The Flood

It has been a crazy month for the weather in my area and yet, no one is complaining. Perhaps it's because we're experiencing history in the making. I mentioned 6 inches of rain in one week and then 4 inches in another 24 hour period...this is what happens to the rivers and streams when that much rain comes down.

Above is the path at the end of my street where I frequently take hikes. It's inundated after the normally placid creek has overflowed it's bank - following the 4 inches of rain. I tromped out there to check the condition of the creek and by the time I returned, the water had risen another 3 inches on my boots. I admit, I was quite concerned about getting swept off my feet as the water rushed down the street, but I had my camera and this event needed to be documented, by me.

lol...this is my neighborhood once the creek finished spilling all it's water into the streets. You could have swam in here, in fact, I watched a huge opossum do just that across here.

The river meter on Saturday. I'm not sure if those numbers are full bank readings, which means the river would be 9.7' over full bank, but there's an incredible amount of flooding going on. It's jaw-dropping how much water there is. There is a benefit to all this water though, Lake Michigan will rise again after years of decline, and that will make my fishing and boating friends very happy.

 The same river meter 24 hours later, submerged, although the river won't crest until 11 hours later, just short of 23'.

This is normally a viewing platform for the fish ladder and there is supposed to be a 10' dam off to the right. The ladder is completely submerged.

The delightful Miss M and her 'someday' iconic photo. To give you an idea of just how high this water is, Nessie, an 18' tall sculpture from Art Prize in 2010, floated gracefully under this bridge. She would be snatching little Miss M off the walkway at this rate.

See those bottom windows? The next couple of photos were taken from inside the building. I didn't take them, but they're all over the news and Internet.



Fish in the window. Talk about living in an aquarium!

Not every day a duck swims past your window like this.

This is normally about a 10' dam. The river is running nearly flat right now with some violent turbulence just there over the dam. I'm curious is anyone has tracked the volume of water flowing through here.  

CSX filled these hopper cars and parked them on the railroad trestle to keep it from getting washed off it's footings. It worked, but I was a little worried that it wouldn't.

 

The rain has stopped, for the most part, and the river is slowly going down. And now we begin the clean up...I'm sure we'll talk about this for years.

Absence

Two weeks of massive, nearly nonstop rains, just shy of 4 inches in 24 hours on top of 6 inches the week before. That doesn't bode well for picture taking and then I lost internet access earlier when my neighborhood became a series of islands after being inundated by Indian Mill Creek surging over it's banks. My street became a raging torrent. I did manage to get some pictures, which I'm working to get edited and posted. We're expecting historic flooding from the Grand River, nearly 7 feet above flood stage. If the flood walls don't hold, which the city is assuring us is not a concern, my neighborhood will really be in for it since my house is situated in the ancient riverbed. What a wild and crazy April!

Dinner Out

I took myself out for dinner, my kind of dinner, and it was divine. Of course it included a pack on my back and a little walk of about 14.5 miles through the woods, but that's the kind of dinner I like, you know?

Okay, it was actually a few meals because this was my yummy breakfast of couscous, cinnamon, dates and cranberries with a side of camp coffee. Oh, I do like dining out!

Um hmm, the lakes were still frozen though there was quite a bit of thawing around the edges and in shallow swamps. I was out there just at the cusp of blooms, no flowers to be found, but the trees are full of new buds that are just beginning to swell. Soon. Spring is well on it's way in the forests.

A lovely fire when I stopped for the night. I rehiked a trail I've already been on a year ago, Nichols Lake to 16 Mile and back on the NCT, but it's such a pretty up and back hike, even this early in the spring, that I knew it would make a lovely albeit brief overnighter. Lots of hills and lakes through open forest with a fair amount of snow still on the trails makes for a lovely walk. I kept smiling and thinking to myself, "I'm so lucky!" The temps were low 50's / high 40's during the day with completely blue sky, but upper 20's at night; a fire was necessary, and really, what's a great dinner out without a fire?

Yeah, I took myself out for dinner...

Fine day for a paddle.

By the way, I did pass the Night Navigation class, with flying colors, and I'm pleased I practiced because they weren't kidding when they said it was a tough course.

 

Today was finally beautiful and warm. The sun was radiant, the morning promised only gentle breezes and the temps were predicted to be mid 50's. You know what that means, paddles must get wet. I made the obligatory phone calls to see if anyone was available to join me, they weren't, so I loaded up the boat and took myself to a quiet little lake where the Sandhill Cranes are known to nest. It's an ideal spot for birding with all the cattails and wetland areas, plus the lake is in the middle of a state game area, which means no houses. There are water trails and creeks to follow which lead to other lakes with houses, but this particular one is undeveloped.

 

Look who I found, just a dancin' and a jigglin'.

He's clearly happy and having a good time. Yes, he really was jumping up and down like this. His girlfriend is just to the right of this picture so I'm sure he was showing off for her. This link lets you hear the call and see the jumping.

 Such odd looking birds with an equally odd call.

Okay, so I went out to the lake to paddle, but I found that it was still nearly frozen solid. There was an open channel I could paddle to get to the lake, but once there I was only able to paddle a little ways along the shore before I ran into the sheet of ice. Apparently, 60 degrees doesn't melt the ice that fast. Something comical, the Goose in the back slipped and fell just after I captured this shot. I laughed, out loud. I hope I didn't embarrass him.

 

Clearly, I wasn't going to get much paddling in, but since I was also prepared for birding, I backed myself into the reeds where I could be out of the breeze, took off my shoes and kicked back to watch the scenery. I kind of liked that I was out there barefoot, not wearing a coat, and yet the geese were walking on ice.

Ah, welcome back, Spring.

Red-winged Blackbird keeping me company. I have a fondness for these birds as their call always reminds me of warm summer days spent outside when I was a child.

I happened to glance down while I was in the shallows and saw this. Could it be? Is it? It was frozen in the muck and even after digging and digging at it with my paddle, I still had to stick my hand in the icy water to retrieve it, and yes, it was a blue Mason jar. What the heck? 

Oh, no, Goose, I don't see you hunkered down in there. I swear, you're totally camouflaged in the reeds.

I don't have pictures because they were too far away, but I also saw swans, Mallards, a couple of raptors and a few unidentifiable birds.

See, it was a Mason jar...and a green wine bottle also had to be retrieved. By the way, the water was so cold it made my fingers hurt.

 

Yep, fine day for paddling, for birding and for treasure hunting.

This moment...

linking with SouleMama...

Enjoy what's left of your snow days....they are leaving for awhile.

Back to the woods.

I love the woods, I really do. Oh, how it feeds my soul, walking up and down the trails, listening, looking, letting my mind wander. It feels so good!

I went out early on Saturday to see if I could find a couple markers before my girlfriend and her son showed up. The woods were certainly changed from Thursday. It had snowed so the pine and cedar scents that filled the woods on Thursday had disappeared and where there had been many birds chirping and chattering to each other, there was now only silence except for the crunch, crunch of my boots as I walked. Oh my, did I ever walk. By the time I left the woods, I had been out there for 10 hours. I found my markers, I ended up in a swamp that I didn't mean to end up in, I cooked dinner in the woods, I heard Barred Owls again, and I ended up exactly where I was supposed to be in the dark. That's a good day!

 

I tried a different Orienteering course on Sunday, Van Raaltje Farm in Holland. This one gave me bearings on each post for the next post I was to find and if I didn't find the correct one, I couldn't go on to the next - in theory. In reality, it was far too easy for me after traipsing around the woods the past few days, finding my way with a compass and a map. It was good for a beginning course, but I'm not a beginning Orienteerer. Still, I was outside, the sun was shining brightly and I was content.

Ooooh, my Night Nav test is coming up in a couple days. That will make me LN5 certified. Here's  what the instructors say about the course: "This course ranks among the highest levels of land navigation and exceeds the requirements for a NASAR SARTECH I (Crewleader), the pinnacle of search and rescue training.  It is more difficult than Adventure Racing and is considered an advanced Orienteering course.  The course is designed to match the difficulty of the US Army’s Advanced Land Navigation Course used for Pathfinders, Rangers and Special Forces training."

 

That's pretty bad ass!

Ready or Not!

 

But of course I would rather be ready, so I went on a quest to find markers. My night navigation test is coming up in just over a week so I'm doing what I can to prepare, however finding one's way in the daytime is nothing like finding one's way in the dark.  I have no idea what my test route will be until just prior to the event so even if I find all the markers ahead of time, it doesn't help much once I'm given my coordinates (I could be running from 6, to 13, to 23, etc.), but this does allow me to practice using real skills. Off I went!

 

The sun was shining, the temps rose to 42 degrees and the woods smelled heavenly of cedar and pine. Oh my...lots and lots of bird calls, and even though I heard the Sandhill Cranes, loud and boisterous, I couldn't find them on the lake. The only one I did see was flying far overhead. Noisy little buggers, kind of creepy sounding too. They sound like what I imagine Pterodactyls sound like, right before they attack you. *grins*

There was still a fair amount of snow on the trails and they were quite slippery. I was wishing I had brought along the Yak Trax.

What a gorgeous color of red, all rich and damp and humus-like.

  Still snow and ice left on the North side of hills and valleys.

I approached this one from the easy side without knowing it. I would not have wanted to come through the backside and fight all those prickly vines. I must be doing something right because I walked right up to this marker even though I was off trail and bushwhacking to get here. Then again, that's the point of orienteering, to get where you're supposed to be.

This one was tough! I had to adjust and then correct my route several times because I couldn't get through the scrub. It also seriously messed with my pace count, but when I realized I had a rise on my right and a swamp on my left, which were both on the map, I knew the marker had to be close. It was, 10 feet to my right, which makes perfect sense since I started about 10 feet out from #9 to get around all those pricker bushes. After this, I cut back through the woods to pick up the trail as it was time to call it a day, it was getting late and the woods were noticably colder. Brrr....time to head home. I was very chipper on my walk back to the car and felt pretty darned good that I had found 8 out of the 29 markers. A girlfriend and I are going back out to find more of the markers and this time we'll stay out after dark for real practice and to see how we do. I'm saving a couple really tough ones to try in the dark. That should be interesting. Perhaps I'll do another post to show you the tools I'm using. I've got a sweet flashlight that will light up the forest like a champ with a super long beam and 520 lumins. It's an amazing tool!

 

I have to tell you about a feeling I had out there in the middle of the woods with no trail in sight. In the past, when I've found myself off trail and not knowing quite where I was, I would get a tightness inside my belly, a sort of low-grade panic feeling. This time, armed with a compass, map and skills, I had not a bit of worry. I laughed out loud when I realized I felt as comfortable out there in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by scrub and swamp and forest, as I would be walking around my own yard at home. Being prepared sure feels good!