Guernsey State Park - A Place to Walk on Water

I have always wanted to walk on water, and at last, I have. Well not really, but kind of. With the lake still drained, as work continues on the original Stoney Gate on the face of the dam, we have taken several walks in the dry lake.

Mud & Snow - The lake bottom between Long Canyon and the Narrows

Here is what I had to say about the huge Gate in my book, The Civilian Conservation Corps & the Building of Guernsey State Park. (Click the link and take a look at the book on Amazon – read the first part for free, available as a beautiful softcover book or as an eBook)

"One of the dam’s focal points, the north spillway gatehouse, is like nothing else in the park. The park features so much of the magnificent Civilian Conservation Corps rustic building that the gatehouse seems out of place with its classic arches.

The gatehouse raises and lowers a 50-foot square, 434,000-pound head gate. The ironclad gate, filled with a mixture of heavy concrete and native stone from the park, was built especially for the Guernsey, North Platte River dam. A one of a kind, Guernsey Dam gate."

The Spectacular North Spillway

In a brochure I recently completed for the Bureau of Reclamation I went on to say.

"This type of roller mounted gate was invented forty years before the building of Guernsey Dam by Irish engineer and builder F.G.M Stoney."

I took this telephoto shot on a November 14, as we hiked Red Cliff Trail

Incredible Civilian Conservation Corps work on Lakeshore Drive as seen from the lake

Not sure when the work on the gate will be complete but understand that it will be before the late spring runoffs begin. Meanwhile, we will add to our walks in the dry lake. So far we have walked in Davis Bay, the Narrows, Long Canyon, Sandy Beach and the west boat ramp area. 

Davis Bay before the recent snowfall

Once the water starts to fill the lake, I will no longer attempt my walk on the waters of Guernsey Lake. But if the summer heats up enough I may sit on a dock and dangle my feet in the water or take a barefoot walk on along Sandy Beach.

Won't be long now and water will fill the lake and I will be breaking out the shorts.