Guernsey State Park - Waking Up From a Long Winter

Wonderful weather and much time in the park the past week.

Animals are moving about, and the first of the wildflowers are showing.

Looks like the work continues on the original Stoney Gate on the north side of the dam.

We hiked to the top of Skyline Mountain Saturday discovered this great view and took a few photos.

We have also continued our hikes in different places looking at the dry lake, both disappointing and fascinating. Disappointing because I love the look of the park when the lake is full, fascinating because most lakes are never empty and never reveal themselves.

This time of year is also interesting to see things left behind from last summer.

Unofficially it still looks like the road across the dam (Lakeshore Drive ) will be open in May when the work on the dam is complete. 

Taking a break at the North Bluff Castle - what a weekend.

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.

Working In the Park- Apple Trees and the CCC

It is Time to do Some Dam Work

I thought that title was pretty clever, but it is true. The lake will soon be drained as low as it is during the silt run to allow for work on the main gate.

We were in the park hiking on Monday, and the crews were bringing in equipment. I will keep everyone posted as to the progress and park accessibility.

Red Cliff Trail & Apple Trees

My wife and I first hiked the Red Cliff Trail more than 30 years ago and distinctly remember several apple trees near the walk bridge at the low point on the trail. The past few years we have looked and have been unable to find any sign of the trees. Well thanks to some friends, we have found, a single, quite large, apple tree in the area.

Now I would like to know how and who. Who planted it? The tree sets in heavy growth, all alone, meaning either it is self-pollinating, or we just did not find another. It is a foot or more in diameter and looks to be 20 or more feet tall, a fair size for and apple. And it produced apples.

There were a bushel or more on the ground and many still on the tree. We each tried one, and they were quite good.

Did the CCC Plant it?

As Shakespeare once said, that is the question, who planted it. We know the Civilian Conservation Corps planted millions of trees nationwide and hundreds in Guernsey State Park. Did they plant apple trees along this area of the trail long called the enchanted forest? I hope so. It would be interesting to find this trees story, is it old enough to have been here nearly a 100 years? Some of the old fruit trees did last a century or more. Maybe it could have grown naturally from a fallen apple from a CCC planted tree. Not sure anyone knows but it does make the hike interesting and the munching deer happy to have apples along the way. A few years ago, as part of my Master Gardener training, we grafted fruit trees and listened to an expert talk about historical fruit trees in the state. Think I will look him up and see what he has to say.

The Apples Tasted Pretty Good

Silt Run Birds

The silt run causes the park to go to the birds – in a good way.

Blue Heron searching for lunch in shallows

Most people seem to stay away from the park when the water goes down but not us.

Lot's of shoreline and not much water with Silt Run in full force

 This is an excellent time for bird watching. It is the only time of the year to see numerous Blue Heron and Pelicans, although they are always around, usually up the river.

Silt-laden water takes on a gray look - Pelicans don't mind

Today we watched a group of four Herons and another mile up Lakeshore Drive we watched five more.

Blue Heron Landing

As for the Pelicans, almost too many to count.

Birds seem to enjoy the new sandbar beaches

When we got home to rain and hail, hope the garden survived okay.

 

I like odd colors in the garden - how about a black petunia?

83 Years

Today is an anniversary of sorts, at Guernsey State Park. It was 83 years ago today that President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed legislation that allowed the Civilian Conservation Corps to become a reality. All of the photos on today’s post are of things built by the CCC.

The CCC Worker Statue (one of 65 in America) gazes at the Museum

 Here is the way I told part of the story on the building of Guernsey State Park, in my book. Hit the link to go to my Amazon page and read a free sample. 

One month into his term, on March 31, 1933, Roosevelt got the CCC up and running. On that day, he signed into law, Public No. 5, after it had been passed by the Seventy-third Congress. His signature created what was then called the ECW or Emergency Conservation Works, it soon became the better known Civilian Conservation Corps.

It didn’t take long before American newspapers grabbed a hold of the CCC as smoothing that was going to be good for America. Throughout America newspapers referred to the beginnings of the CCC as, “Roosevelt’s Tree Army, “possibly because of the tree logo used by the CCC. What they did not realize at the time was that the Tree Army would go on to plant millions of trees, and become the largest planting movement in American History.

The 10 Stall Garage built by Camp BR-9

In his notes J.H. Coffman, Camp BR-9 Superintendent accounts for the planting of more than 500 trees in the park. Coffman’s Camp Br-9 was on the east side of the lake located between the Dam and the Museum. Today many of the trees around the museum and near the old golf course are trees planted by the CCC, who came to build the park in 1935.

The fabulous Sitting Bull Shelter Built by Camp BR-9

The Bureau of Reclamation built a dam on the North Platte River a mile north of Guernsey in the late 1920s. The reservoir would hold runoff water in the spring to be used downstream for summer irrigation. The Bureau also built a power plant below the dam that would supply hydroelectric power for the Guernsey and Fort Laramie area and other users down the valley. But it took the CCC to make this river lake into a park. Two camps, did the job, along with BR-9 was Camp BR-10 located at the western base of Mae West Hill. Camp Ten was responsible for much of the work on the west side, including the spectacular Skyline Drive.

The steps to Brimmer Point, high atop Powell Mountain and the park's highest
point. Built by the men of Camp BR-10 (the westside camp)

The Castle - Shot from Long Canyon

The Castle started by Camp BR-10 but finished by Camp BR-9

Below the Dam

One place I have always enjoyed in the park is easy to get to, but not often visited. That area is below the dam by the powerplant.

One day it was just the two of us enjoying the area below the dam

 Seldom is anyone there, except the occasional fisherman.

The Powerplant - Photo from Red Cliff Trail

There are restrooms and a nice shelter and picnic area but most often they are empty. Our favorite place is the bench near the spillway, especially when they are starting to let a lot of water downstream.

The entire area with gatehouse and spillway on right

Most visitors come to the lake, and this is the one and only area below the lake. We never stay long, ten or fifteen minutes are usually enough. Give it a try and enjoy the sound of the falls, yes falls,

The lower falls where the spillway pool tumbles into the North Platte River

there are two sets here, both small and stunning to look at.

Tiny but most impressive upper falls

Beautiful place to see history, the Gatehouse, and the Powerplant both pushing 100 years of age, both now a young looking 89, built with the dam by the Bureau of Reclamation. 

One of a kind - The Gatehouse

Cost to Build the Dam

The Dam as seen from the top of Spotted-Tail Mountain

Planning the dam at Guernsey took the Bureau of Reclamation several years, and when it was ready, the project stayed a blueprint for nearly ten years. At long last the sixty-eighth Congress of the United States allocated $800,000 for the construction. The bill was passed December 5, 1924, and the works were in place for construction.

Guernsey Lake - Photo from near the boat trailer parking area for the main boat dock

 Utah Construction from Salt Lake City was the only bidder.  Their bid of $1,200,000 was accepted and signed in early May of 1925. By late May, the company was at work. The work was started and the additional $400,000 needed was picked up by the Bureau until Congress appropriated more money for the completion of the dam later on in the session. By the time the dam was complete, the cost had run to $2,344,000.

Power Plant - Dam - and Gatehouse Spillway, below the dam

Read more about the park in my book  - See it here. 

What About the Bureau of Reclamation?

My recent book, The Civilian Conservation Corps and the Building of Guernsey State Park, has brought some interesting questions. Here are a few things I have been asked as I promote and sell the book.

Did the Civilian Conservation Corps build the dam?

The answer is no, the dam, gates, gatehouse and powerhouse were built by the United States Bureau of Reclamation.

When was the dam built?

Completed in 1927, 88 years ago. Appropriate for this post the dam was finished in July of that year.

88 years old this month and still looking super

Has anything been added since the CCC finished the park?

The answer is yes, but not as many things as some might believe. The two major additions after the CCC building of the park are the Sandy Beach area and the Long Canyon area. Of course many things have been updated but the park remains essentially the same as when it was built by the CCC in the 1930s.

No changes here, the wonderful Sitting Bull Shelter, off Lakeshore Drive

The book continues to sell beyond my grandest expectations, for which I am most grateful.

Click here to see the book link, and thanks

Selling so well that we went on vacation last week – I wish. But we did go back and enjoyed spending time with our Nebraska families.

The lake is low right now with the silt run but the Museum, picnic areas and trails are still as good as ever. Hope many can get out and experience the park this week. 

A view from the trail - Roundtop Mountain Trail looking toward Guernsey