Quite A Let-Down

Day 66: If the weather forecast holds, in a few days, I won't be able to get to this location to take a follow-up shot. Water management practices are a complex subject which goes much farther than letting water out of a reservoir such as Alder Lake in order to accommodate snow melt or heavy rains. Tacoma Power is bound by numerous regulations which stipulate that a certain minimum volume must pass through the spillway and that the water must be within a specific temperature range in order to accommodate salmon habitat downstream. This may mean drawing cooler water through the lower gates of the spillway during times of higher surface temperatures. If the power company fails to meet those criteria, they can be fined. To the average observer, though, Alder Lake "dries up" during the early months of winter, revealing sections of the old road and rail line which passed beside the town of Alder's schoolhouse where it sat on a high point of land. Fragments of the foundation still exist on Schoolhouse Island, and visitors to Sunny Beach Point will need to wade to reach it during the high-water summer months, but for now, Schoolhouse Island is high and dry, surrounded by the mud and unattractive stumps which form the bed of Alder Lake.

Bogucki Island Kayak Adventure

Day 308: When I left home this morning, I had no set plan other than to put the 'yak in the water at the public boat launch near Alder Lake Park and go paddle around for a while. Once I was afloat, Schoolhouse Island looked tempting, but also very far away. "Maybe that would be a good goal," I thought, "once 'round the island and back to the launch. Yeah, I can do that." I set a leisurely pace, had a curious duck come up to visit, put up a flock of geese close to the island, and 'round I went. At that point, I was still thinking of calling it a day when I got to the launch, but as I got closer, I said to myself, "It's too early to go in. I'm not done having fun yet." I went on up to Alder Lake Park (not very far), beached the boat to take advantage of the facilities close at hand, but when I started paddling again, I still didn't feel like quitting. So what's to do? I made another loop around Schoolhouse Island, this time in the opposite direction. My route is shown in blue on the map, points of interest marked by red arrows. Yes, the story continues.

Power boats were out on the lake in number, most of them dragging water-sleds or water skiers along behind at high speed. I got to test the seaworthiness of my little craft as it rode some pretty substantial rollers. On my first circuit of Schoolhouse, I'd entertained the idea of crossing the lake to tag bigger Bogucki Island, but couldn't find a window through the speed boats. On the second circuit, they'd moved to some different location. "Tag Bogucki," I said to self. "That's a good goal."

I've been to Bogucki on foot. Yes, that's right...on foot. There was (may still be) a geocache on the island, and I knew that it could be reached at low water if you were willing to walk a mile or so through sloppy mud. Two caching friends and I made the crossing several years ago. Today, however, the reservoir was at or near capacity with no danger of running aground even in a power boat. I paddled over to Bogucki with the thought in my mind that the island is only about a mile long. "Around or back?" I asked myself, and settled on "around."

The power boats were on the back side of Bogucki, as luck would have it, and again sent some large rollers my way. The Tanager handled them beautifully. Once I'd rounded the north tip of the island, a new problem presented itself: teenagers on jet skis. One young man about 12-14 years old raced alongside me about 15 feet to port. The wake he set up was choppy and of a shorter interval than that of the power boats, and I had water splashing over the bow. Once he was past me, I power-paddled to get out of the racer lane and then took my time getting back to the boat launch, tired but having thoroughly enjoyed the four hours I was out. I'm putting the distance at 5-6 miles.