Elwha River at former Lake Mills - ONP - May 12, 2021
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- Опубликовано: 4 окт 2024
- A 7.5 mile dayhike into the bed of former Lake Mills along the Elwha River in Olympic National Park. The hike begins and ends at the Madison Falls Trailhead on Olympic Hot Springs Road at the park entrance.
The steep, but scenic jaunt uses the Elwha Washout bypass trail and Whiskey Bend Road to arrive at the east end of the former Glines Canyon Dam spillway viewpoint. A walk into the former Lake bed is highlighted by the sighting of a black bear from approximately 120 yards.
That's really great to see just how fast nature has reclaimed the lake bed!
Thanks for watching!
These are very beautiful stands of horsetail on the slopes of the former lake shore :D
Almost looks like grass at a distance!
thank you for sharing, its great to follow the progress of mother nature reclaiming this area after the dam removal
I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Pretty amazing site seeing that Glines canyon dam gone and the river unimpeded now. Amazing reporting out since removal of both dams. Thanks for sharing this very cool trip.
Thanks for the kind words.
It's both beautiful and sad to see my former peach home gone and playground altered. I am thrilled to see the two trees we planted remain. I'm certain giant 1980s satellite dish is not missed by anyone.
I have fond memories helping change the bulbs of those gorgeous lamps on the dam.
Being one of two families living on the lake was incredibly special. Fishing, swimming, hiking, camping on the dock, taking the boat to the southern tip for a picnic, the natural hot springs, and the abundance of wildlife encounters all were a part of daily life. I miss the incredible thunderstorms. They were spectacular.
One Thanksgiving snow brought down several trees on the road. Returning from my grandmother's in PA we drove over a couple small trees before being confronted by a massive one. At that point we had no option but to get out and hike the next two miles home in nearly two feet of snow. My mother was furious we forgot the chainsaw. It funny to think about that now. But ensuring the chainsaw, oil, and fuel were in the back of the truck was as normal as putting a coat on. Trees came down all the time. If you weren't prepared to remove them you hiked home. If we were quick about it the rangers wouldn't know we took most of the wood. Our basement was filled with wood to feed the giant insatiable stone fireplace. I'm sure they knew but turned a blind eye since we often reopened miles of the road clearing fallen trees. That's not to say we didn't deliver tons of wood to the rangers homes as well. Poaching would have crossed the line. The only game we had was a few pounds of venison each year from my uncles and the year a ranger hit a buck. Patsy, our lab, tried in vein to nab a bird or squirrel. She was always too slow. Haha
Fond memories indeed....
Thanks for sharing your story!
That was cool Dan thanks!
Glad you liked it!
Thank you for making this video.
My pleasure!
As a rock hound and very novice flint knapper it was nice to see the rocks that have been deposited on the lake bottom. I saw a few interesting rocks while you were evading the bear.
The rusted iron like deposits in the sand are fascinating.
If you grab a bears tongue, it can't bite you. So you got that going for you...
😎
Bear pooping = bear getting hungry
Beautiful! I want to fish it and just relax there for days.
Unfortunately, the Elwha is still closed to fishing to allow the fish to recover.
@@dankari1730 as it should!
It sure looks lush and green out there. Thanks for posting.
Amazing growth. Thanks for watching!
Rains 9 months out of the year.
Awesome hike and video of the former lake and dam!
I’m glad you enjoyed it and thanks for watching!
Nice video. It was well presented and enjoyable to watch. I visited there years ago before the dams were removed so will need to get back one day to see how it looks now. It's an interesting thing to see the natural recovery take place so quickly.
Thank you for your compliments. I hope you get back to ONP soon to check out the changes!
amazing how mother nature, in a few simple years, can undo decades, even centuries of degradation to her land.
Thanks! I was wondering how did it look nowadays.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Beautiful
Thank you
Your narrated videos are so special - I love learning about the area. We don't have a large number of reptiles in Minnesota, so I'd never even heard of a Rubber Boa!
I appreciate your nice comments! A rubber boa and a bear within 5 minutes!
So happy to see a dam removed, and that nature can recover.
Thanks for watching!
Great view
Glad you enjoyed it
Nice video. You a brave then I
Thank you!
I need to hire you for a tour. Great video thanks for sharing
Thank you
Walk the lake bed in the evening in Spring and you will see lots of bear. I have seen 6 in just a few hrs between the old dam and Cat Creek. I will never foget walking down that road after my Bailey range traverse. After 6 days of the Olympics I was so beat up. Cant wait to do it all over next summer. Cheers
Wow! Those bears like that area!
I've never hiked with hiking sticks. How much more efficient does it make you as a hiker?
The sticks are very helpful to keep you safe from a face plant if you trip. Also takes a lot of weight off your knees on descending.
I don't go anywhere without them. They take a huge load off your knees and support you downhill and help you uphill.
Has all the fencing material been removed along the road, up past the dam?
All the cyclone fencing that obscured the view along Whiskey Bend Road is long gone.
Reminds me of S E Alaska
Thanks for watching!
Knowing you are going into the bear country...do you carry anything for protection?
Frontiersman Bear Spray - drawn with sow and clubs near once, but not used.
@@dankari1730 👌🏽
Hello, I have a question : Did the salmon came back after the dam was dismantled? thank you
There are salmon returning to the upper River, but not in the numbers hoped for yet.
@@dankari1730 it is a strat then. Hopefully, the salmon run will revive given enough time.
The pristine environment is awaiting the fish to return.
Was lake bottom seeded after dam removal?
Would have thought more of the fines would have moved down the canyon by action of water.
www.nps.gov/olym/learn/nature/elwha-ecosystem-restoration.htm
There’s a lot of information about the Elwha restoration in the link above. Thousands of native plants were placed in the beds of the former lakes. Lots of sediment washed out, quite a bit still there.
When fission becomes viable for electrical power generation, all hydro electric dams will be obsolete. Many rivers will run free again.
happy we took dad there before his dementia took him
Glad you have a good memory of this place with your dad
@@dankari1730 love the Ewha try to visit every year
Un natural lake bed with tons of sediment still behind dam it looks like.
Lots!
Soooo we’re not going to talk about the bear in the comments 😳
What we see in the woods, stays in the woods. 😃
@@dankari1730 people say we have dangerous animals in Australia… But if I go for a hike I don’t run the risk of being torn apart by a bear! That’s just crazy to me haha