In a few days, the Brigade will trailer across the Colville National Forest--from Ione to Kettle Falls and Lake Roosevelt, the reservoir behind the Grand Coulee Dam. Fear of huge run-off from the huge snow pack has led to a dramatic drawdown of the lake. See http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2011/apr/24/spring-drawdown-bares-shores-of-lake-roosevelt/ for more details. The low point of the drawdown was at the end of April, at a level of 1225 ft.
And see http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=otx&gage=gcdw1&view=1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1%22 for the latest levels, and forecast. On Sunday, June 12, the level was at 1246 ft, forecast to rise to 1267 feet on June 21, just the day before the Brigade arrives at the dam on June 22.
Apparently Kettle Falls reappears only at 1160 ft. Still, the views available this year are not the usual ones. I can't wait to see them!
The photo is from http://gatheringaroundthetable.blogspot.com/2011/05/i-live-by-this-water-drawdown-on-lake.html, worth reading for another view of the drawdown--and the impact of the reservoir on the land, and its people.
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