A Small Dam
Moving forwards from the canyon, we made our way up the step stair pools of water until we found ourselves standing under a concrete wall extending across the stream. It had stood a good 8 feet, but a portion of the left side had partially collapsed. Now water was freely flowing through this fallen portion creating a small waterfall.
This dam was built in order to supply water to the boilers at the mill. Scattered around the side of the canyon was a collection of broken pipes. A similar pipe extended out from the front of the dam, connected to a broken valve. While this must be how the water was delivered down to the mill, it seemed odd that the pipe exited the dam from the top. In the face of the dam was a large square opening about four feet deep and was backed by a metal grate. This might have been a spillway or overflow valve of some sort. Later we found a metal cover, about the same size as the hole, sitting among the rocks downstream.
The dam was to high to climb, so we had to make a laborious climb up the canyon wall (which thankfully was a little less steep right near the dam) and made our way to the dam top. Here a new mystery confronted us. We expected a small lake behind the dam, but instead found just a small stream. The dam was completely backfilled with gravel and stones, the river simply flowing over the top. Perhaps this debris simply settled here over the years, washed down the stream and caught up here. But looking around we figured what it really meant.
What we thought was the dam, was probably in fact the base of the dam. Sitting along the top of the dam was a series of long bolts exiting out of a series of concrete blocks. The posts formed a line across the river and up both banks. The actual dam must of sat atop this concrete foundation, and either was removed or was washed away. At least that was our guess.