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MLRA HOME
AN
AFTERNOON SLOSH ALONG THE KRIEBEL WAY
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text
and photos by Stephen Denham ..........Trail
Map
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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. |
![](Denham/SLOSH/02-700.jpg) |
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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![](Denham/SLOSH/03-450.jpg)
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. |
![](Denham/SLOSH/04-450.jpg)
One of the many ponds just
off trail. This one, between Kriebel Way and the Red Trail is
usually filled by a good rain, but today, there's no "shore" to the
pond
since the whole area is flooded.
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![](Denham/SLOSH/05-700.jpg) |
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 |
![](Denham/SLOSH/06-450.jpg)
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![](Denham/SLOSH/07-800.jpg)
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. |
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![](Denham/SLOSH/08-750.jpg)
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.
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![](Denham/SLOSH/09-450.jpg)
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. |
![](Denham/SLOSH/10-450.jpg)
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. |
![](Denham/SLOSH/11-300.jpg)
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.
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![](Denham/SLOSH/12-300.jpg)
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. |
![](Denham/SLOSH/13-300.jpg)
Almost at the edge of the pond. Ground very muddy. As I approached
the pond, the frogs became somewhat quieter, but still noisy. |
![](Denham/SLOSH/14-450.jpg)
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.
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![](Denham/SLOSH/16-450b.jpg)
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. |
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