Anybody Seen My Focus?: And Then It Rained

Saturday, February 13, 2010

And Then It Rained

I don’t know how much rain the lake got. We had 5.6 inches this year before this rain started. When I got home in the afternoon, the total rainfall was at 6.5 inches. By the next morning, the total rainfall stood at 7.9 inches. 2.3 inches in 24 hours. Not a record but a good bit of rain. At the time, I didn’t think much about what it might mean at the lake.

But last weekend, the lake looked quite different from the week before when the water level had been lowered about 8 feet. I walked from the parking lot at Section B (Segment 17) across the pedestrian bridge and along the south side of the lake (Segment 2).

The route. It was an out-and-back walk. The water level was only a couple of feet low. Too bad I didn’t bring my boat.

A tree to the right as I set off across the bridge.

A view of the shoreline as I set off along the path to the east.

The path was level through the trees just across the bridge and the grassy field beyond. The path then headed uphill to a plateau just as the path entered the patch of trees. This uphill section of the trail was eroded somewhat and a little precarious after all the rain we have had. Although the path was sandy, it contains clay and can be slippery. Best to wear sturdy boots and make sure to walk carefully. Someone had slipped on one section of the climb. Once on the plateau, the path was level and headed southeast along another grassy area to the gas pipeline right-of-way. I followed the pipeline right-of-way east down an incline and then, just as the pipeline trail headed uphill again, I took the trail to the left and back into the woods. The trail wound its way down to the lake shore and then along the shore with a couple of 'detours' inland to avoid deep gullies. I saw ferns, native holly, and cranefly orchid leaves in these woods.

Budding Hazel Alder (Alnus serrulata) catkins. At one point along the shore, it’s only a foot step down onto the beach. I think this is an old road that once ‘crossed’ the lake and which ‘emerges’ from the lake at Segment 14-15. Anyway, this was the one of a few alders that was showing signs of life.