Upstream on the Wolf River at Flood Stage

I wish I started a journal earlier to record all the things I have seen on the river in the past year.  Some of it is on video.  Some of the things I missed include a baby bobcat, who still had his dark baby fur, young raccoons playing in an over hanging tree,  great blue herons sometimes up to three pairs.  One of them even fell out of a tree.  Other animals include king fishers and Mississippi kites, one dueling and getting chased off by a medium sized hawk.  

Most of the journal takes place on upstream trips on the Wolf River near the Walnut Grove Bridge.  

9-19-09

The river is at flood stage, the water is a creamed coffee color.  I don't have to step through mud at the boat ramp because the mud is under water.  Logs, bigger than my boat are floating down river.  I have to be careful to avoid them.  The canals on the left bank are open and floatable.  Note: left and right banks are from the perspective of going down stream, part of the ancient laws of the river.  I start by going upstream.  The two sand bars are completely under water.  I entered the first canal and had to portage over a concrete cataract.  While floating on the lake, I discovered a small leach on my leg.  A green heron was also seen patrolling the banks.  The second lake canal was easier to enter, since it was deeper.  The river had flowed into the lake and its surface was covered with flotsam.  I wonder how many fish were sucked into the lake.  When I was I leaving the canal, I was startled by a beaver sitting on the bank.  It was behind a tree, so I didn’t see it until I was only a couple of feet from it.  It sat quietly munching on something as I floated by.