Photographic Journey


Roads & Watercourses Around Lake Pillsbury: note how the many folds of earth make up this very steep watershed.
Photo Journey from the Eel River Reporter, Fall 2005: A collection of photos taken by Nadananda over several years. Exploring this river on foot, by boat and from airplanes and helicopters these photos tell the story of California’s third largest river, third largest producer of salmon and second largest producer of steelhead. The headwaters are formed by an ancient caldera, full of many kinds of springs and winter snow melt and heavy winter rains. 

Our journey starts at the headwaters of the Eel River in Lake County and travels north through Mendocio County to spill into the Pacific Ocean due west of Fortuna, between Ferndale and Loleta in Humboldt County.
The first spring that forms the beginning of the Eel River on the flanks of Hull and Bald Mountains.
This swimming hole, cold, large and beautiful above the area called Bloody Rock. What the white man did in this watershed is memorialized in the naming of places.
View from the top of Bald Mountain looking at the drainage that forms the eastern rim of the Eel 

River with Sheet Iron and Snow Mountains.
Another view from Bald Mountain to the west facing Sanhedrin and mountains beyond which form the northern rim of the headwaters caldera.
Corbin Creek is the first major creek to join the Eel running full and cold in early 

spring and through most of the year. It has its’ own massive watershed like most tributaries that form the Eel.

The headwaters was captured in 1922 by the Snow Mountain Water and Power Company, privately funded by Dean Whitter and Company, to create Lake Pillsbury. Yes, even a flour company became part of the financial mix.
Hovering over Lake Pillsbury we are looking north east at SanhedrinMountain to the left and Hull and Bald Mountains on the right. There is a considerable amount of drainage, lots of springs and creeks that feed the Eel River.
Hovering above the Lake Pillsbury we turned the helicopter slowly in a circle to capture the photos used to create these panoramas. Here we are looking at Rocky Point at the end of McLead Ridge with the Rice Fork on the right and Eel coming in on the left.
Scott Dam with the McLead Ridge and a portion of the Rice Fork. Dominant in the back ground is Snow Mountain, crowned with snow.

Crossing the Rice Fork along Mendocino National Forest road M10
A few years later I traveled the same road looking for signs of water in the late fall and found Lower Nye to be prolific with cold water. This area is on the edge of the Snow Mountain Wild Life Refuge.
I finally found the 129 miles of prime salmon spawning and rearing habitat as stated in a Forest Service study. 

Here it is, Rice Fork in early fall with good water, shaded and the right kind of gravels in the streambed for the next generation of salmon. After extensive G.I.S. studies we think there is probably closer to 1,000 miles of prime spawning and rearing habitat in these headwaters.
The helicopter turned again for me so I could photograph the Eel where it enters Lake Pillsbury. All you see is part of this watershed. Note the burn area on the left of this photo. Much of this area has been heavily logged and later fires reduced much of the area to miles of brush.
You can see it more clearly the burn and then brush growth in this photo of the same area 

only looking from the road down to the Eel branch as it travels toward the lake.

 This ariel dispells the myth that there is no water entering Lake Pillsbury in the summer. I have walked this area with NOAA biologists to show that there is water in the Eel fork even in late summer, and the water was quite cold. The amount of visable silt could give someone viewing from a boat on the lake the impresson that no water is running into the lake in late summer as the water goes under the gravel. Note further upstream the presence of water.
Twelve miles below Scott Dam we come to the actual diversion itself. This verticle panorama shows the Potter Valley community above the ridge line, the wooded slope on the Eel side with Cape Horn Dam with the Van Arsdale bay and the diversion tunnel which is just to the right above the dam. Note the residences immediatly down stream the scientists forgot to take into account when they were deciding how much water the Eel fish needed to barely survive. All these homes have water rights too. So what little is released for the Eel is immediately taken by residents with riparian water rights and shared with neighbors up hill.
This photo is one of my favorites, taken Easter morning at dawn after camping on the Van Arsdale river bar preparing for the drive up to Bald and Hull Mountains. We could not make it all the way since snow was still in the very highest elevations, but the creeks were all full and sing so merrily as it bounded over rocks on its way to becoming a river.
The actual diversion tunnel, looking ever so sinister as the machine that turns fish into fertilizer for the Potter Valley farmers delivered on tap. We call Potter Valley fish emulsion green for good reason. It is only in recent years that PG&E was forced to put in screens to stop the fish from entering the tunnel and turbines. Originally eels by the thousands interfered with the turbines so they were electrocuted and hauled away in hay wagons.
Originally there was no fish ladder over Cape Horn Dam completed in 1908.When Scott Dam was built this fish ladder was mandated as part of trying to save some fish. This view shows only part of the first fish ladder ever built in the state back in the early 1920’s. What you don’t see in this photo is the horseshoe curve the ladder takes and the baffeling entrance that less than half of the fish manage to find.

The famous bends at Hearst.
Five miles below Cape Horn dam the river is joined by Tomki Creek, in the center of this photo.
Eventually the Eel is joined by Outlet Creek which is shown entering on the right running full from the Willits area watershed. Note the highway bridge crossing the mainstem Eel, known locally as “legal bridge” while Outlet Creek flows under the railroad bridge. This is only one of five bridges on the entire river system.
Dos Rios, two rivers confluence, with the Middle Fork Eel River coming in on the left of the bridge, joining the Eel River. This area has several launching spots for the four day run down the Eel River Canyon with the main takeout at Alderpoint. You can do the run in less time but we so enjoy being able to stop and explore side creeks with amazing rock formations. From this spot heading down river there are no roads with only the now defunct railroad in this truly wilderness stretch. This stretch of river makes for an unprecedented run during the spring high water, with class 3 and 4 rapids, depending on the height of the flows. One can continue from here clear out to the ocean, but after Alderpoint it is all class 1 & 2, a lovely float through some beautiful and dramatic watershed.
Traveling downstream from Dos Rios is the second tunnel damaged by a major slide. Periodically more rock peals off the face above the tunnel. For years we have watched the progression of the big rocks moving down slope eventually reaching the river.
Photos of the kind of landscape you will see in the canyon. Rafting and kayaking on this wild and scenic river is a blast with class three and sometimes 4, depeding on the highth of the water. More pictures on the following pages show some of the outstanding rock formations found in the river and as outcropings all over this watershed
This panorama was taken while standing in Bell Springs creek looking at the Eel as it bends it’s way down river, traveling from right to left. This is a panorama was put together from photos taken by Mike Guerriero on our April 2005 river trip.
Looking up river towards Bell Springs taken from Fred Baron’s Piper Cub in late summer. The railroad continues on through this area.
The confluence of the North Fork. Also taken from the air during the late summer documenting the year round conditions.
I finally had a chance to visit friends up the North Fork Eel River and saw how steep the area is. When we went down to their favorite swimming hole we passed by this footbridge and saw the beauty of yet another monolith by the pools edge. With such beauty, lots of wildlife it is easy to understand the love of solitude.
Note how steep the watershed is here at the confluence of Hull Creek with the North Fork, as is most of this tributary.
Heart of the Eel 

My very favorite rock on the whole river. The colors and texture give this formation its’ name. The Eel is noted for its variety of minerals in monilith, house sized rocks. This one is more than house sized.
Island Mountain, once a bustling railroad station and noted for its’ railroad bridge and tunnel. The large rock in the iddle of the top photo is the site of the proposed 350 acre open pit hard rock mine. Plans for developing this mine was tied to the current re-opening effort of the railroad, but seems to have been haulted by environmental concerns and too much money to fix in a sensible sound manner.
Here the river is flowing from top to bottom in a panorama of aerial photos with Alderpoint at the bottom. The bridge here is one of only five that cross the Eel River. This is where we take out from what is known as the Dos Rios run. There are services here that accommodate vehicle storage for boaters, a general store and post office. Once a busy town with two sawmills, fishermen and hunters. Now it is a quiet little town in the middle of this wild and scenic river. Before dams, diversions and clear cuts, steam boats came up river to collect passengers, lumber and visitors. Now with the silt impacted river boating can only occur during the winter and spring rains. Locals enjoy an easy float from Alderpoint to either Ft. Seward or further downriver to Eel Rock in early summer.
We call those rocks house rocks because of their size. More Eel River monoliths.
Note the shades of yellow and green that identify algae that is a plague to this system. It is hard to believe so lovely a river could change so much and have so much algae in such a short period of time.
Cumulative impact of all diversions, little water and lots of algae dramatically impact California’s third largest river system.
I was shocked to hear Steiner Engineering state that there were no down-stream users of Eel River water. Here at Camp Grant and the following photos of farm land at Shivley where irrigation was not necessary until the water table started dropping when PG&E increased its diversions to accommodate the Sonoma County Water Agency in the 1950s.

This photo of logging on steep slopes tells the tail of why the Eel River has moved from one of the most pristine rivers in the world, as written up in a 1940’s sportsman magazine, to now carrying a silt tonnage fifteen times greater than the Mississippi. This is our top soil washing off the slopes, filling the river.This area was held together by redwoods with their root network and ability to turn fog into drip contributing water at the end of the long dry summer.
Down river from the confluence with the South Fork Eel. Lots of silt and not enough water to move it. This is what the 90% diversion of headwaters looks like in the summer and fall before the rains. Not enough water for a fish to run on.
Algae abounds even in the fog cooled lower river near Scotia.
River bluffs at Scotia, across from Rio Del, with railroad bridge.
Pacific Lumber at Scotia, purchased a few years ago by the Fisher Family and is now known as Humboldt Redwood Company. There is a gage at this site that measures the cumulative flow of the river that the Sonoma County Water Agency, Potter Valley vintners, and PG&E quote to show that the percentage they are diverting from the river is small. Typical of corporate spin this illusion is used to mask the damage being done to the entire system, especially the 50 miles between the lower dam and Dos Rios.
Two bridges, the upper old one connects Rio Del with Scotia. The newer one, Highway 101, by-passes town. Major changes are afoot for these towns as the mill has been reducing its operations, but at the same time modernizing, there by needing far fewer people, to operate the mill. Homes from Scotia are going on the market as Pacific lumber changes it’s zoning from being a company owned town. Rio Del seems to be growing as this is one of the few remaining affordable places in Humboldt County.
The last major tributary to join the mainstem Eel River, near Fortuna, is the Van Duzen River. The closed lumber mill at Carlotta with the heavily damaged Van Duzen River behind as shown by the wide, silted Van Duzen showing as a light brown along the upper part of this photo. The photo at the bottom left was taken from the bridge at its mouth. The photo on the lower right is up river of Carlotta and was taken on my helicopter ride.
Looking up river with Fortuna on the left and gravel yard down front along the Eel Rvier. Sort of mid photo where the road ends at the river is the beautiful River Lodge and our favorite brewery with its prize winning organic beers from the Eel River Brewery.
The famed Ferndale Bridge with the Humboldt Creamery at the end of the bridge. Note the farm land in this photo and the following ones. This is where the Humboldt cheese comes from, good soil, green pastures, lovely sun and happy contented cows. Oh yes, we love our local cheeses and now organic ice cream from the Humboldt Creamery to boot.
Cock Robin island in the fertile Eel River estuary. Owners are Humboldt State University and the local Wiyot Tribe.
The mouth of the Eel River where it enters the Pacific Ocean. On the leftin the river is the upper tip of Cock Robin Island. To the right is the tip of land that seems to me to be like a big tongue. Where the road, named Cannibal Island, ends is Crab Park, a great place to put in for an Eel estuary kayak trip. The birds are abundant and flutter up out of the grasses as we slip by. Hope you enjoyed this photo journey.
Our Fish Tent has been visiting the Humboldt and Marin County fairs, Arts Alive in Eureka, Autorama in Fortuna, Fleet Week in San Francisco, Kate Wolf Festival, Earth Dance and the Mateel Spring Fair. We would love to come visit your event too! Over a dozen panels inside tell the story of the Eel River and its salmon. Designed by Michael Guerriero who worked with Dorji Bond of Intents to fabricate this unusual information display for Friends of the Eel River. Mike also created our very interesting display panels. The tent needs a space at least 30 feet in length. Call our office at 415 332 9810 for more information. 

Tent crew at the 2005 Kate Wolf Festival, Black Oak Ranch, Laytonville. Lisa Gibson, Michael Reynolds, Jon Spitz, Mona Krupski, Nadananda, and Richard Francovitch were lead by Michael Guerriero in getting the tent up in record time.
The Friends of the Eel River with an active group in Fortuna. Most are long time residents of the Fortuna area. Their interests are in educating the Eel River valley residents on current and history issues pertaining to the watershed and acting as advocates for the river when necessary. Over the past years they have set-up and attended the fish tent exhibit at the Humboldt County Fair and at the Fortuna Auto Rama. They support the Friends of the Eel River by distributing the Eel River Reporter, fundraising and by representing the organization at public meeting. When events have been held at the River Lodge in Fortuna they are usually personed by members from this area. There are pockets of members all over this almost 4,000 square mile watershed.
Fortuna members filled the ranks when we marched with our now famous fish in the Fortuna Rodeo Parade where we received First Place Civic Entry two years in a row. If you would like to join us,to volunteer, march in a parade, or kayak the estuary contact Michael Guerriero, mguerro@northcoast.com.
Saving the Eel for the Next Generation
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