Day 123
Some kind of mill?
July 27th, 2010
I'm walking across America.
That's the idea, at least. I'm walking westward from New York City for nine months or so. If everything goes according to plan, I'll be in Oregon when the clock runs out. If nothing goes according to plan, maybe I'll end up in Peru or Mongolia or Pennsylvania. You can read all about the details of my trip if you're so inclined.
Email me at matt@imjustwalkin.com
Subscribe to my email list
Here's my progress so far:
could it be a fish ladder?
Yeah, that’s my guess … a fish ladder … our salmon get them here in NY for when water is high. Though the depth of the ladder and low slope kinda make me wonder if it is one. Go HOBOPLANET !!!
Or possibly a weir for measuring flood flows?
Okay you Montanans–what is this??
As a crazed engineer, I’m going to speculate. This is a guess. This is only a guess. Please stand by.
It looks like it is in a dry stream bed. I’m going to guess that the stream, when it flows, has some chemical problem (perhaps acid rain?). The wheel turns some kind of auger in the narrow portion, where lime or some other chemical treatment is dispensed.
You will now be returned to your regularly scheduled programming.
Hmmmm….that is a very interesting and probable assessment. I’ll believe that until proven otherwise. :)
Sounds logical to me, thanks!
dry yes….monitor of flood waters maybe…could signal down stream so others are prepaired and not flash flooded. I thought fish latter at first thought too..
I give up. What is it? I thought maybe some type of monitor for flood waters but not sure.
it’s something interesting enough to get a picture! so we wonder….
Oh where oh where are our little Montanans, oh where oh where could they be? With their information and their goody tidbits oh where oh where could they be.
Hmmmm……Haven’t a clue!
Even Flickr zoom didn’t help me – Is the water supposed to flow left to right?
What an extremely odd find!
I’d guess it helps control stream flow for spring run-off. I don’t see any type of system for sending data, so I’m guessing it’s not for monitoring. Was there a small tower nearby at all though?
It’s just so…odd!
Check this out: http://www.flickr.com/photos/usnationalarchives/4167385254/in/set-72157622836417881/
It may be a modern version.
This is a fish trap. It keeps the unwanted fish from migrating upstream. The gates can be raised or lowered depending on water flow rates. The Jocko has a trout fish hatchery.
Thank you, LMB. Beautiful state you have there.
Yeah, my first guess was a fish trap. They used to use them a lot on the Columbia River years ago. This looks a lot smaller than those use on the Columbia, but the idea is the same.
But why is it in a dry creek bed?
The upper lakes and creeks depend almost entirely on snow to keep them flowing and cold enough for fish to survive. By mid summer, and especially in a drought year, most are either dry or very tiny. This past winter was very poor for the amount of snow in the high country. Demand for irrigation water downstream (mostly for irrigating hay – for horses and cows) means that any remaining in the upper lakes gets released to satisfy these demands.
Water rights laws in the west are some of the most ancient, confusing and backwards laws in existence. Its called “First in time, first in line”.
It’s part of a fish farm.