For a few years now, I've seen the lake level dropping, but recently I heard the level was severely falling. On Thursday, May 29th, my dad and I drove up to check it out for ourselves. I think the pictures on this slide show tell the story.
The lake is fed by underground springs and ground water, but since the area has been experiencing a drought the last several years, and the fact the lake naturally drains 600 gallons per minute, the level continues to fall.
If you've ever been to the lake, you know how beautiful it is. For me, it's a place of personal significance. My parents met there many moons ago when my dad worked there, and my mom's family vacationed there from Beckley, WV. We've had family reunions there; I worked there as a bellman and front desk clerk for six years; and I proposed to my wife on the gazebo on a snow and ice covered day in 2001.
My memories are filled with a full lake, and honestly, it's hard to call it much more than a pond right now. Hopefully, the lake will retain it's bank-full status one day, but that will likely take several years. We'll need lots of rain and snowfall to bring it back; and the lake will have to stop draining.
I highly recommend the short trip to Giles County to see Mountain Lake. Enjoy lunch "On Top of the World" and walk the lake bed to find some of the former sunken treasures that have been held in the lake for generations.
