Indian Heaven, land of fire and ice - 10/27/19

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Bosterson
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Indian Heaven, land of fire and ice - 10/27/19

Post by Bosterson » October 27th, 2019, 8:46 pm

In Which We Make An Amazing Geologic Discovery

Headed for Red Mountain Lookout from FR 60, I convinced my friend that road walking is boring, so we meandered uphill through the forest, eventually popping out south of the lookout.

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The wind was ferocious and sub-freezing, but it was a VanMarmot-worthy bluebird day.

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On the way down the trail on the north side, we came across an entire hillside made of ice needles.

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Down at the Racetrack junction.

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The Racetrack trail is currently a lake. A frozen lake.

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All of this standing water is frozen over.

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More natural art.

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Leaving the trail at Green Lake, we headed east until we hit FR 240, which has signs of recent glaciation.

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Photographic proof of the the heretofore undiscovered Indian Heaven Glacier.

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The glacier's lateral moraine.

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And the glacier's terminus.

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After documenting our findings for an upcoming National Geographic special, we regained FR 60 and crossed it into the Big Lava Bed, whereupon I took some pictures of jumbled lava in mixed lighting that didn't make the final cut for this TR.

Our trip into the lava bed ended in tedium, as accessing the Big Lava Crater would be much easier a little farther south on the road, so we retreated to review our scientific findings at Backwoods Brewing.

Postscript: Oh right, there was supposed to be fire? We did come across some used fire rings... ;)
#pnw #bestlife #bitingflies #favoriteyellowcap #neverdispleased

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Chip Down
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Re: Indian Heaven, land of fire and ice - 10/27/19

Post by Chip Down » October 28th, 2019, 5:58 pm

I've been to IH only a few times, but I think of water as one of its defining characteristics. In spring, it can get downright swampy, when snow melts but snowdams prevent drainage. But now, with no snow to speak of, and no biblical-scale rains recently, where did all that water come from? Was it overflow from Racetrack Lake?

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Don Nelsen
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Re: Indian Heaven, land of fire and ice - 10/27/19

Post by Don Nelsen » October 28th, 2019, 7:39 pm

Great TR and pics! I hope to get back up there this week.

dn
"Everything works in the planning stage" - Kelly

"If you don't do it this year, you will be one year older when you do" - Warren Miller

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drm
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Re: Indian Heaven, land of fire and ice - 10/27/19

Post by drm » October 29th, 2019, 11:24 am

Chip Down wrote:
October 28th, 2019, 5:58 pm
But now, with no snow to speak of, and no biblical-scale rains recently, where did all that water come from? Was it overflow from Racetrack Lake?
They don't need to be biblical scale in IH since it is a flat plateau. But some pretty good tstorms went through the night of the 26th. Radar maps were turning yellowish-red, so that's pretty solid.

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