# Condit Dam Demo today



## lmyers (Jun 10, 2008)

I saw AW's post on Facebook about this....water is supposed to come at 10,000 cfs when they blow the dam. Should be cool to watch.


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## brandob9 (Jun 13, 2010)

I already have the webcast feed up and I'm waiting for the video to start. 

http://www.wetplanetwhitewater.com/white_salmon_river_condit_dam_breach_video/#


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## ckspaddler (Sep 25, 2008)

Yea, super excited to see this. Pretty amazing.


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## kazak4x4 (May 25, 2009)

Does it breach at noon Mountain or Pacific time?


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## kazak4x4 (May 25, 2009)

Err saw the original post, sorry for double post


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## lhowemt (Apr 5, 2007)

Any second now


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## yojimbo (Oct 12, 2003)

Horn is going off now!


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## BoscoBoater (Jul 11, 2006)

That is how they should do all of the releases!


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## tango (Feb 1, 2006)

KABOOM!

wow. super sick. its gushing.


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## FLOWTORCH (Mar 5, 2004)

All time! Fk'ing awesome.


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## lhowemt (Apr 5, 2007)

It'll be interesting to watch it go by here:

Full Sail Brewing Webcam

and here:

HatchCam.com


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## jboats (Apr 5, 2006)

sweetness.... so cool it's great that something like over 100 dams have gone way of history now...


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## kazak4x4 (May 25, 2009)

I didn't see any yakers ready to jump on it. 

So I looked on the google map and there is another dam down stream....did they take out that dam as well?


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## kazak4x4 (May 25, 2009)

Are they completely removing the dam after the reservoir go down?


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## Kendi (May 15, 2009)

Yep that's the plan...anyone need a ladder? Looks like a few will be washing downstream....


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## kazak4x4 (May 25, 2009)

lhowemt said:


> It'll be interesting to watch it go by here:
> 
> Full Sail Brewing Webcam
> 
> ...


How long would it take to make it down there? How far is that?


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## lhowemt (Apr 5, 2007)

I don't know about a downstream dam, except that supposedly the WS is now free flowing so it's hard to imagine another dam downstream. Friends talk about possibly doing a 3 day trip along the WS, so I doubt it. It might be just a dam that is actually run as a rapid, I can't remember the name. I have no idea how far it is, but I think above Green Truss. Hopefully someone who actually knows something about the area chimes in.

yes, they are going to completely remove it.

Here's a streaming web cam, long wait but whoever is controlling it right now is looking right at the WS outlet.
http://ride.slingshotsports.com/kite_cam


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## kazak4x4 (May 25, 2009)

Lake Aldwell, Elwha Dam directly down stream

Glines Canyon Dam, Clallam, Washington 98363 - Google Maps


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## lhowemt (Apr 5, 2007)

kazak4x4 said:


> Lake Aldwell, Elwha Dam directly down stream
> 
> Glines Canyon Dam, Clallam, Washington 98363 - Google Maps


That came out last month! Check out the American Rivers info further down the webpage with the streaming video. All the way baby!

Except that supposedly came out in Puget Sound???


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## yesimapirate (Oct 18, 2010)

that lake level is going down uber fast!


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## lhowemt (Apr 5, 2007)

3.3 miles to the Columbia

Condit

I think it's coming through on the Full Sail WEbcam now.


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## BoscoBoater (Jul 11, 2006)

Elwha dam info..

American Rivers : Elwha River Restoration, WA


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## tango (Feb 1, 2006)

doesn't look like another dam downstream.


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## lhowemt (Apr 5, 2007)

That was great. Amazing to see the reservoir become a river again.


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## BoscoBoater (Jul 11, 2006)

It looks like all that wood is from logging. They are all cut square at the tops and bottoms.


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## FLOWTORCH (Mar 5, 2004)

Looks like the ring around Nathan's toilet down in there.


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## yesimapirate (Oct 18, 2010)

So, here's a deep question. Wouldn't it better for the local ecological stuff for the water to have been let out over a couple days or even weeks to prevent destroying anything down stream? I'm sure the people involved in this process have already thought about all that, but a huge chunk of water going anywhere has dangers. I would think a slower release would lesson those dangers.

Thoughts?


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## Kendrick (Jul 8, 2010)

_The quick drainage of the reservoir will flush a large amount of sediment quickly, helping to create a new river channel above the dam. _


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## yesimapirate (Oct 18, 2010)

Thanks. Basically a sneeze to blow it all out instead of a slow nasal drip.

The internet. It has all the answers.


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## catwoman (Jun 22, 2009)

if you missed itlive that is a youtube video...
Raw Video: Wa. Dam Breached - YouTube


My mom had told me they were going to explode the Glines Canyon Dam on the Elwha- she was mistaken. It was cool to watch the timelapse of them taking it down anyway. Elwha empties to the Strait of Juan De Fuca.


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## slamkal (Apr 8, 2009)

kazak4x4 said:


> Lake Aldwell, Elwha Dam directly down stream
> 
> Glines Canyon Dam, Clallam, Washington 98363 - Google Maps


Thats a six hour drive from hood river. Not even same basin


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## brandob9 (Jun 13, 2010)

BoscoBoater said:


> It looks like all that wood is from logging. They are all cut square at the tops and bottoms.


I think that is just a function of of coming through the tube at the bottom. It was 13x18, so that gives us a max dimension of 22' in the diagonal. With the force involved, I wouldn't be surprised to see them all snap, particularly the ones that had been there a while.


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## BoscoBoater (Jul 11, 2006)

I have never seen wood snap at smooth 90 degree angles. It could happen once I suppose, but not on every log. If you look at the video taken upstream, you could see the logs heading into the breech in pretty much the same condition as they come out.

Either way some lucky logger is going to get a nice windfall downstream somewhere.


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## caspermike (Mar 9, 2007)

hopefully something awsome lies underneath... if not my buddy Austin scored one sweet d of the drop followed by some rafter if im not mistaken

First and Last Descent of Condit Dam!!! on Vimeo


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## brandob9 (Jun 13, 2010)

2:10 in the Haymaker trailer shows a single guy in a raft dropping the same line. I personally thought the left chute might have been doable when I checked it out in person. 

HAYMAKER Trailer on Vimeo


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## slamkal (Apr 8, 2009)

lhowemt said:


> Friends talk about possibly doing a 3 day trip along the WS, so I doubt it.


I don't know where you would camp. the canyon is pretty narrow and there is a lot of private land along the shoreline. I don't even think there are campgrounds along the river. We usually stay at Tucker which is a county CG in hood river. If anyone knows of any camping options along the river please do share !!!

Even with the dam removal, the raftable section is still going to be from BZ Corners to the Columbia. I'm not sure how many RM that is but I'm guessing it triples the rather short run from BZ to Husum (~2 hour float). Kayakers can put in further upstream I guess there is some really hair raising whitewater up there which is not navigable with a raft ...

Now the Clackamas river in Oregon has a ton of camping alongside it ...


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## brendodendo (Jul 18, 2004)

I believe that I read somewhere on the internets that the cut logs were placed in the lake to protect something. I don't remember what but it had something to do with the large barge and crane. They used a tug boat to pull the barge and crane out to do some of the removal. Don't remember where I saw it, but it was a post on the buzz and then some interweb surfing. Thank you AW.


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## Ole Rivers (Jul 7, 2005)

yesimapirate said:


> So, here's a deep question. Wouldn't it better for the local ecological stuff for the water to have been let out over a couple days or even weeks to prevent destroying anything down stream? I'm sure the people involved in this process have already thought about all that, but a huge chunk of water going anywhere has dangers. I would think a slower release would lesson those dangers.
> 
> Thoughts?


Probably did it that way to get a good flushing flow to clear the sediment, remove the terrestrial vegetation along the newly formed banks and set some new channels and islands. Or maybe the head honchos just wanted to blow the damn dam the hell UP!

I watched it live on CNN, even DVR'd it, and loved every dam (pun intended) second of it!!! Yeh, man! Let them sharp toothed, hook kiped salmon boyz about the river  swim way upstream, find them a fine salmon lady  and do the Wild Thang in their newfound luuuuv nest!!!


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## Rich (Sep 14, 2006)

slamkal said:


> I don't know where you would camp. the canyon is pretty narrow and there is a lot of private land along the shoreline. I don't even think there are campgrounds along the river. We usually stay at Tucker which is a county CG in hood river. If anyone knows of any camping options along the river please do share !!!
> 
> Even with the dam removal, the raftable section is still going to be from BZ Corners to the Columbia. I'm not sure how many RM that is but I'm guessing it triples the rather short run from BZ to Husum (~2 hour float). Kayakers can put in further upstream I guess there is some really hair raising whitewater up there which is not navigable with a raft ...
> 
> Now the Clackamas river in Oregon has a ton of camping alongside it ...


The "Green Truss" section (V) above has been run in cats and R2s.
Don't think it will become part of a multiday trip though.


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## slamkal (Apr 8, 2009)

I wonder what the class of the new section will be ? Would be a shame if this only benefitted salmon and skilled kayakers


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## brandob9 (Jun 13, 2010)

slamkal said:


> I wonder what the class of the new section will be ? Would be a shame if this only benefitted salmon and skilled kayakers


There is a piece on AW's site about the stretch below the dam, and the portion above is 43 fpm, which is about on par with the middle.


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## brandob9 (Jun 13, 2010)

Rich said:


> The "Green Truss" section (V) above has been run in cats and R2s.
> Don't think it will become part of a multiday trip though.


I'm up on the Truss most weekends and I can't think of more than a couple of places where you could physically fit more than a single tent. The land along the bank is all private, and there are already plenty of prickly landowners there, meaning that even if you could place the tent, it's a bad idea. About every five years the Truss put-in is under threat of going away, and I'd rather that camping didn't add to the pressure.


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