White Horse Bluff

Last updated
White Horse Bluff
Highest point
Elevation 775 m (2,543 ft)
Coordinates 51°54′N120°07′W / 51.90°N 120.11°W / 51.90; -120.11
Geography
Location British Columbia, Canada
DistrictKamloops Division Yale Land District
Parent range Shuswap Highland
Topo map NTS   92P16 Mahood Lake
Geology
Age of rock Pleistocene
Mountain type Subaqueous volcano [1]
Last eruption 500,000 years ago
Climbing
Easiest route Trail from Green Mountain Road

White Horse Bluff is a subaqueous volcano [1] in Wells Gray Provincial Park, east-central British Columbia, Canada.

Contents

Geology

About half a million years ago, the Clearwater Valley was filled by a lake backed up by a lava dam near Hemp Creek. White Horse Bluff is a complex volcanic formation that erupted underneath this lake. The outer lava cooled rapidly as it encountered the lake, then water percolated into the still-molten interior of the lava, initiating violent explosions. As the pile of debris grew, dykes fed more lava to the bluff. Subsequent erosion by glaciers and meltwater has exposed these dykes which give the impression that a giant hand has plastered gobs of lava onto the face. [2] [3]

The Rock Roses are a unique collection of small columns. Unlike most formations of columnar basalt which are vertical like organ pipes, these are horizontal and the ends of the columns point out, rather like the tiles on a shower wall. About 50 m (164 ft) further west, the columns suddenly change direction and resemble the wall of a log house. The Rock Roses were formed by the molten lava in the dyke contacting the cooler and older adjoining rocks. [2]

Rock Roses Rock Roses.jpg
Rock Roses

Access

A trail starts from the Green Mountain Road off the Clearwater Valley Road (also called Wells Gray Park Road). It takes 1.5 hours to hike to the top of White Horse Bluff.

White Horse Bluff can be viewed from the Clearwater River Road on the opposite or west bank of the Clearwater River.

History

The origin of the name, White Horse Bluff, is still debated by Clearwater Valley pioneers, but a First Nations legend about a white horse seems to be the most popular theory. Apparently several horses, including a striking white one, were once pastured beside the Clearwater River near the base of the bluff. In the fall, when the animals were to be moved, the white horse could not be found. In the spring, however, it was found grazing at the top, having somehow climbed up from the river and survived the winter on its own. [2]

Mac and Cecile McDiarmid built one of their Clearwater River fishing camps at the foot of the White Horse Bluff in the late 1940s. It was nicknamed "The Longhouse" because it was 12 m (39 ft) long and 5 m (16 ft) wide. Only the ruins are left today. Eventually, the McDiarmids operated four cabins or fishing camps along the river and their home base on the Clearwater Valley Road was called Trophies Lodge. Hundreds of guests enjoyed wilderness vacations and the Clearwater's fabulous fishing over a 25-year period starting in 1945. About 1950, a guest at The Longhouse detected a cold draft blowing outward from some cracks near the base of the White Horse Bluff. The McDiarmids excavated a cavity about a meter deep and almost high enough for a standing person. This natural refrigerator kept ice solid even on the hottest of summer days and was a luxury in this remote place. It is still there today and, in September 2014, the temperature at the entrance was measured at 5 degrees Celsius. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

Helmcken Falls Waterfall in British Columbia, Canada

Helmcken Falls is a 141 m (463 ft) waterfall on the Murtle River within Wells Gray Provincial Park in British Columbia, Canada. The protection of Helmcken Falls was one of the reasons for the creation of Wells Gray Provincial Park in 1939.

Clearwater River (British Columbia) River in British Columbia, Canada

The Clearwater River is the largest tributary of the North Thompson River, joining it at the community of Clearwater, British Columbia. The Clearwater rises from glaciers in the Cariboo Mountains and flows in a mostly southerly direction for 201 km (125 mi) to the North Thompson. Its entire course, except the last 5 km (3 mi), is within Wells Gray Provincial Park. Its confluence with the North Thompson is protected by North Thompson River Provincial Park.

Pyramid Mountain (Wells Gray-Clearwater)

Pyramid Mountain is a subglacial mound located on the Murtle Plateau in Wells Gray Provincial Park, east-central British Columbia, Canada.

Tuya Butte is a tuya in the Tuya Range of north-central British Columbia, Canada. It is a bit less isolated from other ranges than neighbouring Mount Josephine. Some of the other volcanoes in the area include South Tuya, Ash Mountain, and Mathews Tuya.

Dragon Cone is a monogenetic cinder cone located in Wells Gray Provincial Park in east-central British Columbia. It is the source of a 15 km (9 mi) long lava flow, called Dragon's Tongue. This lava covered the floor of narrow Falls Creek Valley and terminated at the Clearwater River, damming it to a height of 3 m (10 ft) and raising the level of existing Clearwater Lake upstream. Geologists have recovered some peat buried by the lava and radiocarbon dating produced an age of 7560 years plus or minus 100 years. Flows from nearby Flourmill Cone, Kostal Cone and Spanish Lake Cones rest on glaciated bedrock without an intervening paleosol, suggesting an early Holocene age.

Kostal Cone

Kostal Cone, also called Kostal Volcano and Fire Mountain, is a young cinder cone in Wells Gray Provincial Park in east-central British Columbia, Canada. It rises from the northeast shore of Kostal Lake in the Cariboo Mountains. With an elevation of 1,440 m (4,724 ft), Kostal Cone is one of the lowest volcanoes in the Wells Gray-Clearwater volcanic field.

Mount Ray (British Columbia)

Mount Ray, also known as Ray Mountain, is a subglacial mound in Wells Gray Provincial Park, British Columbia, Canada. Mount Ray last erupted during the Pleistocene. It is part of the Wells Gray-Clearwater volcanic field.

Buck Hill is a hill in east-central British Columbia, Canada, located 17 km (10.6 mi) north of Clearwater. It rises from the west slope of Trophy Mountain. Buck Hill is just outside the boundary of Wells Gray Provincial Park.

Flourmill Volcanoes

The Flourmill Volcanoes, also known as The Flourmills, are a small volcano range near the west boundary of Wells Gray Provincial Park in east-central British Columbia, Canada. Located north of Mahood Lake and west of the Clearwater River, they form part of the Wells Gray-Clearwater volcanic field.

McLeod Hill is a tuya, located 41 km (25 mi) north of Clearwater in the Wells Gray-Clearwater volcanic field in Wells Gray Provincial Park, east-central British Columbia, Canada.

Geology of the Pacific Northwest Geology of Oregon and Washington (United States) and British Columbia (Canada)

The geology of the Pacific Northwest includes the composition, structure, physical properties and the processes that shape the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The region is part of the Ring of Fire: the subduction of the Pacific and Farallon Plates under the North American Plate is responsible for many of the area's scenic features as well as some of its hazards, such as volcanoes, earthquakes, and landslides.

Clearwater Lake (British Columbia)

Clearwater Lake is one of six large lakes in Wells Gray Provincial Park in east-central British Columbia, Canada,. The Clearwater River enters the lake at its north end, flowing from Hobson Lake and Azure Lake, and also drains the lake. There are several small streams that flow into Clearwater Lake, but it has no significant tributaries.

Spahats Creek Falls Waterfall on Spahats Creek in Wells Gray Provincial Park, British Columbia, Canada

Spahats Creek Falls, also called Spahats Falls, is a waterfall on Spahats Creek within Wells Gray Provincial Park of British Columbia, Canada. Common references place the falls at around 60 m (197 ft) tall, but taking into account the second tier, it is closer to 75–80 meters tall. It is a popular stop for tourists and especially motorcoach tours since it is only 10 km (6.2 mi) off the busy Yellowhead Highway.

Mahood Lake Lake in British Columbia, Canada

Mahood Lake is a lake in the South Cariboo region of the Interior of British Columbia in Wells Gray Provincial Park. It is drained by the Mahood River, a tributary of the Clearwater River which has cut a deep canyon into Cambrian rocks and Pleistocene glacial moraines. Mahood Lake is fed by the short Canim River, which drains nearby Canim Lake to the west via Canim Falls and Mahood Falls.

Murtle River

The Murtle River is a river in east-central British Columbia, Canada. It rises from a large unnamed glacier in the Cariboo Mountains at an elevation of 2,300 metres (7,500 ft) and flows southwest for 18 kilometres (11 mi) to the head of gigantic Murtle Lake. The river also drains Murtle Lake then flows southwest for 36 kilometres (22 mi) into the Clearwater River. The Murtle River is the longest and largest tributary to the Clearwater.

Flatiron (volcano)

The Flatiron is the name for an eroded volcanic outcrop in east-central British Columbia, Canada, located in Wells Gray Provincial Park.

Wells Gray-Clearwater volcanic field Volcanic field in British Columbia, Canada

The Wells Gray-Clearwater volcanic field, also called the Clearwater Cone Group, is a potentially active monogenetic volcanic field in east-central British Columbia, Canada, located approximately 130 km (81 mi) north of Kamloops. It is situated in the Cariboo Mountains of the Columbia Mountains and on the Quesnel and Shuswap Highlands. As a monogenetic volcanic field, it is a place with numerous small basaltic volcanoes and extensive lava flows.

Mount Edziza volcanic complex Mountain in British Columbia, Canada

The Mount Edziza volcanic complex is a large and potentially active north-south trending complex volcano in Stikine Country, northwestern British Columbia, Canada, located 38 kilometres (24 mi) southeast of the small community of Telegraph Creek. It occupies the southeastern portion of the Tahltan Highland, an upland area of plateau and lower mountain ranges, lying east of the Boundary Ranges and south of the Inklin River, which is the east fork of the Taku River. As a volcanic complex, it consists of many types of volcanoes, including shield volcanoes, calderas, lava domes, stratovolcanoes, and cinder cones.

Wells Gray Provincial Park

Wells Gray Provincial Park is a large wilderness park located in east-central British Columbia, Canada. The park protects most of the southern, and highest, regions of the Cariboo Mountains and covers 5,250 square kilometres. It is British Columbia's fourth largest park, after Tatshenshini, Spatsizi and Tweedsmuir.

McDiarmid Falls

McDiarmid Falls is a waterfall on Grouse Creek in Wells Gray Provincial Park, east-central British Columbia, Canada. It is located 100 m (328 ft) downstream from Moul Falls and 150 m (492 ft) upstream from Grouse Creek's confluence with the Clearwater River.

References

  1. 1 2 "White Horse Bluff". Catalogue of Canadian volcanoes. Natural Resources Canada. 2005-08-19. Archived from the original on January 12, 2008. Retrieved 2017-07-04.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Neave, Roland (2015). Exploring Wells Gray Park, 6th edition. Wells Gray Tours, Kamloops, BC. ISBN   978-0-9681932-2-8.
  3. Goward, Trevor and Hickson, Cathie (1995). Nature Wells Gray, 2nd edition. Lone Pine Publishing, Edmonton, AB. ISBN   1-55105-065-X.