Dam it all

Today my family went out into the Kananaskis, to where my dam used to be. Last year I was in the location twice. The first time was at the start of September and I started work on the dam; Mostly taking nearby rocks and piling them up as appropriate. Part of the construction was a large log lying nearby that did a great job of supporting some of the flat rocks used.
The next time was in the middle of October and I successfully blocked the entire creek/river. The top of the dam was completely dry and all the water was flowing through the cracks between the rocks.
During the K-100 relay in June I was able to see the dam again. The park had been closed off for half a year so anything could have happened to it. In fact, it had. The dam was gone. The spring runoff had put everything deep underwater. You could barely see any evidence it had ever been there.
Well, imagine my surprise today when I got there. The water had come down, and you could clearly see the dam. It had damage, sure, but it was still doing most of its original purpose. The big rocks had all stayed put, but three sluices had been forced through it. I suspect two of them were from when the big log floated away. Rocks were no longer being braced and tumbled downstream.
I took a few pictures. Then my camera died. Out of batteries, and the replacement ones I had brought were apparently too old to keep a charge. So no more pictures for the rest of the day. (Unfortunate, I had some good ones planned.)
Then I got to work. I focused on moving really large rocks. They have the best chance of staying where they should and not washing away. You still need the smaller rocks to fill in cracks, but the big ones are key. Of course they are hard to push, and I hope I haven’t damaged my shoulder right before my Europe trip. (Fingers crossed.) There was a lot of yelling at the rocks as I tried to force them up against the current. I wanted to use downstream rocks the most, because upstream ones might someday wash into the dam. I think I even reused some of the rocks that had fallen from last year.
Unfortunately, while I was clambering over one of the sluices, I looked down and my sunglasses fell off my face, right into the rushing water. Whether they stayed in the area or washed downstream, I don’t know. The water was too frothy to have any idea. I settled the argument by putting a really large rock right where they had fallen.
But still, I had fun. When I was done, I still had one sluice left. But I am proud of this. No post-forest products were used in its construction, and large, hard to move rocks were braced well. It will be a lot harder to wash this away. It will still be underwater during the next spring runoff, but it should start doing its job well in the summer next year.
I wish I could have taken an after picture.