Tag Archives: High Water

AS THE WATER RECEDES | Part 2 – Bay City, WI #plasticpolution

AS THE WATER RECEDES | Part 2

I wanted to provide an update on a previous post, AS THE WATER RECEDES – Bay City, WI #plasticpolution.  Earth Day seemed like a great time to do so.

The water was receding and making progress, but snow melt in Northern Minnesota and recent rains has the water level on the rise once again.  I’ve made several trips to Bay City since cleanup effort on Saturday April 6th, watching and waiting for the water level to go down.  The Village of Bay City has made great efforts in cleaning up the debris that washed ashore at Saratoga Park.

It was happy to see that only traces of garbage remain.

If you were ever looking for a bit of driftwood, I would think now would be the perfect time to find whatever shape/size you desire.  There are numerous piles that have been gathered up.

AS THE WATER RECEDES
Driftwood

What boggles my mind though is there was a fresh Mountain Dew can laying on the side of the road.  I still struggle with what goes through the mind of the individual that discards a soda can.  It isn’t that difficult to recycle.

AS THE WATER RECEDES
Discarded soda can

It was encouraging to see that the campground area was mostly devoid of trash.  During the mechanical clean up, more worm and snuff containers turned up.  There is a whole lot of natural debris; cleaning that up will take some work.  If only one could snap their fingers to change the hearts and minds of those who seeming don’t give a hoot.  It’s a process.  Tell people how you feel about this sort of thing; make your opinion known whenever and where ever you can.  Plastic pollution is terrible, it’s ugly and it horrible for the wildlife.

AS THE WATER RECEDES – Bay City, WI #plasticpolution

AS THE WATER RECEDES

As the water recedes there remains an unfortunate scene.  If it were only driftwood and leaves, no worries would there be.  The plastic though – six pack rings, soda and booze bottles, snuff and worm containers and butane lighters litter the shore in Bay City Bay.  You can see the line of debris on the road in the photos below.

AS THE WATER RECEDES
Lake Pepin Blvd – Bay City Park
AS THE WATER RECEDES
Lake Pepin Blvd – Bay City Park

It’s troubling to see.  The Styrofoam chunks.  The flip flops and sandals missing their other half.  Unbroken light bulbs even.  The trash.  It’s an ugly sight in such a beautiful place.  A very small sample of 2,320 miles of Mississippi River shoreline.

Plastic pollution is terrible.  Everyone has seen what is happening in the oceans.  I see this a lot in the local trout streams I fish.  My fishing net is most often full of cans, bottles and plastic worm containers each time I leave the stream.  My wife and I constantly retrieve plastic bottles from the Bay City area while kayaking.  Each and every time I encounter this, I utter to myself, “what the hell is wrong with people?”  I understand that plastic is extremely useful – especially in healthcare.  How some can so carelessly discard it is beyond comprehension.   This is only going to get worse unless people start thinking beyond the convenience of today.

Give a hoot! Don't pollute!
Litter is every town’s dirty little secret. No one wants to admit how ugly it is, or the fact that it is getting worse despite decades of anti-litter education such as those early-’70s posters and commercials whose taglines were “Don’t be a litterbug” and “Give a hoot. Don’t pollute.”

The dirtiest part of this dirty secret is that many if not most litterers are young. They’re not so young that they don’t realize what they’re doing. They’re cognizant enough to acquire the snacks and cigarettes in the first place, to choose from a selection of products and brands and pay for their selections. When they litter, they know they’re littering.
~www.psychologytoday.com

The bulk of the problem in my estimation

Some people litter because they’ve come to believe that whatever they do, others will pick up after them. They have no sense of responsibility. This idea was confirmed by a veteran California highway patrolman who reported that in his twenty years-plus of pulling drivers over for tossing litter out their car windows — a misdemeanor punishable by fines of up to $1,000 — not once had an offender ever apologized once caught. They either denied having littered or shrugged off the act as insignificant ~ Rob Wallace, Keep America Beautiful

Plastic pollution links

National Geographic 
WE MADE PLASTIC. WE DEPEND ON IT. NOW WE’RE DROWNING IN IT.

phys.org 
Beyond the oceans—microplastics pollute rivers and lakes, too

inlandwaterwaysinternational.org 
Prevent plastic pollution in waterways

Adopt-A-Drain 
A initiative to keep trash out of the waterways

Other links

The Irish Times
Talking rubbish: what makes people litter?

End Littering
Keep America Beautiful

SUNRISE OVER COLVILL PARK – Red Wing, MN #aerialphotography

SUNRISE OVER COLVILL PARK

Sunrise over Colvill Park Saturday March 30th.  I wasn’t sure if I was going to see a sunrise or not.  The cloud bank was massive, dark and moving along rapidly.  You just never know.  I was pleasantly surprised.

Pre-sunrise

Pre-sunrise was very cloudy and not very colorful.

SUNRISE OVER COLVILL PARK
Overlooking Colvill Bay & Park – Hwy 61 South
SUNRISE OVER COLVILL PARK
Overlooking Colvill Water Park – Hwy 61 South

Sunrise

I was surprised that the sun made an appearance.  The clouds were think and moving.  I was a brief appearance.

SUNRISE OVER COLVILL PARK
Overlooking Colvill Water Park Splash Pad – Hwy 61 South
SUNRISE OVER COLVILL PARK
Overlooking Colvill Bay & Park – Hwy 61 South
SUNRISE OVER COLVILL PARK
Overlooking Colvill Bay & Park – Hwy 61 South
SUNRISE OVER COLVILL PARK
Overlooking Colvill Bay & Park – Hwy 61 South

HIGH WATER, CANNON RIVER – Red Wing, MN #aerialphotography

HIGH WATER, CANNON RIVER

Cannon River at Welch

The Cannon River continues to drop in Welch upstream, but it’s still high and over its banks at Hwy 61 north of Red Wing.  These shots were taken Tuesday March 26th.  I can see little difference today in the level today.

High Water

High Water

High Water

High Water

 

SETTING SUN – Red Wing, MN #aerialphotography

SETTING SUN

The setting sun last Saturday cooperated nicely.  The clouds and color made a spectacular appearance.  The high and wide Mississippi was smooth as glass and reflected the sky nicely.

SETTING SUN
Sun setting on boat house village and Bay Point Park
SETTING SUN
Boat houses and Pucketville

 

SETTING SUN
Bridge Construction and Barn Bluff
SETTING SUN
Red Wing Grain, Boat Houses & Bay Point Park

RED WING BOAT HOUSES – Red Wing, MN #aerialphotography

RED WING BOAT HOUSES

I Googled the interweb and did not find much information regarding the history of the Red Wing Boat Houses.  The only thing I found was an article from the Winona Daily News from July 4th, 2009 – Book traces history of boathouses on the Mississippi. The book referenced in the article,  The Floating Boathouses on the Upper Mississippi River: Their History, Their Stories is available on Amazon for $99.96.  I probably will not be ordering that any time soon.

I did find some information regarding the Red Wing Yacht Club in an article from Post Bulletin March 13, 2015 regarding the lease to operate in Red Wing Bay.  In the article it said:

Kevin Avery, commodore of the yacht club, explained that the club has been in the harbor for 112 years and has 275 members, about 80 percent of them from Red Wing. Nearly all the boats in the harbor are fishing boats or recreational runabouts housed in modest floating boathouses.

Now 116 years – that is some longevity.  I’ll have to keep digging for more information on the yacht cloud and boat houses.

I did find a copy of Friends and Neighbors All: Brief History of the Red Wing Yacht Club Special Edition for $250 if anyone is interested in that.  Yikes.

If anyone has any information about  the Red Wing boat houses or any others on the Mississippi feel free to leave a link in the comments.

Vertical Panorama

Horizontal Panoramas

More single shots

 

 

HIGH BRIDGE AND LEVEE, Red Wing, MN #construction

HIGH BRIDGE AND LEVEE

The high bridge and levee are both under construction at the moment.  This will be interesting given the rising water from the Spring snow melt.

Levee Construction

HIGH BRIDGE AND LEVEE
Levee Construction
Levee Construction

Bridge Constructions

HIGH BRIDGE AND LEVEE
Closing the Gap – Bridge Construction
HIGH BRIDGE AND LEVEE
Bridge Construction
HIGH BRIDGE AND LEVEE
Bridge Construction
HIGH BRIDGE AND LEVEE
Bridge Construction

2016-10-21 High Water

High Water

2016-10-21-high-water

High Water 2014

This Spring has been a soggy one; the high waters have continued into Summer.  The mighty Mississippi hath runneth over its banks for miles.  Roads along the river front where partly opened this last Thursday.  We anxiously await lower water levels, less gnat clouds and a not-dead-fish-like aroma in the air along the river.

Here are a few photos from Red Wing – Bay Point and Levee parks.