New Missoula flood guidebook published.

On the Trail of the Ice Age Floods: The Northern Reaches, by Bruce Bjornstad and Gene Kiver, is now published. The book directs readers to field sites in the the Channeled Scablands and into northern Idaho to see evidence for the mind-boggling late-Pleistocene Missoula Floods. There are hikes, road trips, and even two aerial field trips.  The book is a sequel to On the Trail of the Ice Age Floods: A geological field guide to the Mid-Columbia Basin by Bruce Bjornstad. A description of the new book is available at the publishers’ website:

http://www.keokeebooks.com/northernreaches.html

It will take a while for the book to be distributed to all the retail outlets but for those wanting it right away, it can be obtained from the Sandpoint Online General Store at: http://www.sandpointonline.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=228

Slides close Chuckanut Drive; high water on Chuckanut Creek (video)

Chuckanut landslides

The small rockfall about 1 mile south of Clayton Beach Trailhead, Dec 12, 2010. Pretty dinky, but potential for plenty more in this weather. Click to enlarge

The annual round of landslides has begun along Chuckanut Drive (Washington Highway 11). The road was closed yesterday evening  due to the first rockfall of the season. I just returned from an effort to get photos.

The road is closed to southbound traffic 1/2 mile south of the Clayton Beach trailhead; the rockfall I saw is about another 1/2 mile further south. I found a small pile of rocks across the road at about mile post 13.5. It is not by any means an impressive slide, but there is a report of another one further south. I couldn’t verify that. No sign of clean up efforts yet. I didn’t tarry- there were a number of head-sized rocks on the road behind me, and I didn’t want to become a headline. Quick photos and I was gone. A story I wrote last year about the geology behind these annual events is posted here.

An understatement on Chuckanut Drive.

Chuckanut Creek

Water is high and muddy in Chuckanut Creek as it races through Arroyo Park at the southern edge of Bellingham. Worth a look-see if you are wanting an excuse to get out on this wet day. The stream gage at the footbridge says 3.5 feet. This is not by any means an epic flood, the water is not even over the trail (yet) but fun nonetheless. The high water ought to flush the last of the stinking fish carcasses out of the creek, at least. A video I took of high water in the creek is posted here on YouTube.

Chuckanut Creek is boiling and muddy at the Arroyo Park footbridge.

Thick Mazama ash in a landslide dammed lake, Skagit Valley

Bob Mooers at the outcrop beside the highway.

A new field trip visits a 10-m-thick deposit of Mount Mazama Layer O ash (from the Crater Lake caldera collapse) along Highway 20 near Newhalem. How did all that ash accumulate? Read the tale…

Dave

Hike up the flood-scoured gorge of Silver Creek near Bellingham

Keith Kemplin walks the pipeline road in Silver Creek Gorge, 1/09

A new geologic field trip explores the narrow gorge on almost unknown City of Bellingham land in Silver Creek. There are fine examples of sedimentary crossbeds, concretions, coal, and a big conglomerate bed in Chuckanut Formation rock. The creek was scoured of brush and sediment by the January 7 2009 pineapple express.  The hike begins at the North Lake Samish exit on I-5, and is about 2 miles round trip. There’s no trail in the gorge, but it is not a difficult trip. I’ve included links to YouTube videos of the flooding. Perfect for a few hours of fun. Oh, I forgot to mention the beautiful hidden waterfall!