One Park, One Museum, One Stamp at a Time
Ice Age Floods National Geologic TrailMy biggest goals within the National Parks Passport program in the short term are to visit all of the NPS units in Washington state (hopefully in the summer of 2019) and to complete the entire Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail. This trail is comprised of a number of sites in the northwest centered around the Missoula Floods after the last ice age. Glacial dams in Idaho and Montana gave out and released massive flooding across Washington and Idaho, emptying large inland seas across the continent. These floods have always interested me since they explain many unique geologic features in Washington state. My first stop on this trail was Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge, only a 45 minute drive from my house and the only stamping location that close to my new home in Spokane. I had recently accepted a teaching position for a local school district and needed to drop off some paperwork at our offices, and decided to make a day out of it and visit nearby Turnbull. The Channeled Scablands of Turnbull were created during the great floods of the last ice age. The area is unique for its mixture of basalt outcroppings, flooded channels, and pine forests. The wetlands are a great breeding area for water fowl and, for this purpose, a protect wildlife area. My wife and I stopped by the visitor center to ask about what birds we might see during the summer time and to pick up my stamp. They have a cool refuge stamp featuring a bat that is unique compared to the typical NWR stamp featuring a goose. We then set off on the driving tour of the refuge. It was over 100 degrees that day so we limited our hiking to a minimum but we did make a couple of stops to look for birds in the wetlands. Turnbull was a cool place to visit and I am excited to check it out again in the spring when the water fowl are more active in the area. New Units Visited: 1
Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail Total Affiliated Areas This Year: 19 Total Units: 29
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