The Steelhead Festival

 The Steelhead Festival took place today at Lake Sonoma.  The photo above is a detail of a photo looking down at some of the booths, with the water splashing up that was being released from the dam.  Heavy rains have kept the reservoir full, and the water height needed to be reduced before next week's storms.  It make for an amazing backdrop to the festival.

This photo (taken from the same spot without zooming in) will give you a better idea of the size of the festival.

There were a lot of different organizations at the event:  The bird rescue, Landpaths, The Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation, US Fish and Wildlife, and many more which I just don't remember right now.  I was surprised that Stewards of the Coast and Redwoods (or State Parks in general) weren't represented. 

There were a number of different conservation groups not directly related to the steelhead, and a number of groups protecting watersheds in general, and the Russian River Watershed in particular.  

But of course there was a lot about the Steelhead and other trout and salmon. 

Perhaps the most interesting booth was the dissection booth, where they dissected both male and female fish, discussing the differences and identifying various body parts.  That's one area I stayed for a while.  I did pick up a lot of kids' books and coloring books in both English and Spanish (I have a small pile for my son-in-law, Carlos, who is an educator at the California Academy of Sciences) and was very happy to win a book light from the Sonoma County Library mobile library van's prize wheel.  I also picked up a couple packets of native wildflowers for Cay's yard, and some information (and entered her for a drawing) for a trail ride (horseback).  Oh, and I  might have somewhat foolishly entered a silent auction for an embroidered pillow that caught my fancy, although I doubt my low bid will win.

The event was alongside the hatchery and fish ladder. I walked down the stream toward the fish ladder and there were steelhead in the stream there. 

They weren't exactly easy to spot, but there they are.
 

On occasion, you'd see a steelhead jump in the ladder.  I didn't see any.

From there, I walked up to the hatchery.  There is a visitors area and information center as you first enter, then I walked through the process backwards from the tanks with the roe and spawning fish to the sorting area and the fish gate.

the education area of the hatchery

name that fish!

eggs

steelhead 

note the different color tags on the fish.

sorting area

fish gate

After going through the hatchery, I went back up the hill to the large visitor center.  One of the interesting parts of the event was the presence of Pomo artists and educators talking about the Pomo and their relationship to Lake Sonoma and the Steelhead.

A lot of the visitor's center was taken up by the silent auction (yes, I bid on one item, but I'm not sure...)  and some of the educational portion was eclipsed by the fundraising and sales.  

When I returned to the car, I noticed a marker for flood control and the dam, and a trail going away from the hatchery area.  I have no clue where it goes, but it may be an interesting place to explore in the park.