I’m posting this mostly for Steve/digit because of where he lives, but it’s really interesting anyway!

Nova on PBS just had a show on called "Mystery of the Megaflood", and I only saw part of it, but it was very interesting, and if it’s rebroadcast, I plan to see the whole thing next time. Looking for more information online, I found the Nova site and there’s a cool interactive map that shows where the Megaflood was (during the ice age). This looks like your kind of thing, Steve, and I thought you might want to keep an eye out to see if it’s broadcast up there. It reminds me of the super volcano I learned all about when I went up to Yellowstone last fall. Very interesting! When I’m working I love to sit and watch the geology of the land when I can. It’s absolutely fascinating—and amazing!

Skybird

I’m actually older than the Glacial Lake Missoula floods – of course, that makes me older than dirt! But, really, what I mean by that is that when I was in college geography, the idea of such massive floods wasn’t universally accepted. Recall that the guy with the original idea didn’t sway the scientific community until the source of all that water could be located at in the mountains of western Montana. Further, it must have taken satellite imagery to convince everyone.

I look around this area and am just amazed. Some of the Channeled Scablands aren't too beautiful (fitting for the name) other areas are lovely, most of it is dramatic! But, moving back closer to the mountains, it is incredible to think of the water flowing "upstream" everywhere.

As an example, evidence of the floods indicate that water flowed north between Spokane and Newport – nearly 50 miles and uphill almost all the way. But as amazing as this seems to me, more remarkable is that the Pend O’Reille River did not exist be for the floods! Water flowed so rapidly into Pend O’Reille Lake that flooding up the valley of a prehistoric creek ran over the crest of the watershed to the West. The water crashed down the western slope at the presently named Albani Falls and joined the flood waters coming north from Spokane. All this was happening despite the MAJOR flow of water moving southwest away from Pend O’Reille Lake. Massive, massive water of great depth was everywhere in the western foothills of the Rockies.

I recently took a little drive to Rock Lake, Washington. This is in eastern most area of the Channeled Scabland. The lake is in quite a canyon, gouged by the water as it flowed southwest. Legend has it that the Indians did not put their canoes on the lake because those who drowned were never found. Between Rock Lake and Bonnie Lake to the north is a place called "Hole in the Ground." I talked to an elderly lady who lives nearby; she said that people who have explored that area have sometimes "disappeared." The mystery continues.

Steve