On the Trail of the Ice Age Floods: The Northern Reaches
A geological field guide to northern Idaho and the Channeled Scabland

by Bruce Bjornstad and Eugene Kiver
Nonfiction.
480 pages,
6" x 9" inches softcover,
400 black-and-white illustrations, maps and photos,
50 color plates, index

ISBN 978-1-879628-39-7
$26

An astonishing landscape, scoured by ancient floods

Ice Age cataclysms violently transformed the Northwest thousands of years ago, leaving behind scores of flood features, many found nowhere else on Earth. The sheer enormity of the Ice Age floods is mind-boggling. The floods helped gouge out Idaho’s largest and deepest lake, Pend Oreille, and sculpted the weird topography of eastern Washington.

Following up on his first volume, On the Trail of the Ice Age Floods: A geological field guide to the Mid-Columbia Basin, geologist Bruce Bjornstad joined forces with colleague Eugene Kiver to guide readers upstream – northward into the Channeled Scabland and northern Idaho. The authors explore numerous flood features and present dozens of trails and tours directing readers to experience, firsthand, the striking aftermath of the Ice Age floods.

• Explanations of 19 types of landforms
• Guides to 65 flood-formed features
• Thirty-nine hiking and biking trails

• Five driving tours and two aerial tours

Both volumes of On the Trail of the Ice Age Floods feature cover illustrations by Stev Ominski (stevominski.com), a Corvallis, Ore., artist renowned for his series of paintings on the Ice Age floods. The books make ideal companions when exploring the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail, named one of “The 10 Most Spectacular Geologic Sites” in the continental United States by Smithsonian Magazine.

Illustrated with 400 maps, schematics, photos and illustrations, including 32 pages of color plates, On the Trail of the Ice Age Floods provides a clear, concise and easily useable guide to the remarkable geologic record of the great Ice Age floods.

Click to see Central Rocks - Roadside Geology: Dry Falls video

Click to see Dry Falls State Park - Washington - Trike Flying video

Book signings, lectures slated for On the Trail of the Ice Age Floods: The Northern Reaches

Benton County Public Utility District, 2721 W 10th Ave., Kennewick, Wash., hosts Bruce Bjornstad Tuesday, Sept. 11 at 6:45 p.m. for a program sponsored by the Lake Lewis Chapter of the Ice Age Floods Institute. The author will present a 45-minute slide lecture followed by a book signing. Information: 509-946-8050.

Padilla Bay National Estuarine Reserve, 10441 Bay View-Edison Rd., Mount Vernon, Wash., hosts Eugene Kiver Tuesday, Sept. 11 at 7 p.m. for a program sponsored by Skagit Audubon (www.skagitaudubon.org). The author will present an illustrated, hour-long talk on the northern reaches of the Channeled Scabland from the ice dam in northern Idaho to Moses Coulee in the western Columbia Plateau. Information: 360-336-8753.

Hood River Public Library, 502 State St., Hood River, Ore., hosts Bruce Bjornstad Sunday, Sept. 23 at 2 p.m. for a program sponsored by the Columbia Gorge Chapter of the Ice Age Floods Institute. The author will present a 45-minute slide lecture followed by a book signing. Information: 509-493-4288.

Spokane Falls Community College, Lair Auditorium, Student Union Building, #6, 1810 North Greene (parking lots off Mission Avenue), Spokane, Wash., hosts Eugene Kiver, Thursday, Sept. 27 at 7 p.m. for a program cosponsored by Cheney-Spokane Chapter of the Ice Age Floods Institute and Spokane Falls Community College Department of Science. The author will present an illustrated, hour-long talk on the northern reaches of the Channeled Scabland from the ice dam in northern Idaho to Moses Coulee in the western Columbia Plateau. Information: iaficheneyspokane@gmail.com or 509-954-4242.

Everett Public Library, 2702 Hoyt Ave., Everett, Wash., hosts Bruce Bjornstad Saturday, Sept. 29 at 2 p.m. The author will present a 45-minute slide lecture followed by a book signing. Information: 425-257-7640, cjohnson@ci.everett.wa.us.

Tualatin Heritage Center, 8700 SW Sweek Drive, Tualatin, Ore., hosts Bruce Bjornstad Thursday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. for a program sponsored by the Lower Columbia Chapter of the Ice Age Floods Institute. Information: 503-257-0144.

Corvallis-Benton County Public Library, Main Meeting Room, 645 NW Monroe Ave., Corvallis, Ore., hosts Bruce Bjornstad and cover artists Stev H. Ominski, Saturday, Oct. 27 at 3 p.m. for a program cosponsored by the Friends of Corvallis-Benton County Public Library and Ice Age Floods Institute Lower Columbia Chapter. The artist will have a few of his paintings related to the Ice Age floods on display, and the author will present a 45-minute slide lecture, “Exploring the Ice Age Floods through Science and Art,” followed by a book signing. Information: 541-766-6793.

Edmonds Senior Center, 220 Railroad Ave., Edmonds, Wash., hosts Bruce Bjornstad and Eugene Kiver Monday, Nov. 5 at 7 p.m. for a program sponsored by the Puget Lobe Chapter of the Ice Age Floods Institute. The authors will present a 45-minute slide lecture followed by a book signing. Information: 206-784-3146, dmiddleton1@earthlink.net.

Auntie’s Bookstore, 402 West Main Avenue, Spokane, Wash., hosts Bruce Bjornstad Saturday, Nov. 17 at 2 p.m. The author will present a 45-minute slide lecture, “Exploring the Ice age Floods Through Science and Art,” followed by a book signing. Call for information: 509-838-0206.

Tualatin Heritage Center, 8700 SW Sweek Drive, Tualatin, Ore., hosts Eugene Kiver Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013, at 7 p.m. for a program sponsored by the Lower Columbia Chapter of the Ice Age Floods Institute. Information: 503-257-0144.

Praise for On the Trail of the Ice Age Floods: The Northern Reaches

This remarkably detailed and authoritative guide leads you by trail, road and aerial tour to discover for yourself the amazing world of cataclysmic flood geology. You cannot get a better-published source for your field excursions into this fascinating region.

–Victor R. Baker, Ph.D., Regents Professor, University of Arizona

After hiking and exploring the Channeled Scabland region for 35 years, I didn’t know what I was missing until I read this book. The authors rock.

–Rich Landers, Outdoors Editor, The Spokesman-Review

The detail provided here is extremely valuable. As a regular field trip leader in the Channeled Scabland, I lean heavily on these On the Trail of the Ice Age Floods guidebooks. After decades of fieldwork, Bruce and Gene tip us off on the best sites to learn – secret spots until now.

–Nick Zentner, Senior Lecturer of Geology, Central Washington University

Together, (Bruce Bjornstad and Gene Kiver) offer a guided tour of significant sites within the northern reaches of the Channeled Scabland, revealing and interpreting the geologic stories.

–John Soennichsen, author of Bretz’s Flood and Washington’s Channeled Scablands Guide

An outstanding guide to the flood features of northern Idaho and central Washington, providing trail access information and difficulty; identification of features along the trail, including best observation points, with GPS references; and land manager information and any use restrictions. ... This guide will become the ultimate guidebook for all trail users wanting to explore the Ice Age Floods created landscapes of northern Idaho and central Washington.

–Bill Fraser, Regional Park Planner, Washington State Parks

Bruce Bjornstad and Gene Kiver are to be commended for capturing the immense significance and grandeur of these floods and resulting landforms. ... The guidebook is very well-written, easy to understand and supported by extensive illustrations … a great resource for the undergraduate student and researcher, as well as a wider community of those interested in the astonishing story of the Ice Age floods and the spectacular landscape.

–Karl R. Fecht, retired geologist

This energy, the draw of the basalt, all those coulees and dry falls, those erratics – boulders that were ice-rafted from afar and deposited by the forces of raging waters – and the sleuth work of Bretz behind this new and revolutionary theory in geology are the components that drove Bjornstad to write this book.

–Paul K. Haeder, Spokane Coeur d'Alene Living magazine

Click to read the story

About the authors

A resident of Richland, Washington, Bruce Bjornstad is a licensed geologist/hydrogeologist who has studied the Ice Age floods since 1980. He is a senior research scientist at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Also a licensed geologist, Kiver retired from Eastern Washington University as professor emeritus of geology in 2002 and divides his time between Cheney and Anacortes, Wash., while still conducting research. Both are active members of the Ice Age Floods Institute and regularly lecture and lead field trips on the subject.

• Click to read more about this book
• Click to read an introduction
• Click to read reviews
• Table of Contents (.pdf)

Nonfiction. 480 pages, 6" x 9" inches softcover, 400 black-and-white illustrations, maps and photos, 50 color plates, index

ISBN 978-1-879628-39-7
$26
Purchase online at the General Store
Or by phone at 1-800-880-3573