A Look Back: Hiking to the Waterwheel in Carkeek Park August 2018

 



We spent a summer afternoon pruning trees in Pipers Orchard when Bruce a fellow volunteer asked have you seen the waterwheel? Having lived in the neighborhood for many years I had not even heard of the legendary waterwheel. We finished our chores and quickly made plans for a trek. A small trail leads into the woods from the orchard where we store tools and then we set out above North creek enjoying the shade of the forest. Soon the trail ended, and we were presented with dense brush and steep climbs one hiker even turned back. Scaling a steep bank using sword fern fronds as hand holds, I noticed a series of holes which Bruce pointed out as entrances to Mountain Beaver caves.

                                                     Blazing trail above North Creek August 2018 photo Hannah Murray


A bit further along we reached a plateau where the creek widened out providing a glimpse of the wheel! I set out alongside the creek bed to avoid the dreaded Himalayan Black berry vines and promptly sunk ankle deep into a bog like substance and was able to self-rescue, a thick mud encased my work boots. The legendary waterwheel materialized, and we marveled at early 20th century technology now frozen in the mud of North creek. The wheel sits at the bottom of a steep ravine and is over 10’ in diameter. In the early 1900s the Venema family lived here and used the wheel to generate electricity. Gloria Butts of the Broadview Historical Society mentioned it would power one 60-watt light bulb when spinning at full speed. The Venema family also fished for trout and took drinking water from the creek until the 1920s when a case of typhoid fever was reported from drinking the water and the fish stopped running in 'Venema's' creek. Our hike ended by climbing out of the ravine near the 900 block of NW Carkeek Park Road which provides an excellent view of the waterwheel with no hiking required.


                  Bruce at Venema's Waterwheel Carkeek Park August 2018 photo Hannah Murray




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