Ollipop...how is the lake looking now? Getting close to a low level?
I dunno...I'll go look after lunch. But I thought the 3-day estimate was a bit aggressive, tbh. I remember it seeming to take a month to drain that lake last time. It was just ugly and stinky near there for weeks, although I'm probably remembering the whole time, which includes how long it took to fill back up.
A few questions for locals who are familiar with the lake/trail:
Early in the last thread, there was a media quote that said the bikes were located very close to a gate in the lake side fence that was unlocked/unlatched (not sure of the exact wording.) Can anyone tell me if this gate is normally kept locked?
Could someone hide/lay in wait near the gate on the lake side, either ducked down, behind vegetation, etc without being easily seen from the trail?
Also could someone describe the "rocks" that extend into the lake in that area. By rocks does that mean good sized stones, or gravel? Is the area raised above the water? Could someone walk out on it? If so, might the rocks be slippery? (I know there have been reports of the water level being lower than usual - could that have exposed seaweed/slime that might be slippery and could lead to someone falling?)
I am picturing a "jetty" of larger stone that the girls might have walked out on - if one slipped, perhaps hit her head, and the other tried to help her.... However, I don't know if my mental image of the area is accurate.
There's a gate, with a latch, that I believe had been padlocked before the lake was drained and refilled last time. That was also when they built up the jetty, made of small white gravel rocks - kinda like you'd use to cover a landscaping feature.
A couple years ago we were on a walk there, and there was a large snapping turtle teetering on the edge of the drain pipe that we stopped to watch for a bit. I remember the kids being worried he was going to fall in. At that time, there was no jetty visible, just a big pipe right at water's surface with water rushing into it. My wife and I commented how scary that looked. It's like an open manhole, 20 feet out in the lake. I'm pretty sure the gate was padlocked at that time.
Then they drained and refilled the lake. Sometime in there they built up that jetty, presumably so you could walk out to open/close that pipe w/o getting wet. The padlock disappeared. Yes, you could walk out on it and yes, it could be slippery. The pipe, from what I understand, was improved to have grates, although the way the police described it in his press conference it was more like a series of smaller pipes, about 3-inch diameter, and 3 inches apart.
It wouldn't be an opportune spot to "lay in wait," though. You'd have a hard time not being seen as the lake is literally right up to the trail there, separated only by that fence, and the jetty is too narrow for even two people to pass. Also, as evidenced by my photos, someone "laying in wait" there would easily be spotted from across the lake. More likely would be where the fence ends. Someone linked a good twitter post-pic of that spot, and another was on Nancy Grace, I'll try to find it.
Also, the gate opens out to the lake, so if you were on that side, waiting, you'd have to swing the gate open towards you while you were precariously balancing on the jetty. If I were ever on that jetty, I'd never close the gate behind me, and not sure its possible. Its not all that claustrophobic on the trail right there, because there isn't much room for weeds/undergrowth between the fence and the lake. A few steps to the east, however, and both sides of the trail are overgrown right up to the fence. The fence extends several yards. Someone could be on the other side of the fence, in those woods, and somehow lure the girls around the fence and back into the woods.
I still think the bikes were put in that most secluded spot, if only because you couldn't see them from across the lake nor from Arbutus road. You'd have to get out and walk down the trail to find them.