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Glines Canyon Dam Overlook. 22 minutes
At the end of the parking lot on the left is an accessible, all gender, single stall restroom with a vault toilet. The entrance is on the left side of the building. Beyond the restroom is the start of a flat, concrete path that leads to the overlook atop the dam spillway. The overlook is 10 feet wide by 120 feet long and has a 4-foot-high guardrail along the entire edge of the overlook. Attached to the guardrail are six interpretive panels. Their descriptions follow. At this overlook, the Elwha River flows north. Upstream is to the right, downstream to the left. About 25 feet along the walkway on the right is an audio description station with audio for the first three panels. About 50 feet forward on the left, is a second audio description station with audio for the last three panel. If you wish to move along the walkway and hear audio description at each panel’s location, continue with this program.
On the right, just before the entrance to the overlook walkway is a tall, single panel interpretive sign. Filling the background of the panel is aerial photograph taken before removal showing Glines Canyon dam and its reservoir, Lake Mills. The water of the reservoir is blue. Conifers are dense and line the shore. The Elwha River is blocked below the dam. A power house and tower shaped surge tank sit near the river’s edge. Text reads, Witness the Renewal of the Elwha. In the early 1900’s, hydroelectric power generated by two dams on the Elwha river lured industry to Port Angeles. The power was cheap, but the cost was great. The dams blocked the migration of salmon and altered the wild river’s flow, disrupting the ecosystem and the culture of the resident Klallam tribe for 100 years. Klallam Indians, many agencies, and conservationists promoted dam removal. Others believed the dams should remain. After lengthy negotiation, Congress passed the Elwha River Ecosystem and Fisheries Restoration Act in 1992. Today, all that remains of the towering dam is a spillway lined with historic lamp posts and the dam abutments on both canyon walls. Below is a river set free.
An inset map in the upper right corner of the panel illustrates the location of the two dams along the Elwha rivers path as it flows north to the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Our current location is the site of the former Glines Canyon Dam and Lake Mills, 1925-2014. The former Elwha Dam and Lake Aldwell, 1910-2012, were located several miles downriver.
The first of three images below the map shows Eleanor Chittenden with a 28-inch-long steelhead on the bank of the Elwha River in 1907. She faces the camera, wearing a skirt, jacket, scarf and hat. The river fades into the background. Smiling, she holds the rod in her left hand, and in her right hand, the fish hangs by its gills. Caption reads: Before the dams, the Elwha River produced hundreds of thousands of salmon.
Next an image illustrates the beginnings of dam removal. An excavator with a crane like arm makes notches in the concrete to allow the reservoir to drain. Water rushes between the notches creating a series of falls. Caption reads: Dam removal allowed the return of salmon and began the restoration of natural processes to a dynamic, wild river.
The last image taken underwater shows salmon fry and a rocky river bottom. Caption reads: Migrating salmon are returning to healthy habitat in Olympic National Park. Their offspring will continue the restoration story.
Explore the spillway to learn about this epic dam removal project and restoration of the Elwha watershed.
About 30 feet along the walkway on the left side railing is the first interpretive panel. Text in the top left reads, Powering the Past. The spillway of the Glines Canyon Dam stands as a testament to an era of industrialization. Entrepreneur Thomas Aldwell built the Elwha Dam and then Glines Canyon Dam to stimulate the growth of nearby communities. His vision: turn the small frontier settlement of Port Angeles into a boomtown. The electricity supplied by the dams spurred the growth of lumber mills, factories, and other local industries.
A sepia toned image of the sprawling Port Angeles Mill is featured along with a sepia toned photograph of six Glines Canyon Dam construction workers in white overalls and hats posed against a backdrop of metalwork. Caption reads: With a deep water port for ships and thousands of acres of virgin forest, the only thing Port Angeles needed for economic growth was a reliable source of power.
Construction of the Glines Canyon Dam is explained in a series of three sepia-toned photographs along the bottom left of the panel. From left to right, the first photograph shows the construction of the Glines Canyon Dam in 1925. Our perspective is deep within the jagged walls of the canyon, the river cuts through the rock. Conifers line the canyon rim. A railroad track runs along the left bank of the river and disappears through a tunnel cut into the rock. Next: Building a dam in this narrow, deep canyon was difficult and dangerous. To build the initial framework for the dam, a crane is mounted high on a platform within the canyon as the river rushes through the worksite. The last photograph taken in 1927: the Glines Canyon Dam is complete, a solid wall of concrete, towers 210 feet (64m) above the canyon floor, curves to span the width of the canyon, and blocks off the river.
On the right side of the panel, an aerial diagram titled, How it Worked, shows an overview of the dam illustrating its operating parts. Starting here at the spillway along the top of the dam, water entered through an intake valve from the reservoir to the head gate that controlled water flow to the system. If the head gate was open, water ran downhill through a long pipe called a penstock, used to carry water to a tower shaped surge tank which absorbed excess water pressure during emergency shutdowns, and then to the powerhouse located down along the river bank. Once in the powerhouse, the water spun a turbine to generate electricity. The water used was released back to the river and the electricity was sent to a substation up the hillside that converted it to a higher voltage.
The second panel is about 2 feet to the right. Text in the top left reads, Freeing the Elwha. You might think it’s easy to take out a dam. But Glines Canyon Dam had to be carefully removed in stages, with scheduled pauses. This enabled the powerful river to transport as much sediment as possible, while protecting fish and habitat downstream.
An aerial photograph fills the panel. Smoke and dust billow from a recent blast, water from the reservoir (former Lake Mills) now rushes over carefully notched remnants of the dam. A bucket filled with crushed concrete and debris is hoisted away. Text reads, over 20,000 Photographs Documented Dam Removal. Four photographs displayed along the bottom of the panel highlight those key stages of removal. First, Dam removal began on September 15, 2011. An excavator, sitting on a barge perched above the deep canyon, notches the dam to drain the reservoir. Next, notching continues, a jackhammer on the bright orange barge hammers off chunks of the dam. The reservoir spills over like waterfalls through four notches in the concrete. But as the lake drained, the canyon became too narrow for the barge. Explosives removed the remainder of the dam. Then, a large crane transports workers and equipment in yellow wire baskets to the dam and haul concrete out. To reduce costs, parts of the dam that did not block the river were left in place. At the end, a blast on August 26, 2014, removed the last 30 feet (9 m) of the dam. In September workers cleared the rubble. The photograph shows the Elwha River running free through the rocky canyon once again.
Dam Facts. The dam held back over 21 million cubic yards of sediment (16 million cubic meters). At 210 feet (64 m) high, Glines Canyon Dam was the tallest dam removed to date in US history. Blasting required nearly 15 tons (13.6 metric tons) of explosives and removed 12,000 cubic yards (9,000 cubic meters) of concrete.
The third panel is about 10 feet forward across the walkway on a diagonal to the right side of the overlook railing. Below, on this side of the spillway, the Elwha River now meanders freely through the former Lake Mills. Young red alder trees and other native vegetation have been reestablished both by nature, and by humans, along the exposed terraces of the lakebed. Logs and woody debris that built up behind the dam are now scattered along the shore, providing new habitat for plants and animals. Forested slopes of Douglas fir, western red cedar and western hemlock outline the river valley and blanket the mountains. Mt Fitzhenry and other slopes and ridges of the Olympic Mountains are in the distance. On the panel, an aerial photograph, taken after the reservoir was drained, reveals the former lakebed. Text reads, Changing from Gray to Green. What do you see? A moonscape, a leafy vista, or something in between? As the reservoir drained, people and nature teamed up to reestablish native plants on hundreds of acres of exposed, barren sediment. The goal—to restore a functioning ecosystem. Nature reclaimed the edge of the former lakeshore. People planted the lakebed beyond nature’s reach. The landscape will grow and change as years go by.
Photographs and a tactile model on the left edge of the panel highlight nature’s role in restoring the river. The far right edge of the panel explains the nurturing role humans provide. Beginning with Nature, a photograph of downed trees along the edge of the lakebed. Caption reads: Safe Havens. Logs provide young plants with shade and protection from animals. Next, Plant Pioneers. An image of young green saplings, sprouting in the lakebed. Caption reads: The wind blows seeds from surrounding vegetation into the lakebed creating new growth, like these red alders. Lastly, Nature Provides Wildlife Workers. A life size tactile model of a male varied thrush sits in the lower left of the panel. Touch the thrush. It is perched on a native, bitter cherry bush. Clusters of pea sized, bright red fruits and oblong leaves stem from the branches. In its black bill the bird clasps a single cherry. Mammals and birds like this varied thrush spread plants by eating and excreting seeds. The coloration of the varied thrush is a striking burnt orange against charcoal-black. A thick orange stripe behind the eye is set against a black head, fading to grey at the tail. The burnt orange throat and breast are divided by a bold black bib. Wings and flight feathers are patterned charcoal-black with two orange bars and orange edging along the flight feathers.
An image of a cottonwood sapling overlies the aerial photograph of the lakebed. Caption reads: A Big Job for a Small Plant. During its lifetime, this cottonwood sapling will control erosion, improve water quality, and provide shade, food, and habitat for other plants and wildlife
Next Nurture along the right edge of the panel. First, a photograph of a woman reaching out her hand to pick a red berry. Caption reads: Seed Collection- Seed collecting started many years before the removal of the dams. Then, an image from inside a greenhouse, flats of small plants in yellows and greens line rows of benches. Caption reads: Nursery Starts- Staff grew 59 species—from wildflowers to trees—to use in lakebed restoration. Lastly, an image showing four people on hands and knees in the former lakebed of Lake Mills, planting native plants. Caption reads: A Helping Hand- For years, volunteers, partners, and staff removed invasive non-native species and transplanted over 400,000 native plants.
Remaining on the right side of the overlook, move forward about 20 feet to the fourth panel, titled, Rebuilding the River. A photograph of the Elwha River meandering through sediment from the former lake bed fills the left half of the panel. Our perspective is from the river overlook facing (south) upstream. Much of the dam has been removed and Lake Mills drained, revealing the old forest floor of downed trees. Caption reads: Glines Canyon Dam held back more than water. It disrupted the flow of key ingredients for a healthy river—the woody debris and sediment that build gravel bars, pools, and side channels. These provide critical spawning habitat for fish and safe havens for their young. Logs and large branches will rebuild the skeleton of the dynamic and meandering Elwha.
The right side of the panel highlights What's Happening Downriver using four photographs to illustrate Rebuilding the River: Before Dam Removal and After Dam Removal. The two photographs stacked on the left were taken in the same location along a bend in the river. The top image, before dam removal, shows a swift moving river with very little woody debris in and along the river banks. In the second image below, after dam removal, the river is lined with downed trees and branches. Text reads, You might think that the Elwha in the first image is the picture of health, but the river in image two, after dam removal, is in better shape. The woody debris slows the water, creates deep pools, and anchors sediment, reducing flooding and erosion. This will also help fish cope with changes in water temperature and flow caused by climate change.
The two images stacked on the right, are aerial photographs showing the mouth of the river where it empties into the ocean. Before dam removal the top image shows the narrow beaches. River sediment is trapped behind the dams and cannot flow downstream to naturally rebuild beaches and shoreline. In the lower image, taken after dam removal, a plume of grey sediment reaches the mouth of the river once more, expanding the estuary, rebuilding beaches and replenishing the coast. Text reads, Glines Canyon Dam trapped 21 million cubic yards (16 million cubic meters) of sediment. Downstream, Elwha Dam trapped an additional 6.4 million cubic yards (4.9 million cubic meters). Combined, this sediment would fill a football field 2.4 miles (3.9 km) high.
On the far right side of the panel, a 15”x 5” relief sculpture exhibits a healthy Elwha River in cross section from near the water’s surface to the river bottom. Beginning at the river bottom, feel the gravel deposits comprised of rocks of varying size and shape. Female salmon use their bodies to create a spawning nest or depression in these deposits, then lay round, cranberry sized, orange eggs in the nest. Feel the round life size eggs in the lower left corner of the sculpture. Text reads, Gravel size is critical for spawning salmon. If the gravel is too large, fish can’t move it to spawn. If the gravel is too small, eggs may smother. After the eggs hatch the fish are called alevins and must hide in the gravel until their yolk sacs are depleted.
Touch the three small alevins in the middle of the sculpture, they have camouflaged lines and coloration to blend in with the riverbed. They hide in the gravel, feeding from the bright orange yolk sac that hangs below the chin like a belly. Once the yolk sac is depleted, the alevins are called fry and swim out of their gravel nest at the river bottom to feed. Trace the two yellowy brown fry in the upper third of the sculpture.
The fifth panel is about 9 feet forward on a diagonal across the walkway on the left side railing. On this side of the spillway, downstream, 210 feet below, the Elwha river rushes away from us through a series of rapids within the steep and narrow Glines Canyon. Moss, grass and fern covered rock ledges form the jagged walls of the canyon. Conifers blanket the mountainside. The salmon are returning to their historical spawning grounds.
The panel is titled, Returning Home. A photograph fills the background allowing us an underwater view of over a dozen migrating pink salmon swimming through clear water along the rocky riverbed. The fish are tightly grouped together. Their speckled greenish brown backs contrast with white underbellies. Text reads, Only months after dam removal, fish, fought their way up rapids that were barren of salmon for a century. They are, once again, swimming homeward to lay their eggs in newly available salmon-friendly habitat. Their offspring will live in the river for up to two years, migrate to the ocean to grow, then return home to the Elwha to spawn and continue the cycle. In this living laboratory, researchers have a rare opportunity to study what happens when salmon return to a wild, protected river.
A map of the Elwha River watershed on the right illustrates the location of the former dams along the first third of the river, The Elwha and our location farther upriver at Glines Canyon. Text reads, When the dams stood, salmon were blocked from 95% of their historic habitat.
Now that the dams have been removed, biologists have predicted the potential range of five salmon and one steelhead species in the Elwha River. This range is marked on the map in colored lines for each species illustrating that sockeye salmon may travel only as far as Lake Sutherland, and populations of pink and chum salmon will travel farther up river, closer to our location here at the former Glines canyon dam. Chinook salmon, coho salmon and steelhead are projected to recolonize the full length of the river and some tributaries.
At lower right, two photographs are labeled, Tracking Their Return. The photograph on the left shows two people standing in the river wearing backpacks. One person wears waders and writes on a clipboard, the other wears a dry suit and a small mask and snorkel. The image on the right shows a person from behind wearing a backpack standing along the bank of a river while holding a T-shaped device above their head. A caption reads, Using methods like snorkel surveys, radio telemetry, and sonar imagery, biologists monitor how salmon are recolonizing the river.
The sixth and last panel is three feet to the right on this left side of the overlook railing. The panel is titled, Feeding the Forest, and text reads, Can you see the salmon in the trees? Throughout their life cycle in both fresh water and ocean, salmon nourish over 130 species of insects, birds, fish, and mammals. When salmon return to rivers to spawn and die, they feed forest life. Otters feast on their catch, dippers dive for salmon eggs, and tiny shrews nibble salmon bones. When larger animals like bears drag fish carcasses into the forest, the remains of their meals fertilize the surrounding plant community. By measuring ocean-born nutrients that salmon deliver to the food web, researchers can track how returning fish are helping to restore the Elwha Valley.
Along the bottom left of the panel is a life size tactile model of an adult male pink salmon. An average adult pink salmon weighs 3.5 to 5 pounds, can be 20 to 25 inches long with a lifespan of two years. The skin of the salmon is dark olive green across the back with a streak of pink along the sides of the body, fading to a white underbelly. Feel the fish. Beginning left to right, the tail is broad and strong. As we near the top of the back, feel the protruding hump. During spawning male pink salmon develop this distinctive hump. Feel the rise of the hump as it curves down toward the head. The mouth is open. Trace the curve of the prominently hooked snout. Caption reads: Pink salmon were historically the most abundant fish in the Elwha. Their eggs and carcasses contributed hundreds of thousands of pounds of nutrients.
Next, to the right of the model is a photograph of gravel and plants at the river shore atop which are five photographs displayed in a circle to illustrate how the salmon life cycle supports forest life. Moving clockwise and beginning at the seven o’clock position, an image of a decomposing salmon at the water’s edge. A small winged insect sits on the water surface. A tan and grey bird with a red salmon egg in its bill. A small spotted fish. A brown river otter holds a dead salmon. And last, a bald eagle with a white head, brown body and yellow talons holds a dead salmon on the ground as it eats the fish.
The end of the overlook is about 10 feet forward of this last panel. |
Last updated: November 12, 2021