Man flies drone into lake's 'glory hole' where someone once got sucked into and died

The Monticello Dam is the seventh largest man-made lake in the Vaca Mountains, located in Napa County, California.

Locally known as the 'glory hole', the lake became famous after someone tragically died from falling in the spillway.

Well, one man decided to fly his drone into the 'glory hole' to see what it was really like. Take a look:

The 300 foot high arch dam is made fully out of concrete and is 72ft in diameter, deep at the lip.

Naturally, when the lake reaches 1,602,000 acre-feet, with a reservoir elevation of 440ft above sea level, water spills over its lip.

This causes a morning glory-type spillway.

However, the last time the reservoir spilled naturally was on 26 February, 2019.

Back in 2017, Matt Casias, who runs the YouTube channel, NorCal H.I.D. Matt Casias, provided us with a close up look of the glory hole and specifically the site where a person once died.

Monticello Dam is known for its uncontrolled morning-glory-type spillway. (YouTube/NorCal H.I.D. Matt Casias)

Emily Schwalek, of Davis, is the only known person to have died from the spillway drain.

In 1997, the swimmer died after being caught in the current and was tragically swept down the pipe.

She held onto the rim for about 20 minutes before falling down.

As you can imagine, swimming near the glory hole has since been prohibited, for obvious reasons.

Recreational use of the lake has also been declining since 2008.

Back in the day, 1.3 million visitors used to visit the lake each year. That number has now dropped to less than 400,000.

Despite the frightening thought of getting sucked into a water hole, viewers are stunned by its 'hypnotic' views.

"Well done, nice to see the whole hole and not just the top side. Looks like it is functioning as it should. Thanks for the vid!" one person commented.

A YouTuber got a close-up look at Monticello Dam by flying their drone right above the lake's 'glory hole'. (YouTube/NorCal H.I.D. Matt Casias)

A second added: "This is the best video of the Glory Hole that I have seen. Awesome, thanks."

While a third viewer said: "This is so f**king hypnotic."

Someone else wrote: "Nice drone work. Thanks for showing where the water comes out, too. Not many do that. Would've preferred the water sound to the music."

A fourth viewer said: "As a person who is scared of water and height, I find this so terrifying."

"Nice drone work. Thanks for showing where the water comes out, too. Not many do that," commented a fifth.

Topics: Travel, World News, US News

Anish Vij

Anish is a GG2 Young Journalist of the Year 2024 finalist. He has a Master's degree in Multimedia Journalism and a Bachelor's degree in International Business Management. Apart from that, his life revolves around the ‘Four F’s’ - family, friends, football and food. Email: [email protected]

@Anish_Vij