You forgot to add cigar mouth...... eww.

I even make MYSELF gag sometimes after I get a whiff of my own breath after puffing a stog.

It's a good thing you take good care of your wife, it's important for old people like you to have healthy relationships.

All kidding aside, I hope the upward trend continues for you, your wife, and catches on financially for you. It's easier to relax for a wade when there are no weights upon your shoulders. I have a feeling you will have a great year on the creeks this year.


As a side note, I was out in Millbrook a week ago. Ran past the Millhurst dam. Any info on the area? Looked VERY nice, and talk about rural.

Special Ed wrote:As a side note, I was out in Millbrook a week ago. Ran past the Millhurst dam. Any info on the area? Looked VERY nice, and talk about rural.

I might. considering that's where this was caught.



Used to know the land owner in the big limestone house right there and they would let me have access. I'm sure guys do it without asking, but I don't. Been a long time so I would have to start over.

Other ways in. Long haul kind of, but public. Been doing some exploring the last couple of years.

Never did a write up on this exploring last April, but this is near by and another way in.







We'll talk about this, but maybe only for registered users.

You never cease to amaze me.

What I started to do with that is number the beaver dams. It's easily the most amazing things I've come across while exploring creeks. Because of the dams, it is also one of the most potentially dangerous places I've explored.

If you look close at the aerials it looks like someone cut down all the trees. The beavers did that. I have never seen them clear such a big area and I'm only showing part of it. Close up most of it looks like this. Imagine walking through acres and acres of this stuff. You do not want to fall down.



And, guess where it ends.

Decided to move this. Too much detail for the non-registered users.

Looks like there should be some real nice logjams in that area......

Special Ed wrote:Looks like there should be some real nice logjams in that area......

That is one of the potentially dangerous aspects of this area. Oh, we got log jams.
This shot is from winter of last year when my daughter and I were exploring the area. I fell through that. I thought I was on solid ground. Luckily it was only knee deep.



I got your log jams. This is the biggest pool and dam. It starts on the left. I made a panorama montage of this that is too big to put here. I estimate the beaver dam to be 200 feet long.



And then there's more.







This area is the Millbrook North Forest Preserve, a relatively new preserve. In the last couple of months I've read how the district is going to be doing flood mitigation construction here. They make it sound like they are trying to protect it from Fox flooding. There is no way the Fox is flooding this area. They banks are too high. I think they are talking about how when the creek floods it pours out into the field. You can see that happening in the aerial where it's marked 1 and 4.

I think they are going to take out the beaver dams. To do that they have to trap and move or kill the beavers. There's no other way. I'm going to check with the head of the preserves to get a feel for whether I'm right or not.

Walking along the shore for almost 3/4 of a mile was one of the most intense wading walking experiences I've had. The shore in the pools disappears in one step and it is filled with branches. And if you fall away from the water you have the punji sticks to deal with.

Did catch a small largemouth out of one of them. I need a canoe to do it right.

I did this exploring on April 12, so that was a little early for any smallies to be up in there. DId catch a handful of big creek chubs and shiners.

I have a total of 60 images from that day. Log jams, pools, riffles and the calm end at the flood plain before it hits the Fox. Plus shots of the fields you have to walk through to get there. This was one of those posts that got so big in my head, I never did it.

One of these days.

I meant to go back over the last summer, but I decided against it. I'm sure it is mosquito hell.

I could do that one day late Spring. Float trip? Canoes, waders, jig swimmin' sticks. Armor-soled wading boots......

Special Ed wrote:I could do that one day late Spring. Float trip? Canoes, waders, jig swimmin' sticks. Armor-soled wading boots......

Kevlar body armor that wraps down and under and between your legs.

I don't want one of those punji sticks where they don't belong.

Ken,isn't there a REAL dam or spillway down that way? I have stuck close to home the last 4 years but maybe this year I will branch out a bit. It is hard to get away though, plenty of good water down this way