text and photos by Stephen Denham ..........Trail Map |
| One day, in the summer of 2009, Medford Leas and area was blessed with a 4+ inch rainfall. Other than a leaky closet in our bedroom and a fish pond on our porch, we enjoyed the lightning mightily. When the onslaught subsided and the animalparade of "Two by twos, one of each sex" slowed, I decided to take a look at the Farm and our back yard. However, once I saw Kriebel Way, the beckoning of adventure did me in and I got my camera and away I waded. Bye the bye, the chirping, croaking, yelling, whatever, of the frogs was deafening. | The first picture shows what attracted me. Just. inside Kriebel, looking east from the entrance near the Farm and Nature Center. Solid water over the grass area behind Rushmore and of course, all the way along the trail, as well as off to both sides. Water was well over ankles, I'd say about 6 inches deep. Frogs still making a racket. |
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In on Kriebel, looking back to the west toward the western entrance, where I came onto the Kriebel Way. The tree beyond the entrance that looks like it's standing in water is a tree standing in water. The farms are just beyond it to the left
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 A self portrait of my left foot in sloshing position. The water it's standing in is pretty well disguised by floating wood chips. By now I'm wodering what's in the water besides me and what seems like a zillion frogs, still making a racket. The water is above the ankle. The foot is in a rather waterlogged leather boat moccasin. So is the other one, by the way. |
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This picture is further along the Kriebel Way, just to the right of the trail. Wood chips abound. As does the Poison Ivy. I hope the Poison Ivy doesn't attack. Water a bit lower -- about 4 inches deep on the trail. Red trail may be at the top of the photo as they get pretty close to one another, but I'm not sure since it's probably under water too. |
| Looking off to the left, also flooded between Kriebel and the Rushmore estates. And oh yes, Poison Ivy. The trail group keeps the ivy back from the trail, but leaves the woods natural. Which means a fair amount of Poison Ivy off trail |
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 Pretty, huh? Other than the fact that I get the feeling that I'm going to be attached by an Anaconda, alligator, or Bruce, the shark from Jaws, I'm enjoying the "walk (?)" Feet becoming webbed. Frogs still at it. What a racket. |
 Eureka!!! The light at the end of the tunnel. Well, not quite the end, but getting there. Medford Leas Way is dry, at least where Kriebel Way ends to the east, and the Red Trail crosses the street just to the south of the eastern entry to Kriebel way. It's flooded down by the Nature Center. |
 Out of the water, and now looking toward the west on Red Trail. Red runs roughly parallel to the Kriebel Way. Many puddles, but not as flooded as Kriebel Way. |
 Whoops, I spoke too soon. I'd say we're about half way from the Medford Leas Way road and where Red Trail leaves the woods and crosses the grass area by the farms. Obviously, Red slopes down twoard the west. |
 This is the big pond to the south of Red trail, fairly close to where we leave the woods. We're relatively dry right now. This pond does lose its water in dry spells, but is quite moist most of the time. This pond is usually the source of frog noise when the pond fills and the frogs come out, but just now, they seem to be all over the place. |
 This is a relatively small pond (but a lot larger than usual due to the flooding) to the north of Red Trail, between Red and Kriebel. It, too, is usually moist between extended rains, but then becomes a pond. We're looking to the north toward Rushmore, and are off the trail by several feet, approaching the edge of the pond. Frogs still calling, whatever frogs call, but with vigor and noise. |
 Almost at the edge of the pond. Ground very muddy. As I approached the pond, the frogs became somewhat quieter, but still noisy. |
 Slightly into the pond. The water is just above my ankle, but the water is actually just about an inch or so deep. The rest is mud. What lives in mud??? I'm trying to get a picture of a frog. As I got to the pond, the noise (at this particular pond) died away and I get the feeling that they're all watching me and licking their chops. There's water under the wood chips but I don't think the heavier branch is floating. I'm not going to find out. No frog. |
 Last picture since the western opening of the Red Trail is just off to the left of the picture, as is civilization. The fueling tank is just to the left at the edge of the woods, as is the shed for the farms. Hard to see, but just beyond the root of the near tree is a small pond that I've never seen before, even after heavy rains. As with all the ponds and flooded areas, the water is covered with wood chips, leaves, and anything else the woodland elects to have floating around. |
| --Photographer's note: Tech data: Not that I know anything about the tech aspects of the camera. I left the auto flash on and in some of the deeper woods shots, it filled in a bit for closer objects. However I did some editing of the picture on computer. Some cropping, but mainly lightening the shot with brightness and/or exposure. For a couple I used increased contrast, and for even less, tint, saturation, or temperature. For the most part, the camera takes better pictures than I can. The woods do tend to be pretty dark for photos. Steve Denham. | --Webmaster's note: The pictures here are brighter than the prints used in the Nature Reserve buletin board display. I used Irfvanview's tool called auto adjust color for many of the photos, which accentuated water and reflections, probably at the loss of realistic representation of the dark woodlands. Maggie Heineman. |