While there are traditional caches nearby, this is an earthcache. There is no physical cache at this location. See below for logging requirements. Permission has been granted by the Boardman Parks and Recreation District Manager. There is ADA Parking with access to the paved path at the coordinates posted for the parking area.
Toward the end of the most recent ice age, ice sheets extended south from the Arctic to cover northern portions of Washington, Idaho, Montana, and other U.S. States. A lobe of this sheet dammed the Clark Fork River in the Idaho Panhandle, creating what we know today as Lake Missoula. Periodically, the dam would burst, sending the entirety of the lake cascading toward the Pacific Ocean.
Along with the flood waters, there were also icebergs containing massive granite boulders that had been pushed south by the ice sheet. The water and the materials contained in it scoured the Inland Northwest, creating features such as the Channeled Scablands to the north of the Tri-Cities. In some places, geographic barriers like the Columbia Gorge or the Horse Heaven Hills would halt water movement. This would create temporary lakes lasting for a few days. The Ice Age Floods (also known as the Missoula Floods) were important in carving the Columbia Basin into what we see today.
While the ice has receded and the lakes are now a part of the past, there are still reminders of the cataclysmic floods around us today. In some places, like Wallula Gap, the floods exposed the underlying layers of basalt. In others, it laid down thick beds of sediment that obscure the basalt. Following the floods, more sediment was laid down by the river, wind, and volcanic eruptions.
To log this earthcache, you will need to send me the answers to the following questions:
Questions: Do you see any exposed basalt from this location? - If yes, what kind of formation is it? (Like a cliff or an outcropping) - If no, why do you think that is? You do not need to send me the answers before logging the cache, but logs that don't have answers sent to me within about a week of logging will be deleted.
For those who like to keep track of counties they cache in, this one is in Morrow County, Oregon.