You might wonder how the valley got so wide. It happened quickly, at the end of the Wisconsin Ice Age. You've heard me mention glacial Lake Agassiz, but there was another glacial lake, Lake Souris, which was north of here. As the glacier melted, there was a catastrophic event that dropped the level Lake Souris by 125 feet very quickly. This water rushed southward, carrying rocks, and it carved this broad valley that now holds the lazy Sheyenne.
The river is dammed for flood control just north of Valley City, and the impoundment is known as Lake Ashtabula. I began walking beside that today. One really interesting feature is the Karnak Bridge, a railroad bridge, that spans the valley. It actually predates the lake.
It's a busy bridge. Three trains crossed it in the time I could see it.
I spent part of the day with the mowers again. Between Karnak Bridge and Sibley Crossing, there is a lot of the trail that is on steeper banks, and there are also a lot of rocks (ones that glacial event left behind).
Scott Tichy is the NCT liaison person with the Corps of Engineers. He's a big guy, but even so, you can see how he is having to manhandle that mower.
Thanks, Scott! And it was nice to see him again. He's also been a friend for a lot of years.
You know I can't stop taking white pelican pictures. This shows one coming in for a landing. You can see there is a cormorant with them. The pelicans swim in groups and herd the fish into a shallow area for easier catching. The cormorants are pretty smart. They take advantage of this behavior to get an easy meal.
Again today, I did shorter miles, although more than Tuesday. I stayed with Scott which made finding the trail easy, and I was able to help him get the mower under fences and over some rocky or wet spots.
Miles today: 9.3. Total miles so far: 2718.4.
 | See Day of Rest |
2 comments:
Interesting that the railroad bridge was there before the lake.
That sure doesn't look like a fun place to mow.
Ann- it's not
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