Hello friends, Hivers and the Amazing Nature community! Today I share a walk I took at a few different places to check the water levels of a river really close to me. Let me lay out the miles I put on my two legs.
About 1/4 mile maybe less from my house is a levee that protects my home from getting taken from the great Missouri River. This river is the longest river in the United States. Above is a gravel road that leads to the levee. You can see the levee in the distance (small green hump).
One of the first thing I did when reaching the levee was take some pictures. One was to the left of it and one to the right of it. The last picture is the road I was walking on after it crossed the levee.
If this was 2011 I would be a bit freaked out. You see we had two floods in the recent past, one that year and one in 2019. In 2011 the water was about a foot from breaching over the top. Seeing where it's at now and knowing it's suppose to start receding any day now I feel safe. If this wasn't my first rodeo I'd be freaked out right now, hehe.
So in 2011 the National Guard guarded the levee from anybody approaching it. Also the Army Corp of Engineers had a lot equipment and a good size team near it to monitor it closely. The two pictures above are on the dry side of the levee. You see the sand areas in the pictures? Those were areas of the levee that were patched during the flood of 2011.
The ground near those areas became wet. The levee almost failed, of course us residents didn't know of this until after the flood. Regardless I'm just thankful of the efforts of all who were involved making those patch repairs. They saved a lot of homes. It was projected we would have been in 4 feet of water in my neighborhood.
The next area I checked out was off a highway a few minutes from my house. I didn't have to walk far to see water. I've fished this part of the river many times in the past. It's a good hike to get to a fish spot. Look at the bridge and the water beneath it, pretty high huh ? Now the iron part of the bridge is the normal channel of the river. Darn thing is pretty swollen. Who said there isn't swamp land in the Midwest? No crocodiles here though, thank goodness. Water is right at the bottom of the levee though like the other spot.
I wanted to get a shot of the main river and I thought I would try a park close to it that had a trail. I've never entered this trail from this park and decided to because it was the closest to the bridge. There is another park about 1/2 mile away but I wanted to be closer.
Much of the trail was up hill and it made all sorts of turns. It felt like I was in there for quite some time. Almost the entire trail is shaded because it is in a dense woods. The trail had two surprises for me.
I was just walking along than I seen something ahead. I stopped immediately and new what it was. What I seen was a cat not a house cat but a Bobcat. I had a phone in one hand and reached in my pocket for my keys in the other, haha. I needed something sharp. Anyways it was a quick encounter the cat scattered before I got a good grip on my keys. I think I would have picked up a branch nearby if it would have charged me 😂
Ok I got the shot I was looking for but guess where I ended up at? Surprise number two at the park that was 1/2 mile away 😂 I could have just saved myself 45 minutes and just drove to it. Since I knew where I was at I walked the street way back to the other park where my car was. I wasn't going to back track on the trail, do you blame me?
It wasn't a complete waste of time going to the first park and ending up at another. I got to look at some beautiful flowers which really helped me forget about the cat for awhile. Not a huge garden but just big enough to spend about 30 minutes to change the mood. Mount Vernon Gardens was established in 1927 as a tribute to President George Washington. I got an ice cream afterwards but that will be shared a little later in a different post.
Quite the day, my mind is at ease a bit after seeing the flood situation. I also feel good I got some steps in. It was a beautiful day not too hot, not too windy just about perfect!
Alright its HPUD and today marks the most I have ever powered up in one day. A nice one of 700 Hive. It's all possible because of the price drop of Hive, I took out all of my HBD savings and traded it for Hive. Feeling good, well actually awesome of what I think is a big opportunity!
Another big thing is I'm getting back on track with HPUM as it will be my 2nd consecutive month! The month went quick and I didn't have any days where I almost forget. Bring it July let's get to 3!
One last thing before I leave. I need to also keep pace and power up two newbies to show them Hive is a caring and generous community 😊 Hope this finds them both well.
Happy HPUD everyone! Take care, stay safe and enjoy the new month ahead. Until next time!