Saturday, June 11, 2005
TXPTLMS #2: Whiskeytown Dam
Top Ten Places That Leave Me Slackjawed
Some places, like Yosemite, slacken your jaw because they're breathtakingly beautiful and totally bliss you out. Then there are places like Whiskeytown Dam (WTD).
Located near Redding, Calif., WTD was dedicated on September 28, 1963, by President Kennedy. Two months later Kennedy would be dead. Over five years later I'd be born. Now you're reading this blog. Don't know how that timeline helps you, but there it is.
When most dams are constructed a large pile of earth or cement (or logs, if you are a beaver) blocks a natural channel, filling in water behind it. WTD is no different and gets its name from Whiskeytown, a previously thriving community currently residing on the wrong side of that channel. Now, most dams have gates that open spillways to let water out before other towns find themselves underwater. WTD doesn't work that way. WTD has a Glory Hole, a large drainlike circle on top of the lake that allows water to spill over it, which is then released down at the base of the dam.
This seriously creeps me out.
It's like a discordant violin note that stretches into infinity. You wait for the suspense to break, but it never does. There's just something about a large drain on top of a lake that does it to me. It's hypnotic. It beckons. "Come closer," it calls*.
<shudder>
It just feels eerie and wrong.
Maybe that's why I like it so much.
*(use the "shift" key on your keyboard to zoom in after clicking on the link; requires QuickTime plug-in)
- Yosemite
- Whiskeytown Dam
Some places, like Yosemite, slacken your jaw because they're breathtakingly beautiful and totally bliss you out. Then there are places like Whiskeytown Dam (WTD).
Located near Redding, Calif., WTD was dedicated on September 28, 1963, by President Kennedy. Two months later Kennedy would be dead. Over five years later I'd be born. Now you're reading this blog. Don't know how that timeline helps you, but there it is.
When most dams are constructed a large pile of earth or cement (or logs, if you are a beaver) blocks a natural channel, filling in water behind it. WTD is no different and gets its name from Whiskeytown, a previously thriving community currently residing on the wrong side of that channel. Now, most dams have gates that open spillways to let water out before other towns find themselves underwater. WTD doesn't work that way. WTD has a Glory Hole, a large drainlike circle on top of the lake that allows water to spill over it, which is then released down at the base of the dam.
This seriously creeps me out.
It's like a discordant violin note that stretches into infinity. You wait for the suspense to break, but it never does. There's just something about a large drain on top of a lake that does it to me. It's hypnotic. It beckons. "Come closer," it calls*.
<shudder>
It just feels eerie and wrong.
Maybe that's why I like it so much.
*(use the "shift" key on your keyboard to zoom in after clicking on the link; requires QuickTime plug-in)
Mikesell
4 Snarky Remarks:
Big Sur did not make the list (but might have had I remembered to consider it). The coves at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park (like this one) certainly leave one's mouth gaping like a codfish.
Mikesell, at 8:42 PM
Oooh. That drain in the lake is scary.
That's just weird! We have two lakes near us in Kansas (large manmade ones) and it's pretty awesome to see lots of water coming through the spillway, but that drain! Do people ever fall in? That could be an awesome setting for a murder. mwa-a-a-a. :0
Linda
Linda
The drain area is roped off and I would expect there's some kind of safety system to keep base-jumpers from doing something that stupid.
Maybe there are freshwater sharks (or perhaps ill-tempered bass) with frickin' lasers on their heads that eat you before you get close enough to the drain to do yourself harm.
The drain does present certain creative-writing (and -disposal) possibilities, though, doesn't it?
Maybe there are freshwater sharks (or perhaps ill-tempered bass) with frickin' lasers on their heads that eat you before you get close enough to the drain to do yourself harm.
The drain does present certain creative-writing (and -disposal) possibilities, though, doesn't it?
