Ice Age group books three lectures, fall tour to Staircase Rapids

Palouse Falls Chapter of the Ice Age Floods Institute has booked presentations for Sept. 7 in Ritzville and Sept. 14 in Colfax and LaCrosse. The presentation in Ritzville will be at the Ritzville Public Library from 7 to 8 p.m. The Colfax lecture will be from 3 to 4 p.m. at the Colfax library, and the LaCrosse presentation will follow from 7 to 8 p.m. at The Gathering Place.

The lecture, titled “Changing the Course of the Palouse River,” will tell how stream capture during the Ice Age Floods diverted the Palouse River from the Washtucna Coulee to its present day location. It will be presented by Lloyd Stoess, chapter president.

The lecture will also serve as the pre-trip lecture for the group’s fall outing, which is booked for Oct. 1. It will take participants on a bus tour north of Washtucna to Staircase Rapids. The group will explore two spillways, the first including the Palouse Canyon, HU Canyon, Palouse Falls and Lyons Ferry. The second spillway is known as Devil’s Canyon. It will include stories related to the Ice Age floods and the region’s early history.

That outing will begin at Washtucna High School, with the bus leaving promptly at 8:30 a.m. It will return at 4:30 p.m. Travel to Washtucna from Colfax and LaCrosse can also be arranged ahead of time but must be noted when registering.

“If you do both, you get a whole lot more out of it,” Stoess said.

More information about the lecture and outing will be available at the Palouse Falls Chapter’s fair booth at the Palouse Empire Fair Sept. 8-11, and people can register there for the outing. Attendance at the lecture is free, and the cost for the outing is $75 for non-Ice Age Floods Institute members or $60 for members. Teachers and students can also register for $35. The fee covers the cost of a field trip guidebook, lunch and drinks and the chartered bus.

More information at http://www.facebook.com/iafipf.