Ice Age Floods lecture and hike coming March 12 and 14

The Cheney-Spokane Chapter of the Ice Age Flood Institute is planning a pair of events for March.

The first is a free lecture by scientist Michael McCollum, “The Incredible Shrinking Glacial Lake: A nonfiction account of the rise and downfall of Glacial Lake Columbia” on Thursday, March 12, from 7 – 9 p.m. at Eastern Washington University’s Science Building room 137.

McCollum will present a story 20,000 years in the making and recording a 3,000 year onslaught by catastrophic floods whose sediments finally overtook the lake’s accommodation space and the continuing assault by incremental head ward erosion of the southwest bedrock battlements at the Grand Coulee, followed by the final betrayal in which global warming caused the disappearance of the once supportive Okanogan ice lobe.  

After an extended Army career, McCollum spent a year with the U.S. Geological Survey, Salt Lake City, Utah, and became the vice president of the Cordilleran Geological Survey, Inc. He and his wife, Linda, have mapped over 500 square miles of local geology in an area where the Ice Age Floods deposits are well displayed but have received little attention in the past.

Saturday, March 14, the Institute will host a field trip hike from the Lower Palouse Canyon to Palouse Falls led by Dr. Gene Kiver and Lloyd Stoess. The hike is eight miles up the Palouse Canyon to Palouse Falls State Park, and begins at 9 a.m. at Lyons Ferry State Park Fish Hatchery, wrapping up around 5 p.m. at the falls.

Kiver and Stoess will emphasize the Ice Age Floods story and local Native American and settlement history. The hike follows a combination of established trails, game trails, and bush whacking. There are also some steep ascents and descents. Walking poles may be helpful.

Vehicles will shuttle hikers back to the hatchery. Children must be at least age 10 and must be accompanied by an adult hiker. No pets are allowed on the hike, which on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the most difficult, is a 10.

Detailed information, registration form and liability release form are available online at http://www.IceAgeFloodsEWA.org, “Calendar Tab” and at http://www.iafi.org, “Events Tab.”  For registration questions, contact Linda Long, lindakl@centurytel.net or call (509) 235-4251. For more information on the lecture, email Melanie Bell at iaficheneyspokane@gmail.com or call (509) 954-4242.