I have to admit, with the bridge closed for repair for so long and the boat dock closed because the Chehalis River decided to get angry and wash most of the boat dock away….I haven’t been down there for a while.
Its all repaired and back open after such a long time and thought it was time to take a look.
Well, we have a nice new road down into it. Long time residents will remember trying to get in there if it was raining and stood there wondering if their car could float over the pot hole lakes. That is all gone. Nice road and you don’t even have to back up if someone with a boat is coming the other direction trying to get out. Plus one there.
The first thing you notice is the state got its grubby little hands on it and there is now a Discover Pass only sign greeting you. I assume the city had to give it up to get it repaired. There is no such thing as a free lunch is there. Well, at least we have a boat dock. To heck with the older retired people that can’t afford one. Greedy greedy greedy .
The dock itself looks in good repair with no damage having been taken. It doesn’t look new, but doesn’t look in bad repair either.
The Parking lot appears to be less than half of what it used to be. Far less. An amazing amount of land was just washed away. The power of this river is really on display. I can see why they closed it for so long. It must have been quite expensive to repair the damage and make the place useable again.
They have lined the edge, sort of, with large boulders. A couple of feet from the boulders is the cliff drop off. And it is a pretty steep drop off. Be careful with children down there now. You have to be careful walking past the boulders to the edge. There really isn’t anything more they could have done without fencing the river off. I put my foot on the edge to look down and about two feet of earth fell under my foot fell to the bottom.
My cat like reflexes saving me.
On the plus side, the new landscape has opened up a huge area, and I mean huge that is now open to fishing.
It used to be a nightmare trying to fish the river from that area. Only a couple of little spots that were hard to get to. An amazingly good fishing spot now to directly fish the Chehalis and get yourself a salmon. Nothing in the way to cast around either, just wide open bank.
All in all, it is a great addition to the city and well done construction wise. Despite losing so much of the upper landing area and parking area, we gained a much more accessible area with more uses and capability. With access now even during winter rainy weather.
Whoever at the city that had their hand in this, good job. The city is better for it in the end.
Montesano Today 