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5/31/10

Saturday (short) day trip

We went to Swan Falls Dam on the 22nd of May. The Dam was open to the public for self guided tours the Saturday before and the 22nd. We headed out after breakfast and it was raining... and it turned to snow on the way there!! It's about 20 miles from our house. It was only 37 degrees! Anyway, the Dam was built in 1901. The original building that we walked through is no longer in operation as the new power plant was built in 1994. They had a wall set up with pictures and notes that told the story of the dam. It was really neat and interesting. Here's a few pictures of our rainy day adventure.

Snake River looking west out of the old building.

Interesting Recipe for concrete!

The fire cart. This was used to carry the fire hose where ever needed. The plant was very remote and had to provide its own fire protection service. It was a full days trip to get from Boise to the Dam back in the day.

The inside of the old building. The green "beam" across the top part of the photo is a crane. The little room with the staircase to it was the control room and the ramp takes you down to see a hydroelectric turbine. We got to stand below where the water level was when it was a working turbine.

Here's a closer view of the crane - a 12 ton Cleveland Crane.

Looking back the other way you can see another crane - a 25 ton Case Crane. And in the bottom middle of the picture is the black doorway that led us into the turbine room.

Walkway outside the building on the east side.

B & T standing in the cold rain checking out the view to the west!

Standing on the south side of the river looking north at the old power plant.

Almost to the top of the ridge on the right side is where the road comes out and you drive down to the plant. The road comes down at a diagonal almost to the left of the photo & then goes back & forth a couple times before coming out right at the plant.

It was a neat little trip even though it was rainy & cold! And then it was back to real life with the teens. Senior party for Brianna to go to. Home long enough for Tiffani's birthday dinner out and then onto another friends senior party...