Columbia River way down

The other weekend we loaded up and went to Vantage to check out the Columbia River. There is a 65 foot crack in the Wanapum Dam and they have lowered the river quite a bit. For those that don't know the river very well you can tell it is lowered but you probably can't tell much of a difference. But for Mike and I - who are very familiar with the river - it is quite a difference! We were pretty shocked to see some of our special spots just a part of the shoreline now.

This is a lake on the other side of the road that is usually full from the river. Not many campers going to be here this summer I have a feeling!

The Wanapum Dam. The light gray gravel on the bottom of the picture is new.

More of the dam, you can see where the light gray rock and wall turns dark to see how much it has drawn down.

The other side of the dam. There are cranes and construction equipment staged all over.

Going back the other way now.

Lots of shoreline! They are asking people to not go out there, but of course we saw tons of people looking for things in the mud. Officials said they did find human remains, not any that are recent. They are pretty sure they are from a pioneer or Indian from many many years ago. This is the lowest the river has been since the 1950s when the dam was built.

A boat ramp we used often. It is closed now, but people were lining up to go see how far out the water is.

This was the biggest change we saw, and were pretty shocked. In the middle of this picture you can see a group of trees - well, that used to be an island. This was our favorite spot to anchor and swim or fish. The water was pretty shallow and nobody was ever there. Now it is just shoreline.

A little closer.

We went up to the view point and many of you will recognize this bridge, which I-90 crosses. You can see the line on the rock and bridge pillars where the water used to be.

Lol..had to squeeze in a picture of Hunter for obvious reasons.

Here is a picture of Vantage and another boat ramp that we used all the time. It is closed, in fact, you can't even get down to it. In the center of the photo you can see trees and the water used to go right up to them.

It was very interesting to check out. We are kind of bummed that the river is closed now because we enjoyed playing in it during the summer. I guess we will have to find a new spot now!