downstream on the Skagit River
- Gorge Lake Overlook (wta.org)
This very short trail provides astonishing views of nature’s beauty as well as humanity’s technological “improvements” upon it. The first section of this loop is paved, allowing an out-and-back for all family members, while the remaining graveled loop section is never steep nor too challenging.
- Tonga Plate (Wikipedia)
The Tonga Plate is a small southwest Pacific tectonic plate or microplate. It is centered at approximately 19° S. latitude and 173° E. longitude. The plate is an elongated plate oriented NNE - SSW and is a northward continuation of the Kermadec linear zone north of New Zealand. The plate is bounded on the east and north by the Pacific Plate, on the northwest by the Niuafo’ou Microplate, on the west and south by the Indo-Australian Plate. The Tonga plate is subducting the Pacific plate along the Tonga Trench. This subduction turns into a transform fault boundary north of Tonga. An active rift or spreading center separates the Tonga Plate from the Australian Plate and the Niuafo’ou microplate to the west. The Tonga Plate is seismically very active and is rotating clockwise.