White Horse Bluff | |
---|---|
Highest point | |
Elevation | 775 m (2,543 ft) |
Coordinates | 51°54′N120°07′W / 51.90°N 120.11°W |
Geography | |
Location in Wells Gray Provincial Park | |
Location | British Columbia, Canada |
District | Kamloops Division Yale Land District |
Parent range | Shuswap Highland |
Topo map | NTS 92P16 Mahood Lake |
Geology | |
Rock age | 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.
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]
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.
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]
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.
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 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.
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, 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.
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.
Volcanic activity is a major part of the geology of Canada and is characterized by many types of volcanic landform, including lava flows, volcanic plateaus, lava domes, cinder cones, stratovolcanoes, shield volcanoes, submarine volcanoes, calderas, diatremes, and maars, along with less common volcanic forms such as tuyas and subglacial mounds.
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 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, 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 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.
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.
The Flatiron is the name for an eroded volcanic outcrop in east-central British Columbia, Canada, located in Wells Gray Provincial Park.
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.
The Mount Cayley volcanic field (MCVF) is a remote volcanic zone on the South Coast of British Columbia, Canada, stretching 31 km (19 mi) from the Pemberton Icefield to the Squamish River. It forms a segment of the Garibaldi Volcanic Belt, the Canadian portion of the Cascade Volcanic Arc, which extends from Northern California to southwestern British Columbia. Most of the MCVF volcanoes were formed during periods of volcanism under sheets of glacial ice throughout the last glacial period. These subglacial eruptions formed steep, flat-topped volcanoes and subglacial lava domes, most of which have been entirely exposed by deglaciation. However, at least two volcanoes predate the last glacial period and both are highly eroded. The field gets its name from Mount Cayley, a volcanic peak located at the southern end of the Powder Mountain Icefield. This icefield covers much of the central portion of the volcanic field and is one of the several glacial fields in the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains.
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 5,415 square kilometres. It is British Columbia's fifth largest provincial park, after Tweedsmuir, Tatshenshini, Spatsizi and Northern Rocky Mountains.
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.