成人X站

Mysterious footprints and handprints in an ancient lava bed in southwest Washington near have inspired Indigenous origin stories for millennia and confounded settlers for more than a century.

The prints are in Goose Lake, near a that鈥檚 part of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. The lake is about a four-hour drive from Seattle, and not far from the Columbia River Gorge in the shadow of Mount Adams 鈥� one of Washington鈥檚 lesser-known, though no less majestic, volcanoes.

Though once on dryland, the prints are now almost always underwater. They consist of one set of human footprints and handprints in the old lava 鈥� now basalt 鈥� which were made in molten rock on the edge of a geologic feature known as Big Lava Bed. Geologists say the prints have been there for thousands of years, but it鈥檚 believed they were first noticed by settlers sometime in the 1890s. Magazine and newspaper articles about the prints began appearing every so often about 100 years ago, and their mysterious nature 鈥� and many decades underwater 鈥� have made them .

Matthew Mawhirter, heritage program manager for the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, says that when the Goose Lake prints are visible, it鈥檚 easy to speculate how they were made.

鈥淲hat you would see is two feet, side by side, as if somebody was just standing there,鈥� Mawhirter told 成人X站 Newsradio. 鈥淎nd then the two handprints are just a little ways in front of that as if, imagine jumping off a rock and landing on your feet, but having too much momentum, and you fall forward and you put your hands down on the ground to catch yourself, and then you pushed up to try to stand back up.鈥�

Accessibility and visibility vary from year to year and season to season, depending on the water level at Goose Lake, which depends on the weather.

A century ago 鈥� when those magazine and newspaper articles were first appearing 鈥� the prints were routinely above the waterline at Goose Lake and easily accessible to tourists and scientists. Thus, they were studied and photographed, and a few specific facts about the prints have become generally accepted by Forest Service archaeologists and other experts.

One fact is that, based on their size, they鈥檙e believed to have been made by a woman or a teenage girl. A second fact is the age of the prints: Big Lava Bed was formed by molten rock roughly 8,100 years ago, so this is truly ancient history, inadvertently documenting a specific (and perhaps traumatic) moment for a human inhabitant in what is now the Evergreen State. Also, the feet appear to have been clad in what would be described as moccasins (though that word is from an Indigenous language in the eastern United States) 鈥� or simple footwear made from animal hide.

Beyond these basics 鈥� which are few by which are still pretty tantalizing 鈥� the rest of the story all gets pretty mysterious.

鈥淵ou have perfect foot and hand prints, but then there’s nothing,鈥� Mawhirter said. 鈥淵ou don’t see footprints running off, you don’t see anything 鈥� and it’s not like it’s right on the edge of the lava, either, of that lava flow.鈥�

鈥淚’m not a volcanologist, but I can imagine that for rock to still be pliable it鈥檚 still got to be hot enough that you would not want to put your bare skin on it, let alone stand on it,鈥� Mawhirter said.

鈥淪o it’s not clear how they made those imprints there,鈥� Mawhirter continued. 鈥淲as that just a soft spot [in the lava] and the rest of it was already hard? It’s one of the mysteries.鈥�

Though not a mystery, Mawhirter says that the water level 鈥� and the visibility of the prints 鈥� at Goose Lake is hard to predict. Unlike most lakes which drain via creeks or rivers, Goose Lake drains through an old volcanic vent in the middle of the lake bed 鈥� so when it does drain, it鈥檚 more like a bathtub.

Settlers tried for decades to intentionally plug the volcanic vent so that Goose Lake would get deeper and larger. In 1963, when the vent finally did become plugged, the prints in the lava were covered with several feet of water and were pretty much lost for about 30 years.

Fast-forward to 1991, and a man from Portland named Larry King (no, not that Larry King) did a thorough search using snorkel gear, an underwater camera and a grid marked out with a sighting compass. King found the prints again, though they鈥檇 been obscured by algae and sediment. He also built a cofferdam around them and made a plaster cast 鈥� a copy of which is on display at the nearby Trout Lake Ranger Station.

Mawhirter says that stories about the prints go far back beyond the arrival of settlers. The Indigenous people who lived in that area since time immemorial are associated with the , which is not too far east of Goose Lake. Over the years, the Forest Service has collected Indigenous origin stories about the prints, including one about a young maiden leaping from a mountain top to escape an evil spirit. Forest Service files say 鈥渢he prints are referred to as 鈥榃a tikch’,鈥� which in [the Indigenous language] Sahaptin means 鈥榯racks.鈥欌��

For those interested in seeing the prints in person, Matthew Mawhirter of the Forest Service says they were visible last year 鈥� for those willing to waded out into the water, and as long as the water didn鈥檛 get too stirred up with sediment.

鈥淚 was up there a week ago and the water鈥檚 been coming down pretty quick with all the heat,鈥� Mawhirter said. 鈥淪o this could be another year where it gets [to a] pretty low water mark and you can see them.鈥�

Once the Northwest rains return and the Goose Lake 鈥榖athtub鈥� fills up again, there鈥檚 no telling how long it will be until the mysterious prints are accessible and visible once again.

You can hear Feliks every Wednesday and Friday morning on Seattle鈥檚 Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O鈥橞rien, read more from him鈥�here, and subscribe to The Resident Historian Podcast聽here. If you have a story idea or questions, please email Feliks鈥�here.