Lake Berryessa - Morning Glory Spillway

Lake Berryessa was formed when the Bureau of Reclamation built Monticello Dam on Putah Creek in 1957.  Project purposes included flood control, municipal and industrial water supply, and irrigation water supply. Lake Berryessa is located in northern California; the Monticello Dam's is the largest Hydroelectric Power Plant is owned and operated by the Solano Irrigation District.

The Morning Glory Spillway (Glory Hole) is the funnel-shaped outlet that allows water to bypass the dam. This funnel-shaped outlet lets water to bypass the dam when it reaches to its maximum capacity (1,602,000 acre-feet), as it swallows a rate of 48,400 cubic feet per second (1370 m³/s). The distance from the funnel to the exit point is situated in the south side of the canyon approximately 700 feet.  This kind of spillway is mainly a massive cement funnel.

The Hole’s narrows diameter is 28 feet and largest diameter is 72 feet. For some clear reasons, swimming near the glory hole is prohibited. There’re buoys strung across the lake to stop boaters and swimmers from approaching the glory hole and the dam. Moreover, the glory hole is well fenced off from the land.  The Lake Berryessa Recreation area is Federally-owned, public land administered by Reclamation. The name of Berryessa is from two brothers with the last name of Berryessa.  The brothers, Jose Jesus and Sisto Berryessa, owned a considerable portion of the land in and around the town of Monticello, now covered by the waters of Lake Berryessa.

A spillway is a structure used to provide for the controlled release of flows from a dam or levee into a downstream area, typically being the river that was dammed. Spillways release flood water due to security reasons not overtop, damage & destroy the dam. It is normally used in rain seasons or flood periods when water doesn’t flower over a spillway. Moreover; to release water on a regular basis for water supply, hydroelectricity generation, etc. Floodgates and fuse plugs may be designed into spillways to regulate water flow and dam height.  The other uses of “spillway” include bypasses of dams or outlets of a channels used during highwater, and outlet channels carved through natural dams such as moraines.

“Gorbea Natural Park” A Mystical Forest in Spain

Gorbea Natural Park is a protected area located between the provinces of Alava and Vizcaya in the Basque Country of northern Spain. Gorbea takes its name from its highest peak, the Gorbea (or Gorbeia) at 4,862 feet above sea level. The natural park is located near a number of adjacent cities and towns and is a widespread destination for hikers, climbers and nature lovers that relish the rich flora and fauna. Below are a series of enchanting photos by Jesus Ignacio Bravo Soler. The ancient trees combined with the foggy atmosphere gives the area a mystical quality. You would love the atmosphere that these photos have captured. Also the color contrasts that are present in the forest’s palette are incredible.Check out more photos of Jesus Bravo @ 500px.com

Smoke Falls of (Cachoeira da Fumaca) Bahia Brazil

The Smoke Falls (Cachoeira da Fumaça) is also famous with another name of “Glass Falls", is located in Bahia, Brazil. This waterfall was discovered in 1960 by a pilot and it was well believed to be the country's highest waterfall until Cachoeira do Araca was in recent times discovered in the Amazon. The waterfall is located in Chapada Diamantina, an attractive region for adventurers, named that way because the tiny water flow is sprayed by the wind before it touches the ground, 380 meters (more than 1000 feet) down from where it first fell. 

However, depending on the season, it can be completely dry. There’re 2 ways to reach it; from above, walking six kilometers from the ecological base placed in the Vale do Capão, or from below, after a three-day trek starting from Lençoís, Chapada's best-known city. 

Smoke Falls is wide popular with adventurers due to the fact that there’re a great many other things to see and do during the trip into visit them. While the taller and more famous Cachoeira da Fumaça in Bahia lives up to its name quite well, this cataract fits its title for an entirely different reason. The power of the falls thundering over the escarpment ensures an almost constant billow of spray soaks the basin surrounding the waterfall. 

At flood stage, the waterfalls are so fierce that it becomes tough to photograph or even reach the waterfall due to the volume of mist in the air. Compound the power of the falls with a very striking shape and we've got a formula for a really impressive waterfall. So to get to the waterfall, the reason few visitors manage to get there, but once you’re there, you’ll understand why it’s worth all the effort.

World’s Largest Underground Trampoline United Kingdom

Bounce Below is the world's largest underground trampoline, bounce and slide facility is ready to open for general public on 4 July 2014. A set of three massive trampolines within the Llechwedd caverns in Wales brings trampolining to a whole new terrain. The old mining cavern is twice the size of St. Paul's Cathedral contains three mammoth trampolines and a 60ft slide. The activity lasts about one hour and visitors are supplied with cotton overalls and safety helmets before jumping on the train and taken inside the mountain. The train disembarks customers into a cavern lit up by an amazing display of lights. The three trampolines are connected by stairways and slides. The colorful lit caverns are the latest attraction at the regeneration project, which has seen over £1 million invested in it so far. 

Sean Taylor; the owner of Zip World said: We got this idea when my business partner saw this done in woods in France but this has never been done in a cavern, this is really a world first in Wales. Employees preparing the attraction had to work using portable lamps and carried out around 500 tons of rubble from the cavern. The first trampoline is 20ft off the ground, the second is 60ft and the third is 180ft high. They’re connected by shoots and you get in via a walk way in to the middle trampoline.