SeaYoda
Contributor
Mike_s and I went to Morrison today and got a surprise. As we drove up, there were tons of pick-up trucks in the parking lot and as we got out of our vehicles a meeting was beginning. We listened at a distance at first and then moved ever closer until we were a few feet from them. This was a meeting of the county and what seemed to be locals together on a committee to guide what will happen as the county begins to do something with the property. There were a couple folks I know on the committee but there did not seem to be any divers in the group. Mike and I were invited to speak a little about the plans they were proposing. The plans are to address the boat/diving/swimming safety issues, parking/driving on the beach area issues, and facilities/security (keeping the place from being trashed) issues. Because we were party crashers, I kept my comments limited to the problems of boat/divers and cars/children on the beach. Nothing is set in stone yet but here are some highlights of what I heard:
1.The covered pavilion and wall below may be removed for better access.
2. Vehicles will be prohibited from the beach area.
3. Parking will be to the left inside the gate down to around half way to the water.
4. Some type of boardwalk will be constructed along the parking area leading to the water. Some kind of special boardwalk/dock will be devised to help divers enter the spring.
5. As you enter the park, a fence will be in place to guide boaters to the right of the existing pavilion in order to launch boats there (the area way to the right of the beach). This will be a secondary boat launch - a primary site already exists further down the run and access will be improved to it and boaters encouraged to use that ramp.
6. Fencing and lighting of the property will be improved and security in the form of police will be increased.
In general I was pleased with what I heard. They asked about the dive flag rules and said that maybe they ought to put up signs (does that sound familiar to anyone?
). They took Mike's and my email address and said they will keep us updated.
And now back to our regularly scheduled dive ........
The water level was way down. Viz was good today - not the clearest I've ever seen it but in the very good category. We did only one dive today due to the meeting so I tried to get Mike all over the spring. We peeked in the side cavern and found a huge bass laying on the bottom - in the picture he looks like he just had a meal. We then went into the lower cavern - Mike's first experience. Everything went well with all the usual critters and the 3 yard ornaments were all still in place. Flow from the crack was down a lot from the last time I visited. Back out to the basin and around the shallows and roots back to the entry. Pictures attached:
1.The covered pavilion and wall below may be removed for better access.
2. Vehicles will be prohibited from the beach area.
3. Parking will be to the left inside the gate down to around half way to the water.
4. Some type of boardwalk will be constructed along the parking area leading to the water. Some kind of special boardwalk/dock will be devised to help divers enter the spring.
5. As you enter the park, a fence will be in place to guide boaters to the right of the existing pavilion in order to launch boats there (the area way to the right of the beach). This will be a secondary boat launch - a primary site already exists further down the run and access will be improved to it and boaters encouraged to use that ramp.
6. Fencing and lighting of the property will be improved and security in the form of police will be increased.
In general I was pleased with what I heard. They asked about the dive flag rules and said that maybe they ought to put up signs (does that sound familiar to anyone?
). They took Mike's and my email address and said they will keep us updated.And now back to our regularly scheduled dive ........
The water level was way down. Viz was good today - not the clearest I've ever seen it but in the very good category. We did only one dive today due to the meeting so I tried to get Mike all over the spring. We peeked in the side cavern and found a huge bass laying on the bottom - in the picture he looks like he just had a meal. We then went into the lower cavern - Mike's first experience. Everything went well with all the usual critters and the 3 yard ornaments were all still in place. Flow from the crack was down a lot from the last time I visited. Back out to the basin and around the shallows and roots back to the entry. Pictures attached:
