We reached the point where the water is diverted out of the creek into Brown’s Ditch but the water was not diverted on this day and those waters continued into the South Fork of Willow Creek, into Willow Creek then into the San Joaquin River.īrowns Ditch has been in use many years and I located some historical documents related to it. 8 miles above this point, Browns Creek and Sand Creek meet and the lower portion below the intake is clearly marked as the South Fork of Willow Creek, but when I reviewed older Topog Maps, this stretch starts to deviate from either being called Sand Creek or left with no name in that stretch until after the 1953 Topog Map when it is starting to show up with the name of South Fork of Willow Creek. Looking very closely at the map and I mean real close, I am not sure whether to say this point is Browns Creek or the South Fork of Willow Creek.
BASS LAKE FLUME TRAIL FULL
This lake features year round full contact with boating, personal water craft, fishing & water sports.Īt about 2.3 miles, we reached the location where the water is diverted out of the creek to Browns Ditch. It has developed into major resort and recreation facility. Now it generates 27 megawatts of power through 5 downstream power houses and is owned by Pacific Gas & Electric. (written by USFS)īass Lake was completed in 1910 to protect property down stream. The lake is considered a “warm water” lake with water temperatures reaching near 80 degrees during the summer months. The chosen fish was Bass, hence the new name – Bass Lake.īass Lake is now owned and operated by Pacific Gas and Electric Company and the waters of the lake are still used today to generate electricity, irrigate farmland in the Central Valley and for numerous recreational activities. The lumber company was ordered by the government to replace all the fish that were lost. The lake was called Crane Valley Reservoir for many years but the name was eventually changed when a small Bass Lake lumber operation polluted the lake, killing all the fish that were in it. The dam was enlarged in 1905 and the present Dam was built in 1910 (145 feet high). In 1902 the San Joaquin Light & Power Corporation was formed to purchase the electric company and later the electric operations of the rival gas company. Mule-drawn freight wagons carried machinery and supplies up the mountain and went down loaded with timber that had been cleared from the reservoir site. The San Joaquin Electric Company was formed and the first earthen dam was built in Crane Valley in 1901. In 1895, a plan was devised to use the waters of Willow Creek to generate hydroelectric power for residents of the great San Joaquin Valley. Through Crane Valley flowed Willow Creek, a tributary of the San Joaquin River. The large grey-blue birds were actually Great Blue Herons which still populate the area. After observing flocks of what they thought were Sandhill Cranes, they decided to name the large meadow area Crane Valley.
A detachment of the Mariposa Battalion came across the valley in 1851 shortly after their discovery of Yosemite Valley. The Mono Indians came to the area about 200 years ago. Chuckchansi Indians have inhabited the area for Thousands of years. has the following short history on their website.Ī hundred years ago Bass Lake was not a lake at all, but a lush meadow surrounded by pine tree covered hills and mountains. This is probably a good time to share a little about the history of Bass Lake. We continued walking down the road, crossing the Browns Ditch a couple of times. Steve spotted one of the down logs that had really good growth at the beginning of its life. We spotted something down by the creek and walked down, then along a grid walkway to a monitoring station. The dead bug trees in this area had been cut and spur roads took off of it several times but we stayed on this “main” road. 9 miles, we followed the gated dirt road that took off to the right.
0 kommentar(er)
