Mystery Lake at Mountain Lake Lodge in Virginia. So what's the mystery? About every 400 years the lake completely drains, then over a period of perhaps 20 or so years, the lake starts to refill and then drain, over & over, carrying sediment from the old lake bed down into the draining crevices clogging them enabling the lake to finally refill to full capacity starting the 400 year cycle once again. So what's happening now will never be seen again in our lifetime, nor by any defendants that would even remember us. We had seen photos of the lake from the 1990s when the lake was full. Absolutely beautiful and with the lodge complex it was a beautiful place for a weekend or vacation getaway. Many special events and weddings are held there. But its most famous for the filming of the movie "Dirty Dancing". We were in the area and went to Mountain Lake Lodge in 2009 and was shocked that the lake was all but gone. All that was there was a small mudding pond surrounded by mud, perhaps only 30 feet across. So from that stand point we were disappointed about the lake being gone. The spot where Johnny lifted Baby up out of the water was completely dry land, several hundred feet from the now existing mud hole. We still had a great time at the lodge, its grounds, and the restaurant where we enjoyed AYCE snow crab legs at a great table over looking the basin of the great lake now drained. ACYE? All you can eat, in case you didn't know. Our visit to the lodge was still memorable despite the lake being gone. The lake is slowly returning with the help of scientists who are trying to aid nature to clog the draining crevices, but as the lake fills, more and more drain spots are found. I guess nature has a plan despite mans efforts. I remember reading and seeing photos of the remains/artifacts found on the lake bottom as the water drained away. Lots of things that had fell to the lake bottom over the past hundred years. Here's some photos of what once was, and the transition as the lake drained. I'd like to return to see the land full once again, but it probably will not happen in my lifetime.
