Sunday, April 26, 2015

Wodehouse Creek Comparison Shots

Before I leave the story of Wodehouse Creek, I want to share with you some of the comparison shots I've taken over the years.  The easiest place to see the creek of course is where it crosses a road, and these shots are all taken from bridges on 5 different roads upstream of the karst.  It's the dramatic difference in water levels that originally got me interested.

This is your first view of the creek, west of the 9th Line, just downstream of the springs.

In early spring it doesn't look too much different, the channel a little wider, and undoubtedly a little deeper.


Moving downstream, this is a summer view from Sideroad 13, where an old barn foundation stood.  It's since been sold and dismantled and rebuilt someplace!

 But that gentle stream turns into a roaring torrent in the early spring.


If you walk in the unused 10th Sideroad, this is the creek in the summer.


And this is the creek in early spring.  It's these dramatic contrasts that got me interested in figuring out what's going on.


And east of the 7th Line, you can hardly find the creek in mid-summer.

 But a couple of weeks ago it would have looked like this.

Finally, at the last road crossing before the karst, Wodehouse Creek is just a small stream hidden among the tall grasses.

Until early spring, when the temporary lake forms, and the whole valley floods.  This is where we went paddling a couple of weeks ago.

These high water levels puzzled me, since they don't come from a lot of spring runoff; they come directly from the springs.  And they're enough to create this large temporary lake.  The view from this sideroad was what first suggested to me that I should hike in to the karst and see what was going on - though it was not until we paddled in that I really understood it.  One more post tomorrow, on 'The Continuing Mystery of Wodehouse Creek'.




12 comments:

  1. lots of interesting details, but your last photo, print, frame, or get it published, just super.

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  2. Great comparison shots, and I can see why you would be puzzled by the differing water levels. Tomorrow you'll give the answer, right? :-)

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  3. Interesting how one place can change so much through the seasons. - Margy

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  4. interesting to see the seasons all at once or in one post.
    quite beautiful too.
    i wonder what you found.

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  5. Such perfect comparisons. Kind of gives one hope during the long winter months.

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  6. I love these comparison shots between spring and summer. It really is beautiful countryside.

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  7. Lovely photos ! I like a swampy marshy area always holds so much interesting nature . Thanks for sharing , have a good day !

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  8. WoW...some really beautiful views!! lovely reflections in the last image!!!!

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  9. Very impressive difference, especially in the last two photos.

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  10. Beautiful, beautiful photos!! You could have the four seasons framed.

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