As the Water Rises

The Willamette Mission that gave our Park it's name was flooded out in the 1840's and moved to the present day Salem area.  A major flood in 1861 actually changed the course of the river in the park and created a Lake.  The river continues to flood each winter and most of the park is closed until the water recedes.  We have had a very busy week working to prepare for the flood predicted for Nov. 22.  All the picnic tables have to be stacked and cabled to trees.  Bridge railings and boat docks have to be removed.  The grounds have to be mulched and the trails uncovered where the leaves are thickest.

The ferry will be closed when the river gets too high.  The dry land visible in this photo is already covered by the river waters.

Here's a close-up of the ferry.  It gets lots of use and links our staff to another park and greenways along the river  that our staff manages.  We took it a few days ago and the water was surging beneath it nothing like the gentle waters pictured.

It is really interesting watching the changes in the river and learning about how the water levels are predicted and monitored.  Terry will be returning from our days off in Vancouver at his mom's place to finish up the preparation for the first flood.  I will fly from Portland to Charlotte in the morning and spend Thanksgiving with my sisters.  It will be great to be in NC after 9 months of roving and rambling.

Enjoy the coming days with thankfulness and gratitude!!

On the Willamette River

     All those wagon trains going to Oregon that we studied in history classes were headed for this river valley and it's rich, fertile fields---- the Williamette.  Our present hosting site is on the banks of the river north of Salem and about 40 miles south of Portland.  It includes 1,600 acres of woodlands, wetlands, rolling meadows and working farmland.

This is one end of the largest picnic area in the park.  The distant tree line borders a lake that was the original river channel before a huge flood changed its course.  The present river course was behind me when I took this photo.

This picnic area, the Filbert (Hazelnut) Grove, borders the river with a 6.4 mile bike trail along the river bank.  This area will stay open all year when access to it is not flooded out.

The paved bike trail goes all the way to the Wheatland Ferry Crossing at the edge of the park.  This crossing was used by the wagon trains too!  There's a Bicycle Campground and a Horse Campground back to back here on the right.  Nice trail !!

We are busy helping to ready the park for winter; taking down volleyball nets, blowing leaves off the trails, patching holes in the bike path, getting equipment winterized, and organizing the work sheds.  With 17 miles of trails in the park we will never keep them all clean and trimmed.  It's all very satisfying work though and more than we can do before winter rains stop us.