It was on my recent fishing trip that I found out about the permanent draining of a reservoir of my youth. It was where we water skied and fished. It was where we tubed and it was the first place I took my boat. I knew that I wanted to go see it for old times sake.
It was a 2023 court decision that finally put an end to the reservoir. Basically, this is a last ditch effort to save the spring Chinook salmon run. The plan is to let the river flow unless there is a major water event in which case they will use the dam to mitigate extraneous flooding. The dam was put in in 1967. My dad grew up along the river (below the dam) and he said that it flooded every year before the dam. It has done it’s job as well as providing a lot of memories for me.
The way that deer hunting goes around here, I don’t hold my breath. I threw my rifle in the car, but the real plan was to go explore. I wanted to validate what I had heard and reminisce about what was lost. If I happened to run across a good spot to hunt, I might want to come back. That is a good way to get my wife to go along as well.
At the beginning of the journey, we stopped at the dam. In all of my years and all of my trips, I have never looked over the edge. We walked about halfway across the dam and I never realized that there was a road on the other side. We didn’t go on it because we had a mission to follow the river up.
This picture shows the exact spot on the reservoir that we used to ski. It is called the Quartzville arm of Green Peter. If you follow this road beyond this point, it turns into a picturesque western stream. I had only gone beyond this point once in my life. At that point, I was probably in middle school so it was really new to me.
A couple of miles up the road, it turns into a dispersed camping area. It really means that there are no services, but it also means that there is no cost. All of the spots are along side the river and include a fire ring. Bring your own water and expect that the nearest toilet might be a couple of miles away. Other than that, it seems like a perfect place to spend a hot summer weekend or a quiet fall hunting trip.
After we stopped multiple times to look at potential camping spots, it was time to complete the journey. We followed the forest service road all the way through. We ended up on the the next east/west highway to the north. We headed west and home just in time to avert a major rainstorm.
End Your Programming Routine: These are difficult and complicated situations. I don’t want to see major flooding or the demise of the native salmon or the loss of excellent recreation. You might call what I was doing was deer hunting but really it was a Sunday drive with my wife. I will miss the reservoir but I have a new appreciation for the area.
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