Geology

Find Cool Geology at Mount St. Helens

Forty years ago, at 8:32am on a quiet Sunday morning, Mount St. Helens blew its top. The explosion was a massive volcanic eruption, the most disastrous in U.S. history. A plume of searing hot ash spewed hundreds of feet into the air that turned day into night around the Pacific Northwest. The unexpected lateral blast […]

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CAMP & HIKE: Steamboat Rock State Park

Thumbnail image for CAMP & HIKE: Steamboat Rock State Park

In the heart of Washington’s Grand Coulee desert country is an outdoor lover’s paradise. And your base camp for all of it sits in the middle of an “island” surrounded by your outdoor playground. Cool rocks and unusual birds. Hikes through blooming desert wildflowers. Fragrant sagebrush whipping in the wind. Sleeping under a big sky […]

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A River Begins: Hike to Metolius Springs

How do rivers begin? Well, snowmelt from mountaintops gathers into little gullies that form streams. And then those join to feed bigger streams, that then flow into rivers. Right? The mighty Metolius River in Oregon defies this basic geology lesson. It literally springs out of the shadow of a mountain. The mountain is called Black […]

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