Back to the drawing board for flood-prone Bay Lake

Brian DeNeal

Last fall the Bay Creek Conservancy District's work to restore the road to the Bay Lake/Millstone Lake/Bay Creek No. 5 boat launch near Glendale was showing progress until this spring's rain, which has washed much of that progress downstream.

Last fall the Bay Creek Conservancy District's work to restore the road to the Bay Lake/Millstone Lake/Bay Creek No. 5 boat launch near Glendale was showing progress. The road up top by the parking lot and emergency spillway was a slush of mud and 4X4 activity, but presumably was driveable in dry weather.

The site fell victim to the March 2008 flood when the lake rose and washed out the road and parking area which also served as the lake's emergency spillway. The rush of water left a canyon where the road was and left strange sandstone "hoodoo" formations.

While the restoration appeared to be going well, this spring's flooding appears to have started the process all over again. The road to the parking lot is once again a surface of craggy boulders so daunting two Jeep drivers wouldn't risk it Sunday. Also one of those odd "hoodoo" rocks has toppled.

Visitors to the lake must park on the heavily rutted road -- hopefully taking care not to block each other in -- and walk to the lake. The walk is not bad if the visitors are sightseeing or simply toting fishing rods, but if the visitors are -- as my father and I were -- toting an 84-pound canoe, the situation involves more persperation than recreation.

We can hope the dirt work begins again.

Trees surrounding the lake suggested the lake level was up perhaps as much as 12 feet than it is currently in the past couple months.