Soap Lake's Winter Wonderland

People come from all over the world to enjoy my healing mud. The best mud is smooth as butter. Be prepared for a strong mineral smell but it goes away when the mud dries. You won't believe how good you feel afterwards. Wonderful for skin disorders too.

Solstice Inauguration

"Solstice Inauguration"

$350,000 sculpture/sundial nears completion

The Soap Lake Garden Club and Soap Lake Chamber of Commerce are hosting the “Solstice Inauguration” celebrating the final journey of the “Calling the Healing Waters” sculpture/sundial.

At high noon a marker will be placed in the ground indicating where to set the 12:00 PM hour marker on the Promontory Plaza showcasing the sculpture. This is so the shadow from the topmost feather on the sundial falls on that hour marker. The Summer Solstice is the only day of the year to accurately set a sundial. Sort of like Stonehenge.

Astronomer James Hamm from Big Bend Community College will explain the significance of the solstice. We hope you can join in this community celebration to observe this important step before beginning construction.


Date: June 21
Time: 11:30 AM
Location: Beeks Amphitheater,
East Beach Park,
Soap Lake, WA

Directions: Hwy 17 to Soap Lake;
turns into Daisy; park is on west
side of street. Plenty of parking

Contact: Dorothy Downing, 246-1685



Artist site rendering of Promontory Plaza (to scale).
http://www.soaplakehealingsculpture.com/
© 2008 Soap Lake Garden Club

"Calling the Healing Waters" sculpture/sundial

The Native American lore surrounding my healing waters is the stuff of legends. Now, this heritage is brought to manifestation with a magnificant sculpture soon to adorn my shores.

Two artists have created the "Calling the Healing Waters" sculpture/sundial. The community of Soap Lake will be building a Promontory Plaza on my shores featuring this one and a half lifesize bronze sculpture. The highest feather on the sculpture acts as a sundial. The Plaza will be surrounded by basalt stones acting as hour markers. This sculpture/sundial embodies the essense of my being. More shall be revealed.

Last lake to freeze

Even in winters white many birds visit my shores. Geese land in my waters hundreds at a time because Soap Lake is the last of the lakes below Banks Lake to freeze. The high mineral content makes it the last place the birds can float in water.

Wonder my shoreline and find downy and hairy woodpeckers, northern flicker, red breasted and white breasted nuthatches, Steller's jays, dark eyed juncos or bushtits. Increasing numbers of tundra swans, Canadia geese, diving ducks, dabbling ducks, and a few bald eagles reported in the Sun Lakes chain (Soap Lake to Banks Lake), if you’re looking for a nice drive.

Soap Lake water also contains ichthyols, an oil-like substance sold over the counter in Europe to treat infections and abrasions. The icthyol in Soap Lake water most likely come from decomposition of tiny brine-like red shrimp that flourish in the water from late spring to mid-summer. Like the (hopefully renamed :) Dead Sea, the high mineral content of the lake makes the water very buoyant.

The alkalinity of the lake is similar to that found on the moons of Jupiter. Because of this, in 2002 the National Science Foundation awarded a grant to researchers from Central Washington University to study the lake to learn about the possibility of life on Mars.

Next up I'll tell you about my mineral compostion and recent discoveries of new species, the kind that can help save the planet.

Soap Lake, a body of water unlike any other on this planet, famous for its healing properties, ancient in its composition, containing the highest diverse mineral content of any natural body of water is presented here for consideration as a Source Water (more about that later) for the Water for World Peace project.

Soap Lake is a meromictic lake in the town of Soap Lake, Washington formed by the Missoula Floods at the foot of the Grand Coulee. The lake gets its name from the naturally-occurring foam that gives its water a soapy appearance and because the lake's mineral-rich waters have a slick, soapy feel. The lake is approximately 2 mi.² (5.12 km²) in area and 70 feet (21.2 m) deep. (Wikipedia)

Stay tuned for more about the history, National Science Foundation research and the town of Soap Lake.