MAY 2015 • VOL 13, ISSUE 5 THANKS TO OUR ADVERTISERS, IT’S STILL…
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STORY AND PHOTOS BY MATT COFFEY
ale Lake came to life in 1953 with the completion of the Yale Dam by Pacificorp. The earth-fill dam stands 323 feet high, its dual turbines providing 134 megawatts of electricity for the Northwest. The dam and reservoir are the second of three hydropower projects that harness the Lewis River as it flows from Mt. Adams to the Columbia River. The Yale project actually consists of two separate dams. Yale Dam itself performs both the bulk of the water retention and power production duties for the reservoir. It is assisted by Saddle Dam, a low earth-fill levee that protects the low ground immediately northwest of the main dam. Yale Lake’s surface covers an average of 3,780 acres. Those acres experience very high use during the warm seasons. Easy access boat launches at Saddle Dam, Yale Park, Cougar Camp, and Beaver Bay attract droves of water skiers, fishermen, and party boats seeking summer recreation on the lake. Of these launches, ABOVE: Fluctuating water levels produce an interesting root feature. only Yale Park remains open during the winter months, BACKDROP PHOTO: Mt. St. Helens perfectly framed by Yale Lake. providing mid-lake access to dedicated Kokanee aficionados. Cougar Camp and Beaver
Bay are both combination boat launch and sprawling car camp locations that sit side-by-side at the upper end of Yale Lake, just past the town of Cougar. Akin to the cluster of boat traffic on the water surface, summer recreationalists seasonally engorge both Cougar Camp and Beaver Bay with cars, RVs, and campfires. Thus, ironically, the cool months of late winter and early spring are the best time to experience the unsullied diurnal pulse of Yale Lake. The lake sans man allows a clarifying quiet, an opportunity for the complexity of nature’s subtle patterns to rise to the surface of your perception without the obscuring turbidity of humanity’s buzz and boisterousness. Just a few minutes’ paddle west, and away from a closed, deserted, and silent Beaver Bay, highlights the calm that winter brings to Yale Lake. A small island adjacent the campground separates the river’s main channel from a slough which rejoins the river’s flow during high water. Along the island’s shore, old tree stumps from a YALE LAKE—cont’d on page 2