“Too” Low Lake Levels — A Trilogy Of Coves

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Theo
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“Too” Low Lake Levels — A Trilogy Of Coves

Postby Theo » Sat Nov 05, 2022 7:45 pm

First, a link to my previous adventure, "Low Lake Levels — A Little Muddy Adventure", in case you haven't read it already.

Cove Number One

For weeks following my last muddy adventure I had been anxiously watching the lake levels, waiting for it to come down at least 18”, but preferably a full two feet, while also prepping for my next adventure. I bought some new rubber boots to replace my old and worn-out work boots I had totaled last time, and I packed an old backpack with a fresh change of clothes, and some bottled water and damp towels for cleaning up. A sinking “go bag” of sorts. I treated my clothes in permethrin as per usual for most all outdoor activities, and had a can of Deet handy to spray on my shirt back just before departure to repel the swarms of horsefly’s I encountered last time.

But after about a month, the lake had only come down about 14” when another prime opportunity to venture down to my spot presented itself. And always the opportunist, I just couldn’t help myself—like Carol Burnett once said: “I saw it in the window and I just couldn’t resist it.” So I grabbed my go-bag and set off on the twenty minute trek down to the cove, and I arrived to find it somewhat different.

Cove 1 Before.JPG


Gone were the two little inlets of water, and now the waters edge was almost flat and about 30 feet farther out. As before, I was excited to explore, but first, I decided to walk out to the bend in the cove and check for pesky boaters (like one couldn’t putter up the cove during my hours long expedition, but hey, it was peace of mind, if only for the first 15 or 20 minutes). After ensuring there weren’t any boats coming up the cove, I spent the first five minutes or so fiddling around, looking for the almost perfectly sized and straight stick I’d used last time. But unable to find it and not wanting to waste anymore time, I resorted to using a larger, more unwieldy one with a small Y on one end.

After depositing my pockets into my backpack and setting it on the sidelines, I set out down the right side. At first it was fairly easy to negotiate and just over halfway up my boots. But about 20 to 30 feet from the water, things got a little more difficult. I was starting to sink in over my boots (it sure didn’t take long to “christen” my new boots! :D ) and getting stuck briefly with each step. Hearing a little “whooshing” water noise behind me, I looked back and was intrigued to see the wholes my boots made briskly filling in with water; especially interesting since I was still about 20 feet from the waters edge.

By the time I reached the waters edge, I was sinking to my knees with each step and it was already becoming quite tiring. This time, I wanted to avoid the water (for now at least), so I turned towards the other side and trudged across and back down the left side. And not more than 10 feet from the water, and not far from where I sank the deepest last time, it started getting deeper. Roughly at the deepest spot I found last time, I was almost up to the tops of my thighs, and now that the mud was high and dry, it was also thicker, and I was again, VERY stuck. So stuck, my feet just kept coming out of my boots to the point where I started to think I was going to lose my new boots. But with a half-mile of rocky terrain to traverse on the return, leaving my boots was not an option. So, I kept pulling and shimming for five or so minutes until I worked them out.

After that, I once again decided to ditch my boots, throwing them as far as I could up the cove (which was only about ten feet). Then, I turned back to the deep mud, and continued prodding it for a deeper spot. Even in my socks it was not quite as easy to get around as last time when the mud was waterier (in fact, it was so thick, it eventually pulled my socks off. Yes folks, the mud actually knocked my socks off :lol: And they're still down there... somewhere). But again, finding no deeper spots in the high and dry mud, I once again resigned myself to try some of the submerged mud. It seemed like it dropped off a little quicker into deeper water, so I didn’t venture more than 5 or 10 feet out. But about that far out and on the right side, I found a spot where the gravel under the mud was loose, and with that, I sank almost to my chest in the water, and maybe to my waist in the watery mud, but it was hard to tell. I tried sitting down in it a little, but it seemed like I was pretty much just floating in the water, so it wasn’t all that interesting.

Cove 1 After.JPG


By then, I had been down there for at least an hour, and there wasn’t much daylight left. I’d lost both socks at some point, but due to my planning, not only did I have a fresh pair, but a whole change of clothes, which made the trek back somewhat less arduous, except for the last half being in the dark. But luckily, I’d thought to throw a headlamp in my backpack. All and all, the mud wasn’t much better than my previous adventure, and I admit, it might’ve been just a little better if I’d stuck with my goal of waiting for the lake to come down a full two feet. But nevertheless, the thrill of the hunt was fun, and it was a more pleasant adventure. My planning was much better this time; the hike back was easier in dry clothes; there were no boaters the whole time I was there who might later report a Bigfoot sighting, and best of all, NO DAMNED HORSEFLY’S! :D

Now, on to Coves Two and Three

There happens to be another smaller cove a bit farther away from me. At a mile or so, it’s more than twice the hike to Cove One, and I have hiked the gully that leads to it a few times—a trek which inspired, The Road She Shouldn’t Have Traveled, as the trail at the beginning is rather overgrown, and I’ve always thought it looks somewhat foreboding, almost like in the Lord Of The Rings where Gimli says: “that road there—where does it lead?” And Eomer says: “none who venture there ever return.” But spookiness and movie references aside, it’s actually a rather interesting trek, however it’s also a long and challenging one at two hours or so. Not exactly ideal for a return trek after a tiring muddy expedition. However, there happens to be another path that passes by the cove from the hill above—a path just suitable for my ATV. It’s very steep and dense woods, but only for about 500 feet. And though I’ve never encountered much mud down there in the past, I’d also never been down there when the lake was this low.

And so, a few weeks later on another cool day (there’re starting to become more frequent now) that coincided with some free time, I decided to go take a look. Knowing it would be a shorter hike and probably not as deep as Cove One, I didn’t prepare as much with extra clothes and such. Just my backpack with a fresh pair of socks, and some bottled water and a towel, mainly to wash my hands. After a challenging but short downhill trek, I arrived to find a short, narrow, and largely dried out mud flat.

Cove 2 Before.JPG


Although not nearly as promising looking, I nevertheless prepared myself as before, emptying my pockets into my backpack and stashing it. As expected, it was pretty dry until the last 10 to 15 feet, after which it was barely ankle deep and a little deeper in some places, but still no higher than the tops of my boots. And it also didn’t seem as thick and difficult to escape with my boots on as in Cove One. As usual, I decided to try walking in the water a little, but here, it dropped off rather quickly into deeper water with little submerged mud to explore. It was also a little less private, being closer to the main body of the lake, and also having a cabin on a hill about 400 yards away (hopefully, too far away for anyone to notice a person walking around in the cove below :? ).

It wasn’t nearly as interesting as Cove One, but there’s of course only one way to find out, and like I’ve said before, the thrill of the hunt is always fun. So now that I’d explored all Cove Two had to offer, I looked down the right side of the cove and noticed another little side-cove about a hundred yards away. I’d never been up that side of the cove before, but I did happen to recall there was a construction site up the hill from it a few years back, which made me wonder, “could there be a little mud over there?” So, I decided to hike up the shoreline to see what was there.

Cove 2 After.JPG


Unfortunately, I left my phone in my backpack back at Cove Two, so I can only describe what I found. A sort of triangular flat area, about 20 feet along it’s sides that dropped steeply about 4 feet into the lake. Though it all appeared to be hard, dry dirt, down along the water’s edge, there seemed to be a narrow strip of mud. I eagerly tested the mud along the edge, and discovered it was quite deep in places, and also, more quicksand like, as it was a mixture of clay, sand, and pea-sized rocks. Though it was a rather small strip between the drop-off and deep water, I sank to about mid-thigh, and got a little stuck a few times. I also explored a shallow, narrow strip of mostly sandy mud along the far side of the cove; though very nice in consistency, it was barely a foot deep.

After about 15 or 20 minutes of searching, I concluded there wasn’t anything more to see here, so I began the short trek in my water-logged boots back to where I’d left my backpack. Knowing it was short enough of a walk back to my ATV, I decided not to change into my dry pair of socks, so it wasn’t until I got home that I discovered just how difficult it was to remove my boots. It must’ve taken about as much force to get my boots off as it did to free them from the thick mud in Cove One, and once off, I dumped about two to three cups of that pea-sized rock, sand and clay mixture out of them (no wonder they were so hard to get off!).

Boots Before and After.JPG


In closing: though I still haven’t been able to find mud deep enough for my liking, these last few muddy adventures were the most interesting I’ve yet experienced. And judging by how high the dirt was piled up in Cove Three, it might become more interesting (as in deep) if the lake levels were to come up four or five feet. But with as little rain as we’ve been getting, that’s not likely until spring, and then, I might have to wait for the water to cover and saturate it for a while, and then come back down to expose it. I’d like to try Cove One once more this year while the ground and water is still warm, but I don’t know if it’s worth it unless the levels go down a full two feet from my last trip, and so far, it only briefly came within 6” of that, before bouncing back up 6” and staying there since we got some rain. And even though the air temps are still warm enough most days, with Daylight Savings ending (I’m so tired of that :roll: ) it’ll be much harder for me to get down there and back up with the little daylight we now have in the evening. So unfortunately, I might have to wait until next spring for my next muddy adventure when the ground and water warms up, and the lake levels cooperate.
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Finally broke down and went to see a psychologist. She told me I just have an overactive imagination—and it really excited her. We're going sinking next weekend. Theo's AI Quicksandbox New stuff every weekend (unless life gets in the way)

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bogbud
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Re: “Too” Low Lake Levels — A Trilogy Of Coves

Postby bogbud » Sun Nov 06, 2022 9:33 am

Thanks for that report and the pics! Was a great read indeed. Reminds me of my past explorations of tidal areas. Especially the tiring part of having to hike through sucking-mud that is pulling at your boots with every step.

What's the reason for the lake to dry out? Is it just the lack of rain/inflow or is it managed by some sort of dam with locks?
I've never been to a dried out-lake but over here there are a lot of reservoirs that are emptied from time to time for repair- and clean-up-purposes. Sometimes curious hikers or dog-walkers venture into the mud and need to be rescued after sinking to deep :lol:
I'm already chindeep in this mudbog and every desperate attempt to move my stuck legs only drives me deeper in. The thick mud slowly swamps my waders and my arms have nothing to hold onto.
I'm feeling home.

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Theo
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Re: “Too” Low Lake Levels — A Trilogy Of Coves

Postby Theo » Mon Nov 07, 2022 3:26 am

bogbud wrote:Thanks for that report and the pics! Was a great read indeed. Reminds me of my past explorations of tidal areas. Especially the tiring part of having to hike through sucking-mud that is pulling at your boots with every step.

What's the reason for the lake to dry out? Is it just the lack of rain/inflow or is it managed by some sort of dam with locks?
I've never been to a dried out-lake but over here there are a lot of reservoirs that are emptied from time to time for repair- and clean-up-purposes. Sometimes curious hikers or dog-walkers venture into the mud and need to be rescued after sinking to deep :lol:

Thanks Bogbud and you're welcome! :D It can be very tiring, but also fun!

I've seen a few news reports on small lakes that have been drained for whatever reason, and wished I had a chance to explore them :D But in this case, we just didn't get much rain this summer. I guess it's a problem from the Southwestern U.S. to the Mississippi.

Here's a related post I just made on the subject of the drought: Mississippi River's Historically Low Levels.
Finally broke down and went to see a psychologist. She told me I just have an overactive imagination—and it really excited her. We're going sinking next weekend. Theo's AI Quicksandbox New stuff every weekend (unless life gets in the way)


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