Metamorphology of the River: A Rapidly Changing Mill Race

 

Very often we view the changing of a landscape in terms of a great deal of time. Mountains for example are formed in seismic events and then eroded and weathered with hundreds and thousands of years of Mother Nature sculpting the meticulous details of one of these earthen wonders. One of the greatest sculpting tools Mother Nature wields is water. This is why a river can change much faster than a mountain.

Years ago I learned how a meadow is formed: Water picks up minerals from the earth and deposits them on the sides and at the end of a meandering river. Eventually it completely fills the river forming a meadow, filling with local vegetation and ready for life to inhabit the area. I good way to view this happening is our very own Provo Bay.

Satellite view of Hobble Creek and Mill Race

 

Years ago I grabbed this satellite image of this area to research the possibility of a paddle down Hobble Creek and back up Mill Race. You can see at the bottom how Hobble Creek feeds into Provo Bay and at the top you can see a gaping wide opening to Mill Race. It was a successful paddle with the help of a few Utah County Kayakers and their adventurous spirits, in spite of a few scary lightning strikes. The water that year was even higher than this image projected. In fact, I got a little lost looking for the mouth of Mill Race in a confusing fragmite jungle.

Because of proximity to my home I frequently kayak Mill Race. It very easy access for me and I don't have to plan a put in and take out. It is a river that can be entered and exited at the same place. I can do this solo or invite friends. A few weeks ago I took my friend Colton to the mouth of Mill Race. The water was low that day and when we reached the end a sand bar was blocking the entrance into Utah Lake. I thought to myself that when the water gets higher I will be able to kayak into the lake once again. Here is a picture comparison to the same spot:

The pelican picture was taken by Colton Rigby just a few weeks ago and is a zoom shot for two reasons. One, not to spook the Pelicans and two, we couldn't get to that area beacuse of the sandbar. I kayaked to the same spot yesterday and the buoy that used to  mark the entrance of Mill Race is now on dry land and the sand bar is rapidly becoming an estuary Island. Here is a video of the island that is forming. There are streams of water going through but it got to where it was only a few inches and I had to turn around for fear of getting stuck:

Here you see that even with higher water levels (probably the highest I have seen all year) the sandbar is like Gandalf saying, "YOU SHALL NOT PASS".

Infact, the mass seems higher. At a guess I would say it has grown 6 to 12 inches higher. 

The birds seem to love it out there so bring your camera. The current dominant species out there yesterday was the Glossy Ibis. A few weeks ago it was Pelicans and American Avecets.