On the same day that we went to Purgatory, Deephaven Beach and Robinson’s Bay, we also went over to the dam at Gray’s Bay to see the historic high water. The water level today was 930.64 feet above sea level, which was above the ordinary high water level of 929.40 feet. This was the second wettest spring since 1871. The dam was at full discharge and there was ample water going over emergency weir to the north of the dam. The record high was recorded the next day at 930.66 feet so we got to see something rare! Even without the numbers, it was easy to recognize the unusual amount of water, starting with the road into the dam area.
Because everything had been so damp, we of course found more mushrooms!
We have never seen the water this high at the canoe launch point just below the dam and the water was flowing furiously. We talked about how Minnehaha Creek started here and ended up at the Mississippi in Minnehaha Park and made plans to get over there to see the rushing water from the mouth.
Normally this dock goes off a dry ramp from the land!
In adding to the theme of the day (you don’t see THAT every day!) we found some young guys who were bow fishing off the dam to catch carp. While we were there, we witnessed them shooting a carp, having a second guy shoot him too (the first arrow was not landed solidly) and reeling him in. They were glad to chat with us and tell us that they were trying to get rid of junk fish, had been there several hours and had already caught a bunch, which they had collected in garbage pail. UGH, another rotten smell today!
When we were leaving, we saw their pickup truck bed with this in it – again with the SMELL
When we walked out the boardwalk, in addition to the water flowing over the weir, we saw an unfortunate case of 2 people in the lake trying to hold their boat against the strong waves that were about the smash the boat into the rocky shore. Apparently, their motor had pooped out. Because the boardwalk was above the water and separated by the strong flow over the weir, everyone could only watch helplessly. The girls thought they heard a guy with a camera calling 911 for them.
Aside from this sad scene, we went home amazed at all the interesting and unusual things we had seen today – and all just a few minutes from home. I am grateful that we are only 5 minutes from water because we all think it’s super interesting!
SIDE NOTE: We found out the next morning that the city of Mound had needed to release sewage into the lake and had closed some beaches. No signs were posted on our side of the lake but some beaches closer to us did close the in the next day or so. We took it all in stride.
