Ice Age Floods

Stev H. Ominski ©2002 Ice Age Floods at Dry Falls Lower Grand Coulee Bruce Bjornstad AA GUIDE GUIDE TO TO THE THE INCREDIBLE INCREDIBLE ICE ICE AGE AGE FLOODS FLOODS IN IN THE THE GRAND GRAND COULEE COULEE AREA AREA Northrup Lake Soap Lake/Ephrata, Washington FOLLOWING THE PATHWAY Our Lower Grand Coulee chapter of the Ice Age Floods Institute focuses on the beautiful Coulee Corridor National Scenic Byway. We serve Grant County and beyond, where we have 300 days of sunshine,140 lakes and only around eight inches of rainfall per year. During the last glacial cycle of the ice-age some 80,000 to 14,000 years ago, continental glaciers and repeated massive floods carved many of the unique distinguishing features of the Northwest’s interior landscape. We investigate the geological mystery of the Missoula Floods as it applies to this area, particularly Dry Falls, the centerpiece of this Disneyland for geologists. We are seeking answers to a geological mystery of what happened and how it happened thousands of years ago. We do this to unravel the mystery that was initially unlocked only 100 years ago from the breathtaking geological hints that were left behind. Nobody really knows what happened, but we are still making new discoveries each year and investigating the mystery to this day. We are local people meeting monthly in Soap Lake, WA, to plan hikes, gather geological samples, assist at Dry Falls Visitor Center, participate in local festivals, and distribute information such as in your hand now. You are invited to come help solve the mystery, and while here you can enjoy our playground, including: the Ephrata Fan, the Great Blade, Steamboat Rock, Ancient Lakes, Drumheller Channels, Sun Lakes, Lenore Caves, the Potholes Area, Soap Lake, and more. To learn more, to attend a presentation, or to help with our mystery, please visit us at https://IAFI.org/lower-grand-coulee/. Our Cataclysmic Floodscape This is your local guide to dramatic evidence of those cataclysmic forces, from spectacular canyons and cliffs to waterfalls and vast, flood-eroded scablands, that can be witnessed with a short road trip. It is our hope that you will use this guide to explore these fascinating geological features in our region and will want to learn more about the dramatic ice-age story of glaciers and floods. OF THE GREAT FLOODS Key resources for understanding the geology of the Mid-Columbia region: On the Trail of the Ice Age Floods Bjornstad, B. N., Vols. 1 & 2 DETAILED MAP INSIDE Highlighting Day Trips to prominent ice-age flood features in the Grand Coulee area A regional guide to geological evidence of the GREAT ICE AGE FLOODS that sculpted the Grand Coulee landscape Keokee Co. Publishing, Inc., Sandpoint, ID Learn MORE at IAFI.org or facebook.com/IceAgeFloods/ Dry Falls at Sunrise - Photo by David McWalter