The Drawdown - West End
This is the last stop on the tour. The main channel was still pretty much the same. I'm sure that if you were out there with your fish finder, all the readings would be 10 feet lower than normal, but from the surface, it was the same Mighty Mississippi.
So take a look at the pics. You can see bigger versions by clicking them.
This is the view looking straight north from the bridge at the dam. That is still a lot of water pouring over the dam all the time.
I don't have any other comparison pics that would show you water level differences in this section. So I am going to pretty much just show normal tourist pics that you can see from the west end of the bridge.
On the left is the lock that used to be used by ships, barges and boats to go around the dam. It is no longer in use in the hopes that it will keep Asian carp from going further up stream.
On the right is a the entrance to the old lock. The pictures don't do it justice as to how big it is. On weekends you can now walk out on it and look down from the top of the lock's sides. I recommend trying it if you are in the area.
On the left is one of the old flour mills. It is now part of a museum and fancy lofts. The flour mills were one of the reasons that Minneapolis grew. To the left of the mill is the Guthrie theater. So that area is definitely fancy pants central.
On the right is a view of Downtown Minneapolis as seen from the west end. Again, notice the fancy lights and railings.
The pic on the left is St. Anthony. St. Anthony is the city on the east side of the river from Minneapolis. Now, St. Anthony is an upscale area of bars and restaurants. That is where this photo tour started. You can see another old flour mill in the background.
The pic on the right is of the downstream view from the west end of the bridge. The bridge all lit up in blue is the rebuilt I-35W bridge. The steam plant can also be seen.
That is the end of the tour. Thanks for sticking it out this long. I really enjoyed walking around the bottom of the river that I like so much. It was crowded, but not as much as it should have been. The other strange thing was how dry most of the river bed was. I wasn't there the first day, but it wasn't too long after and most of the river bed was already dry. A few of the deeper spots were still muddy.