Who stole Isabelle ?

Last Saturday, Morris and I were puzzeled by an almost dry Lake Isabelle. There was a stream flowing WEST from the normal outlet, along with other streams feeding the lake from all sides. With this much inflow, the lake should have been at capacity. Plus the water level was FAR below the outlet, so from where was it draining?

Two rangers told us that the water was privately owned, and the lake had been drained for maintenance. So, any of you are planning on heading to Isabelle this weekend for a sunrise shot, be aware the reflection opportunities will be limited.

Can you find Morris?

#2

I met Morris at Long Lake for sunrise. The forecast had been 40% cloud cover. We didn't see ANY clouds until early afternoon. But it's always great to be out.

2 exposure manual blend

#3

A little later, the sky reflection added some nice color.

#4

A 4 image focus blend with Helicon Focus.

180mm @ f4.5 to blur a rather busy background.


I'm certain Morris has a lot more great wildflower shots to share.

#5

Stream crossing just before Lake Isabelle. This was my favorite from the outing.

3 image stitch with shifted 24mm TS-E
f/22 and a polarizer to slow the water in VERY bright sunlight.

C & C welcome, as always.

Nice series. I had no idea they could/would drain the lake, so I'm glad I made it up there a couple of weeks ago! I think #3 and #5 are my favorites, and I really like the larkspur shot as well. Nice work!

Nice series! My favorites are #4 and #5.

Privately owned? Drained??? WTF?????????? It's in a wilderness area, isn't it? What kind of maintenance could it need?

Nice series regardless, Bill.

Todd, yes this is a wilderness area, however the rangers explained the water rights were established long before the wilderness area was established. We have no idea what the maintenance involves or how long the water level will be kept low.

They've done a great job in hiding this as a managed reservoir. I've always thought the low late season water levels were entirely natural.

It's an interesting landscape to walk through, but I don't think it will make it into your calendar selections.

Yeah I was surprised a couple weeks ago. Went one weekend and it was full, came back the next weekend and it was drained.

Found more info here http://39degreesnorth.net/blog/blog/tag/lake-isabelle/

the water rights to Lake Isabelle have been owned exclusively by an entity called the Left Hand Ditch Company (LHDC) since 1907. (For those of you not familiar with the American West, water rights are a very huge issue out here and the Rocky Mountains play a very major role in the fight). At some point in the past, the LHDC dug a tunnel from Lake Isabelle through the glacial moraine that forms the lake and every year round about the first of August, the tunnel gate is opened and the lake is drained. The water is gobbled by LHDC shareholders to irrigate parched crops in the Boulder Valley below

Thanks, for the link David. Morris and I thought there must have been some kind of drainage pipe under the lake to get the water levels that low, but we couldn't see any evidence. Possibly the maintenance is to clean out the pipe?

The photo in the link shows the "normal" late season water levels. My shot above was taken much further west. I would have been at least 20' under water.

You told the story perfectly, Bill, and you got some excellent images. I think the one ranger said they were going to do some work on the dam. Which kills me, because I didn't even recognize it as a dam!
Great capture of the light on the peaks in #2 and, of course, I like the Monkshood shot. And, I think you tamed the bright sunlight really well in the last one.
Hey, like you said, it's still great to be out there even if we were lied to by NOAA about 40% cloud cover at 6:00 a.m. and light winds. Then there is the great company and conversation to make the experience even better.

You should live in Southeast Colorado Morris--Pueblo forecasters never lie!
Nice shots, Bill, especially the monkshood. Too bad no water in Colorado is sacred, such is the world we live in...

Great work Bill....number 4 just takes the cake for me!

Very nice series. 4 is my fave.

Thanks for the story about this place!
I like the diagonal tree lines that are in shadow, and the light in #2. Expert job of blending! I never would have guessed.
And I love the clarity and reflected color in the lake of #3! And as noted, the monkshood flower is simply beautiful.
Stacked for focus, eh? Who would have thought you needed 4 exposures to capture that range? Of course, what I know about flower photography could fit nicely on the head of a pin!
Excellent work here, Bill.

Thanks for the feedback, everyone.

John, at 180mm and f4.5 the DOF is exceedingly small, so it turned out four were about the minimum required.
I've just started playing with Helicon Focus and this is the first time I've ever tried blending focus with the lens wide open.
I suppose an alternative would be manually blending 2 exposures: f/16 for the flower and f/4 for the background.

Morris, a pleasure, as always. Thanks for the correct flower ID. I wouldn't even have stopped there if you hadn't started shooting flowers. Next time we'll have to do Pawnee Pass.

#2 and #4 are my favs - very nice set.

Great detail in #4.

Thanks for the explanation, Bill. Makes sense to me, and it appears you have a solid handle on HF.

David is correct. It is not just maintenance, but they drain this lake yearly. If you want to go, you have to go early.

Koveh, are you saying now the lake level is taken this low yearly? I've been there late in the season, but not recently, and never has it been anywhere close to this level. I'm accustomed to seeing a shallow muddy pool at the outlet, but this shoreline is far west of that. The rangers implied this was an unusual event because of "maintenace work".

Bill, I think I heard one of them say they drain it every September, but this year was early to do the maintenance on the dam, I think. So, yes, apparently they drain it every year, just not usually this early.