Lake Wichita Dam Has Become A Mini Grand Coulee

Yesterday, the last day of September, some of the gray sky had been erased, replaced by blue. With rain no longer falling, and the temperature still chilled into the low 60s, I layered on what turned out to be too many layers in order to roll my wheels along the Circle Trail to get myself some much needed endorphins.

Yesterday as soon as Holliday Creek came into view I was surprised to see a larger volume of water roaring through the canyon than I had ever seen previously. Rain must have fallen in copious amounts far upstream in the Holliday Creek watershed.

Today, the first day of October, totally blue sky has returned, my apparently temporary bout of SAD (Seasonally Affected Disorder) has totally abated. Rain is a fading memory. I decided today would be a good day to head south on the Circle Trail, to Lake Wichita, to roll my wheels around Mount Wichita. About a 12 mile ride.

I was more than a little surprised when Holliday Creek came into view to see it still roaring with a lot of water.

As you can see, above, the Lake Wichita Dam spillway looks like a virtual mini-Grand Coulee Dam spillway, back when Grand Coulee Dam still ran water over its spillway, before the building of the third powerhouse. Way more water was spilling over than when I last visited a couple days ago, during the period when rain was falling.

I made my way to the top of the dam to roll on to Mount Wichita, where I was surprised to see it was not a muddy mess, and that people were climbing the mountain.

I think I may do some mountain climbing tomorrow, weather permitting, to get some aerobic stimulation and its resultant endorphins.

In the meantime lunch awaits...