This winter Blue River Reservoir has been drained farther than we’ve seen in recent years! There is so much to explore down there as we marvel at amazing views of the original river bed as it was before the dams were built! There’s no quick access point even with a Jeep Gladiator, but if you’re up for a trek, there’s a place you can simply wade across the natural river at the bottom of this muddy, steep-sided reservoirs when its this low. On New Years Day, we easily reached the other side of the reservoir – something we’ve only be able to do by boat (and, no, not the boat we found at the bottom of the reservoir on this adventure😉 . . . see below)
The lower water levels revealed natural plateaus above the original river levels where years of Native Americans camped, hunted, and fished each year. One such plateau is littered with obsidian shards while another hosts a perimeter of forest giants logged decades ago leaving only huge root wads exposed.
As we moved up the river from Saddle Dam, we discovered the river rocks changed from clay-brown or gravel (likely an artificial addition to the geological layers during dam construction) to the more colorful and spotted stones we’ve found in the tributary creeks of Cooks and Tidbits much further upstream.
After a long trek in and then out of the river basin, we took a short drive up Mill Creek before heading home. Along this road we caught a view of the Three Sisters which was crystal clear across the valley on this lovely winter day:)
#eckjeeplife #mckenzieriver #tecklandscapes #eck1123
Tabitha Crystal Eck 