Lindsey Creek & Lindsey Pond

Lindsey Lake and the Gorge East From HCRH State Trail Route (2013)
Lindsey Creek State Park. Columbia River Gorge National Scenic. Oregon. November 1, 2013.

From: 023 - MILEPOST 2016 - SECTION C - SUMMIT CREEK TO LINDSEY CREEK

Lindsey Creek was named for John Lindsey, an early homesteader. The creek heads at North Lake and flows northeast into the Columbia River at Lindsey Pond, 2.5 miles north of Mount Defiance. The mouth is located at Columbia River Mile (RM) 159. Lindsey Pond is separated from the Columbia by a levee for the Union Pacific Railroad tracks. Upstream of Lindsey Creek is Wonder Creek and Starvation Creek and State Park and downstream is Summit Creek and Shellrock Mountain. The U.S. Board of Geographic Names made "Lindsey Creek" the official name in 1995. In the 1930s the Union Pacific Railroad had a station named Lindsey.

Lyn Topinka.  The Columbia River: A Photographic Journey. 

http://columbiariverimages.com/Regions/Places/lindsey_creek.html

The original Lindsey Pond is seen in the foreground of the photo below, though the whole architecture of the river through here has changed since this photo was shot, and the old, apparently somewhat natural pond is, really, no more, just a small man-made lagoon created by the railroad tracks.

Columbia Gorge Discovery Center Photo Archive 

Catalog Num: 2000.16.10
Condition: Good
Date: 
Location: Columbia River Highway, Oregon
Title: 
Content: Wind Mountain and sunset skies
Other Notes: 
Photographer: Eddy
Copyright: Eddy

http://www.gorgediscovery.org/photoarchive/newDetails.asp?offset=780&ID=2428

 

CRH between Shellrock Mountain and Starvation Creek
Clarence E. Mershon. The Columbia River Highway: From the Sea to the Wheat Fields of Eastern Oregon. Portland: Guardian Peaks Enterprises. 2006. 1st Edition. 186

Looks like the old lake's level was pretty variable.  More of a slough than a lake, really.

Detail - HCRH Wyeth to Viento

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/topo/oregon/txu-pclmaps-topo-or-mount_hood-1911.jpg

All of the land visible on this map north of the train tracks and highway is now gone.  However, it is still there in the photo above.  Lindsey Pond is also, essentially, gone.

The current Lindsey Lake, formed by the railroad tracks, is small compared to its predecessor, which stretched from west of Cabin Creek to Viento Creek (though west of Viento's current confluence with the Columbia).

"Baldock’s faster, straighter version of the Columbia River Highway began to emerge in the 1940s" 

Tom Kloster. WyEast Blog: Warren Falls Mystery… Solved! http://wyeastblog.org/2012/01/31/warren-falls-mystery-solved/

The above photo is very interesting, because is captures a very interesting moment in time. Obviously, the dam has been built, which has flooded the original, natural Lindsey Pond, but the rail road tracks have not been relocated yet, creating the new Lindsey Lake. The little tuft of trees on the north side of the highway is the Lindsey Creek delta, and the side road is the same road the HCRH State Trail may follow, according to some older plans, to the old parking area under Lancaster Falls.