Deep Lake

Deep Lake Road Trip & Open Water Swim
July 5, 2007

Deep Lake is in Eastern Washington in the Sun Lakes area outside of Ephrata, about 2 hours from Seattle. Once over the Cascade mountain range, the climate changes from cooler and wetter to drier and warmer. One transitions from mostly urban sprawl on the western, Seattle/Tacoma/Everett side to the wide open farmlands and desert east of the Cascades. The several small lakes in the Sun Lakes area were created during a series of Ice Age floods that resulted in scouring of the land creating "scablands". Dry Falls is a couple miles from Deep Lake and is a major land feature there. I'll just let Wikipedia give the geology lesson (I added in the pictures of Niagara Falls and Dry Falls).

In central Washington, on the opposite side of the Grand Coulee from the Columbia River, resides a three and a half mile crescent-shaped precipice known as Dry Falls. Ten times the size of Niagara, Dry Falls is thought to be
the greatest known waterfall that ever existed.Geologists speculate that during the last ice age catastrophic flooding channeled water at 65 miles per hour through the Grand Coulee and over this 400-foot rock face. At this time, it is estimated that the flow of the falls was ten times greater than the current flow of all the rivers in the world combined.

Nearly twenty thousand years ago, as glaciers moved south, one ice sheet plugged the Clark Fork of the Columbia River, which kept water from being drained from Montana. Consequently a significant portion of western Montana flooded forming the gigantic Lake Missoula. Eventually, enough pressure accumulated on the ice dam that it gave way. It is generally accepted that this process of ice-damming of the Clark Fork, refilling of Lake Missoula and
subsequent cataclysmic flooding happened dozens of times over the years of the last Ice Age.[1][2]

This sudden release put parts of Idaho, Washington, and Oregon under hundreds of feet of
water in just a few days. These floods, which some consider to be among the most extraordinary known, created the Grand Coulee and Dry Falls in a short period. Similar glacial flooding, though not as impressive as the aforementioned, kept the falls flowing for several thousand years.

A few from my masters swimming group had gone to this area in years past and came back with reports of a fine swimming hole for open water enthusiasts. Deep Lake is closed to motor boats. It is a narrow (maybe 200 yards at it's widest) and about 1.7 miles long lake with steep cliffs on either side. A swimmer starts at one end and quickly leaves behind the few people in rubber rafts and teenagers jumping from rocks. Within a quarter mile it feels pretty remote as you swim uplake. A few outcroppings of the basalt cliffs create some gentle bends that obscure your view of the other end until you finally make the last turn with maybe 1/8 mile to go. At the end is a boulder field rising steeply up - a good place to haul out and rest and take in the scenery.

The suggested plan was to drive out early, swim, eat and head home. HUH? All that in just one day? It sounded like too much windshield time for me, a waste of a good road trip opportunity and fine weather, so I made it known that I planned to go out the day before (July 4th) and camp overnight at nearby Sun Lakes State Park, just 3 miles down the road. The idea sounded good to others, so I was joined by Tim R. and Jim J. from masters and they ended up staying 2 nights. It was clear, hot, dry Eastern Washington summer weather, I was getting the hell out of the city during the air raids (I mean, the 4th of July noise) and it was a road trip with a swim opportunity. Sounded good to me! Camping was relaxing and quiet, though if I do this again I will bring insect repellent.

The next day, several more swimmers from other swim groups, about 9 of them, showed up at Deep Lake. Some of us wore our wetsuits others did not since the water was warm enough (me? I prefer a wetsuit - I'd rather be too warm than too cold and I like the assist with floating my legs). We took off swimming and around 45 minutes later we were at the other end. The water was still and calm , it was a bright, sunny day and the air was dry and smelled good - like the desert, a sage smell maybe? It was a real pleasure to swim steadily, breathing on one side and then the other, kind of sightseeing along the way (at the cliffs). After a break, it was time to plunge back in and head downlake.

Afterwards, those of us heading back to Seattle went to a local tavern for lunch. It was tough being a vegetarian in Ephrata, a place that might as well be in the Midwest somewhere. "I'll have a sandwich, just leave the meat and mayonnaise off" says I, thinking I've made it quite plain and simple. I've been through the special ordering scenario many times before, but reserve it for places where the staff gets it. "No meat!? Well, what will you have on it?" exclaims the waitress. I was actually thinking something along the lines of sprouts, fresh basil leaves, roasted red pepper and eggplant, some mozzarella cheese, fresh organic cucumber and tomato slices, a drizzle of balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and crushed black pepper between a couple slices of foccacia bread. Sounds good, doesn't it? I thought better of suggesting anything like that though, lest I be pegged for some Western Washington, liberal, tree-hugging, commie pinko sissy or something (which more or less, I am), but why irritate the waitress? What I got was some white sandwich bread, iceberg lettuce, tomato and some of that pre-sliced yellow cheese. Well, it filled my hungry belly at least.

For an interesting 360 degree view of Deep Lake, check out this link and use the controls to swivel the picture:
http://virtualguidebooks.com/Washington/EasternWashington/SunLakes/DeepLakeSunLakes_FS.html