Mr. Erickson. He was my 7th grade science teacher and he might be the reason that I couldn't have cared less about geology. He couldn't have been more of a villain about it either. He did not make geology a fun or entertaining subject. It felt more like a chore to him, and I think thats why he presented us with the worst test I have ever taken. Instead of teaching us in story and history, he just taught us the boring parts of science. The numbers and the chemicals. There is no 7th grader who wants to learn about that. He would spin yarn about the makeup of rocks, but would forget to tell us how they got there. We were expected to identify the makeup of a box of rocks that sat in front of us for our exam, in a basic 7th grade science class. Geology could have not been more boring...
Fast forward 23 years, and my thoughts have become completely different. Geology is so incredibly fascinating that I cannot help but let my mind wander and that is all thanks to Nick Zentner. Nick is a Professor of Geology at CWU in Ellensburg, Wa, and he produces some very great online content. These are not your ordinary youtube videos, and he isn't your ordinary social media influencer. His most popular video is an hour and a half lecture on Dating the Ice Age Floods. You can see it here:
Nick presents his classes and his lectures the same way, by telling a story. The story of how the land around Washington State was formed in a way that makes you understand and engage. I have never cared about the how the mountains were formed or why there were round rocks in the middle of a field miles from the nearest water source, but now I do. He makes geology completely entertaining and I am hooked. I know they say "Don't meet your heroes.", but I think this one is different.
Knowing how much I have been enjoying learning about our great state and how the land that we all inhabit formed, Loz decided to book us a cabin at Steamboat Rock State Park. It would be our first time staying in a state park cabin, and lets just say, we were stoked. Not to mention that we would be staying inside of a coulee made by an Ice Age Flood.
On the subject of Ice Age Floods, Did you know that the reason that we have boxed canyons called Coulees, is because of a bunch of massive floods that took place over thousands of years starting in Montana flowing through Idaho & Washington and ending in the Columbia River flowing out to the Pacific ocean? It's true! There was this huge flood that happened and it made all these cool land features in Idaho and Washington. This weekend I was able to explore one of them! Steamboat Rock. We decided to take a little hike around and check it out!
Steamboat Rock is a formation of eroded basalt rock that formed when the ice age floods ripped through the area. Basalt is a tough and very easily identifiable rock formation. In this area, the basalt will form in huge columns and this is because of the lava floods. The lava will flood over the land and cool. The heat from the bottom will need to escape and will rise to the top, this creates the columns as it cools. It's crazy to think that each layer that you see is a different lava flood. Not only the amount of layers, but also the mere size of the layers!
When the ice age floods came ripping through, they carved out the walls the of the rock and essentially made a little island! I just love to imagine what it would have been like to see this 2000 foot tall wall of water come crashing through the area. It's crazy to think that these flood tore out the basalt from the walls and rolled boulders into round stones. You can see these large stones all over the place! They are called Glacial Erratics and they are basically rocks that were carried along with the flood water and smoothed along the way.
Here is a little gallery of some of the photos I took on the walkabout!
After our walkabout around the big rock, we decided to head back to the cabin for some nice R&R. The cabins at Steamboat Rock State Park are very basic, but to be honest, kind of nice. They were one big living room and a bedroom. It was furnished with a kitchen table 4 chairs, a futon and a bunk bed. It would be a great place for a family to stay to explore the area and it was perfect for us for a nice get away.
After a great meal and some more reading, it was time to hit the hay. Sleeping on the cots has been a game changer and I don't know if I will ever go back. We slept so well during the night, and was only woken up by the sound of our girl dane whining to be covered back up. Our alarm went off at 8:30AM and we decided to finally take a look out the window. To our great surprise, it was snowing! Nice big flakes, ya know, the pretty ones! It was a great sight to see and I'm glad we were there to witness! I was able to grab a couple of photos and a short video of the snow. It does no justice to being there!
It took us a little over 45 mins to get Franklin all packed up and ready to go. The drive home was just stunning. The first hour was spent in a high desert winter wonderland. It was too pretty, and the roads were great. I will never not love seeing fresh snow. It makes me so happy.
As we made our way to Ellensburg, we had to stop at a place that is near and dear to my heart. Perkins. It's the closest midwest staple that I have in Washington, and I have to stop every time!
Once we filled up on breakfast and ordered a pie to go, we made our way over the pass. No trip over the pass is worth it without stopping at the Thorp Fruit Stand. We took the opportunity to walk around and snap a couple of photos. Loz ended up picking up some salt water taffy and a great looking salad dressing.
The sun was on our side and we made quick time over the pass. With the recent snow, the Cascades were looking like a those postcards that are over edited, but this was real life. Enjoy the gallery of our drive over the pass.
With 5 hours of driving behind us, we are finally back in Tacoma. A sight for sore eyes.
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