
The hike is free; however, donations for support of Chapter activities will be accepted.
For additional questions, contact Don at 509-891-5875.

Terroir and the floods
2025-03-04 19:00 - 20:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | WA
(12Dec24) Scott Burns is back in March to talk about the impact the Ice Age Floods had on vinticulture in the Pacific Northwset. Join us as Scott explains how the Floods influenced the regional properties of Northwest soils and ultimately made the Pacific Northwest one of the prime wine producing regions in the United States.
The “virtual wine tasting” will happen at our chapter meeting 04Mar2025 at 7:00pm at Bellevue College, Building B ,ROOM 104. This lecture will be in-person and livecast on Zoom.
Click on Zoom link: https://us02web.Zoom.us/j/82985244730
Bellevue College, Bldg B Rm 104

Take a Bee-Line to the Wild Side
2025-02-26 17:30 - 18:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | White Salmon Valley Community Library, 77 NE Wauna Ave, White Salmon, WA, 98672, United States
Wild bees are a diverse group of bees that are important pollinators for many crops and plants. The U.S. has roughly 4,000 species of wild bees that pollinate thousands of plants, including many common foods like apples and almonds. Wild bees, along with many pollinators, are declining around the world due to land changes, human activities, pesticide use, and other threats. Despite growing concern about population declines, there are limited data about wild bees. You can help wild bees by providing nesting boxes, restoring pollinator-friendly habitats, and encouraging legislation that protects bees. In his “Take a Walk on the Wild Side” presentation, Steve Castagnoli will provide an introduction to the natural history of wild bees in the Pacific Northwest.

Steve Castagnoli is an apprentice level melittologist with the Oregon Bee Atlas. The Oregon Bee Atlas Master Melittologist Program trains and equips citizen scientists to: a) create and maintain a comprehensive and publicly accessible inventory of the state’s native bees and their plant-host preferences, b) to educate Oregonians on the state’s bee biodiversity and c) to conduct an on-going survey of native bee populations in order to assess their health. Specimen records are added annually to newly digitized historic records from the Oregon State Arthropod Collection to build the first comprehensive account of the native bee fauna of Oregon.

Oregon Gold - This valuable mineral is brought to you by Geology
2025-02-18 18:45 - 19:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Tualatin Heritage Center, 8700 SW Sweek Drive, Tualatin, OR, 97062, United States
Geologist and professor, Sheila Alfsen, will show how geologic processes that occurred in Oregon paved the way for the discovery and utilization of gold in our state. Sheila is an Adjunct Instructor of Geology at Portland State University, Chemeketa Community College, and Linn-Benton Community College.
Tuesday, February 18, 2025, In Person 6:45PM PST at
Tualatin Heritage Center, 8700 SW Sweek Drive, Tualatin, OR 97062
Simultaneous Live ZOOM from THC if you cannot attend the in-person THC meeting yourself.
Click here for Zoom meeting, Meeting ID: 869 4651 3479 Passcode: [REDACTED]

Google Earth & the Field Notes of Bretz & Pardee
2025-02-12 18:00 - 19:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | North Spokane Library, 44 E Hawthorne Rd, Spokane, WA, 99218
Join Glenn Cruickshank as he shares a look at 16 years of J Harlen Bretz’s field notes about the historic ice age floods and 30 years of Joseph Pardee’s USGS field notes, now publicly available for the first time in 100 years and visible through Google Earth. This presentation will introduce you to a large and growing collection of historic notes by early ice age floods investigators, but if you can’t make the presentation you can explore much of the material on Nick Zentner’s CWU webpage.
Presentation will be by Glenn Cruickshank, Vice President, Cheney-Spokane Chapter, IAFI, Liberty Lake
Presented in partnership with Ice Age Floods Institute (IAFI)
(Registration required on SCLD website. Registration opens at 6:00 PM Wednesday, January 15, 2025.)

The Ancient Ice Age Floods in the Pacific Northwest
2025-02-11 19:00 - 20:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center, 127 S. Mission, Wenatchee, WA, United States
The Wenatchee Valley Erratics Chapter of the Ice Age Floods Institute will meet Tuesday, February 11 at 7:00 PM. Our speaker will present remotely via Zoom from Portland. Those not computer- or Zoom-savvy can attend in-person for a live screening at the Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center, 127 S. Mission, Wenatchee. Or at home using Zoom link https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81855547958 Meeting ID: 818 5554 7958
Dr. Scott Burns, Professor Emeritus of Geology at Portland State University, is a researcher, teacher, and story-teller of Pacific Northwest Geology. He will discuss “The Ancient Ice Age Floods in the Pacific Northwest.”
We know that Ice Age Floods have inundated the Pacific Northwest over the past 2.8 million years. But we primarily concentrate on the last ones, the Missoula Floods, that occurred between 20,000-15,000 years ago. That’s because the Missoula Floods left the most visible record; they obliterated nearly all the evidence of earlier inundations. Current research, however, shows an unfolding story of the many torrents that preceded the Missoula Floods. Erica Medley, an MS student of Dr. Burns, discovered many deposits of these rarely discussed ancient floods. Dr. Burns, a most dynamic speaker, is here to talk about those older ones!
The program is free and open to the public.

New Interpretations of Old Strandlines
2025-01-29 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Denver) | Montana Natural History Center, 120 Hickory Street, Missoula, MT
It’s that time of the year! Time to contemplate ice ages and glacial lakes. Time for the Glacial Lake Missoula Chapter of the Ice Age Floods Institute’s Cabin Fever Lecture! Warm up your curiosity about those iconic strandlines we can see from town with a lecture from renowned geologist James W. Sears.
New “LiDAR ” mapping techniques may imply that the famous Lake Missoula strandlines on Mount Sentinel and Mount Jumbo record only one draining of the ice-age lake. The draining coincided with massive erosion at the bottom of the lake, but passive lowering of lake level at the top, marked by short-term strandlines cut a few inches into thin colluvial soil on the mountainsides.
About the Instructor: Dr. James W. Sears received his PhD from Queen’s University, Canada, in 1979, and has taught at the University of Montana since 1982.
This is a live event that will not be recorded or streamed.

Richard B. Waitt - The "Debacle Which Swept the Columbia Plateau" 100 years on
2025-01-16 18:45 - 20:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Tualatin Heritage Center, 8700 SW Sweek Drive, Tualatin, OR, 97062, United States
J Harlan Bretz
“It was a debacle,” wrote J Harlan Bretz in 1923, that carved Washington’s Channeled Scabland. This prescient finale today brings to mind debacles geologic, personal and periodic.
The cataclysm in Bretz’s “Spokane flood” initiated a famous controversy. Published arguments against great Scabland flood erupted in the 1920’s and raged on into the 1940’s–critics by various more conventional schemes calling for less water over more time. As Bretz had almost no published support, it seemed to many his personal debacle. Yet re-reading the early reports, and recently the summary field notes, I sense that by the extraordinary field evidence he had documented throughout the region, Bretz knew all along that his ‘catastrophysm’ would prevail. After J.T. Pardee showed in 1942 that huge glacial Lake Missoula had discharged abruptly. Bretz and colleagues in 1956 show with the old evidence–and with stark new evidence in giant current dunes adorning many gravel bars–that water from glacial Lake Missoula had indeed carved the ‘Channelled Scabland’. With detailed geomorphic field evidence they skewer Bretz’s critics–this in turn becoming their personal debacle.
waittThe story takes a more gradualistic turn with discovery that Lake Missoula drained periodically. In his final Scablands paper in 1969, Bretz, by geomorphic evidence counts seven floods at most. But hardly a decade later, new stratigraphic evidence was showing that Lake Missoula released scores of giant floods during the last glaciation alone. These outbursts were both periodic and gigantic by degrees, truly colossal and coming decades apart when the damming Purcell Trench lobe was thick, but as the ice gradually thinned diminishing to coming only a decade or a few years apart, and at the end one year apart. This ‘jokulhlaups’ idea erupted new controversy, this one also lasting more than two decades. If it has simmered down lately, this argument is also being settled by field evidence.
If Missoula floods were numerous and periodic during last-glacial marine-Isotope stage 2 (25-15 thousand years ago), what happened during seemingly equally deep glaciations of AR-isotope stages such as 6 and 12 (140-440 thousand years ago)? So far we know of no supporting field evidence–only scattered field sites that suggest one gigantic flood far back, perhaps a million years ago. It will be for today’s young scientists to decipher this and other remaining enigmas.
Thursday, January 16, 2025, In Person 6:45PM PST
Tualatin Heritage Center, 8700 SW Sweek Drive, Tualatin, OR 97062
ALSO Simultaneous Live ZOOM from THC if you cannot attend the in-person THC meeting yourself.
Click here for Zoom meeting, Meeting ID: 869 4651 3479 Passcode: [REDACTED]
