Upstream, Downstream

Day 60: Let me tell you this about that: I did not like being on the far side of either of these bridges (Kernahan Rd., top; Elbe, bottom) to take these pictures for you. While I was standing on the Kernahan bridge, a tree struck one of the pylons with a loud thunk. Okay, I did not feel the bridge shake. I won't claim that, although I was left with a profound sense of my mortality as I thought about what was going on under the Nisqually's roiling surface. I have not seen it this high since the November 2006 flood...you know, the one which ate Sunshine Point Campground and closed the Park for six months. As a matter of fact, the Kernahan bridge was rebuilt after the 2006 flood. Here's a mere 10 seconds of the action today.

 

 

Up Tahoma Creek

Day 157: "The best laid plans of mice and men gang aft a-gley." I was not aware of any plan for the Park to delay the March 16 early opening of the Westside Road gate when I left home this morning with a goal of Lake George and possibly Gobbler's Knob in mind, but upon arriving, I found said gate closed and locked. A quick review of my options and driving times convinced me to make the best of the situation by walking the road regardless. Thus it was that I found myself taking lunch on the rocky floodplain of Tahoma Creek, roughly five miles from my starting point.

It's not pretty here, but it's interesting. There has been very little regrowth since the floods of 2006, a few alders and other scrub-brush along the channel margins, a pioneer wildflower here and there, some thin moss. There are no lichens to speak of, and few fungi on the abundant, sand-scoured wood debris. In a perfunctory census, I turned up one bird's-nest fungus, a sparse and tiny colony of Tremella (jelly fungus), and a few shelf "conks" which were probably already established on trees uprooted during the flooding. Still, it's fascinating to see what returns most quickly, what tries to take hold and fails. To the average visitor, this area is a wasteland; to a naturalist, it's a golden opportunity to learn from the greatest teacher of all, Nature itself.

High Water

Day 43: I have certainly seen the Nisqually running higher and faster than it was today, but it is still flooding low-lying areas and bringing a lot of debris downstream. November and February are typically our wettest months, and what brings the rivers up most dramatically is rain on top of an early snow-pack, as is the case in this event. Earlier this week, Paradise saw its first major accumulation of the year, enough that the Park brought out the plows and visitors were beginning looking forward to the snow-play season. A change to rain sent much of it coursing down the Nisqually while other areas (notably the Carbon River and Puyallup drainages) are also experiencing flood conditions. The Park was closed today when debris backed up behind a culvert, sending Kautz Creek over the road. While major flooding  is not expected, even minor events like this one can be inconvenient to Park personnel as well as to the visitors who come out in all sorts of weather.