Mess Creek

Mess Creek originates from an unnamed lake behind an alluvial fan at . From its source the creek flows about north into Mess Lake and then continues northwest for another into the Stikine River. The final of Mess Creek flows through a gorge. Kitsu Creek is the second named right tributary which flows northwest and then north into Mess Creek. The third named right tributary is Raspberry Creek which flows northwest into Mess Creek. Taweh Creek, the fourth named right tributary, flows northwest into Mess Creek west of Mount Edziza. The fifth named right tributary, Crayke Creek, flows southwest into Mess Creek off Mount Edziza. Elwyn Creek is the sixth named right tributary which flows west into Mess Creek. The seventh named right tributary is Dagaichess Creek which flows southeast into Mess Creek just south of Telegraph Creek. Only two left tributaries of Mess Creek are named. The first one is Schaft Creek which flows north into Mess Creek on the west side of Mount Edziza Provincial Park. The other named left tributary, Tudadela Creek, flows north into Mess Creek. ==Geology==

Mess Creek flows through a long and narrow graben-like depression bounded by steeply-dipping faults that extend to the north. A more than fault along the eastern edge of this structure shows signs of having been active contemporaneously with volcanism of the Mount Edziza volcanic complex. It has vertically displaced Holocene basalt flows by and older basalt flows by , such that the western side of the fault has been downthrown. The downthrowing of this fault during the Holocene may have been due to the draining of magma chambers following eruptions at the Mount Edziza volcanic complex. Two groups of hot springs occur along Mess Creek. The Mess Lake Hot Springs near the southeastern corner of Mess Lake have deposited massive tufa over an area of more than . Discharge at these hot springs may be linked to shallow hydrothermal systems driven by residual magmatic heat as they are adjacent to The Ash Pit, a recently active eruptive centre of the Mount Edziza volcanic complex. The Mess Creek Hot Springs south of Mess Lake have a recorded temperature of and may be discharging from a deeply circulating hydraulic system along a major fault on the western side of Mess Creek valley. ==History==

The historic Yukon Telegraph Trail runs along the eastern side of Mess Creek. It was built to serve the nearly Yukon Telegraph Line which was constructed by the Dominion Government Telegraph Service between 1897 and 1901 to send messages from Ashcroft, British Columbia, in the south to Dawson City, Yukon, in the north. ==See also==