Every year at this time, when Les at
A Tidewater Gardener posts his
Winter Walk-Off meme, I feel torn. I want to participate, but walking on a normal winter day here in the PNW is a cold, wet prospect, and on a dry day (of which we've actually had more than our usual number this year), I feel compelled to garden. I'm also often at a loss to figure out what to show you on my walk that might be interesting to look at, given the rules preclude me from showing any shots of my own garden. I suppose I could show you my neighbor's front lawn, and its junkyard chic over-abundance of working and non-working cars, parked willy-nilly on the grass. Or maybe I could just walk around the inside of my house, and show you pictures of my kitchen and living room. But I think not.
After giving it some thought, I realized it might be fun to show you Lake Tapps, but that requires about a 4-mile round trip walk, which given how slowly I walk, would take a large chunk of time. So, I decided to drive to the lake. Or, what used to be the lake, but this winter has been transformed into a rather large mud puddle.
Lake Tapps is a reservoir that was created in 1911 by Puget Sound Energy, through construction of a wooden flume that diverts water from
the White River. Originally, it was used to generate hydroelectric power for the region, but it no longer is used for that purpose. In 2009
Cascade Water Alliance bought the reservoir from PSE, and this winter, lowered the lake level drastically in order to assess the condition of the entire system used to fill and empty the lake, and to replace the old wooden flume with a concrete structure. For more information about the improvement projects, click
here.
Click
here to see photos of the lake level as it was lowered by the Cascade Water Alliance back in September. Click
here to see photos of the wooden flume demolition and new concrete flume construction.
To see a photo of Lake Tapps from above, click
here.
I've been strangely fascinated by the empty lake bed.
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| Normally, the concrete pylons of that dock behind the now amusing sign are completely submerged in water. |
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| Those floating docks are for boats |
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| Here's a summer shot, showing what they normally look like |
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| A little further along -- note the many tree stumps, usually submerged |
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| If the day had been clear, you would have been able to see Mt. Rainier above that tree line |
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| Like this (from summer) |
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| A panorama shot of the boat ramp, using my cellphone |
On the way back to my car, I focused my attention on some of the lakefront properties.
I found a rather large lichen-covered branch at the side of the road, and was tempted to make a spectacle of myself by carrying it back to my car.
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| Old gnarly flowering tree near the parking lot |
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| Petal-strewn dew-covered lawn |
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| Petals on concrete |
So, that's my Winter Walk-Off, finished just in time (it ends tomorrow). Maybe I'll go back to the lake today, and get that branch, now that I'm not burdened by my camera.
