RIVER WALK - PART 2

Here is part two of our Labor Day hike report. Watch tomorrow for part 3, and thanks for reading my reports.

By: Ray Hansen

DAM LEAKS

So, one dam upstream and another downstream harness the river’s power and maintain a water level that keeps the scenery pleasant for me. Last week the power company running the upstream dam decided that some work needed to be done there since they have detected several leaks around the dam’s base. To gauge the extent of the problem they need to lower the level of the reservoir behind the dam sixteen feet, which they feel would expose the source of the leaks.

This happened several years ago as well. They lowered the water level at that time and inspected the exposed river bed above the dam, along with the retaining structure itself but could not find the source of the leakage. I’m not sure what is different now… maybe they have some new “leak detection” technology. They seem confident that this current attempt will be successful.

RIVER RUNS LOW

In any case, we had very little rain during August and river levels were at a low point. This is the time to get down there and walk the river corridor, so on Labor Day my wife Kate and I did just that.

As beautiful and scenic as the river is, not many people take advantage of the opportunity to explore it. That is mainly because little public access exists along the waterway. I’ll tell you what though, if I was a kid living up here now I’d be riding my bike down to the river with a fishing rod strapped to the handlebars. You can walk along the bank watching for deeper pools, knowing that they will hold ever-increasing numbers of bass and trout as the water level drops. Years ago, my friends and I did just that, bringing along an old army surplus mess kit and cooking fresh fish over a small driftwood fire. Sometimes one of the guys would smuggle a pound of bacon out of their house so we could fry that first to provide smoky, aromatic, sizzling oil to lay the freshly cleaned trout in.

Now of course, all I have to do is walk out the back door, get down to the river via an old set of stone steps behind the neighbor’s place, and start hiking. I thoroughly enjoy the fact that I’m not going to see anyone else, and will share my walk only with eagles, deer, ospreys, an occasional coyote, and the fish.

LABOR DAY STROLL

On our Labor Day hike, Kate and I strolled along shooting photos of leaves floating past, of crayfish we spotted in the shallows, of small sculpins finning in slow current areas, and simple landscape shots where we could include bends in the river as part of the composition. We found wonderful pieces of natural driftwood art: one that looked like the head and horns of an antelope; another that resembled a saguaro cactus; a beautiful arching cedar trunk de-limbed by tumbling along the rocky watercourse; and a sawn stump with roots spiraling out like octopus arms.

Copyright Ray Hansen, 2008