Re: Update on Creek Conditions

Wizard,

I guess you know me. I was down at the springs yesterday. Katerina's report on the water level is accurate. Put another way the level yesterday was about a foot and a half over the Arizona pool, but the creek appeared to have crested at about 3 feet over it's normal level. It just got to the base of the sign that is closest to the Arizona pool. At this level it would have covered both the Serenity pool and the Crab Cooker. The Serenity pool had about two feet of mud an debris in the bottom, and was still receiving water coming from the creek, but not enough to cool it off. The rocks around the Serenity pool were covered by a thick layer of fine mud great for a mud bath which a group of us did. We did do some rock washing with AZ Mike, but really did not feel like getting a bucket and doing a good job. The "seemenots" where vicious yesterday and all over the place, which was another reason AZ Mike and I did not feel like staying exposed to them too long cleaning the rocks. The creek when it crest did washed around the bushes on the beach side causing some errosion to the sand. The flood was not enough to wash out the creek, it took some mud down but brought more in it's place. The only pool that was clean was the Womb, as even the Anniversary pool was very murky. I suspect the rain washed quite a bit of silt an debri in to the flow from the source which then dumped it into this pool.

The level of the creek made crossing on the rocks no longer possible as Laughing Bear had predicted. I think most people found crossing the creek painfully cold and a few chose not to do so. One fellow from Finland actually took several dips and eventually a short swim in the creek. I felt proud that I crossed back and forth three times, once to collect trash on the other side and the last time after realizing that I had crossed all my stuff but had left the trash bag behind. That was a painfully cold mistake. However, as several people have pointed out every time there seems to be less trash around, so it appears that either more people are learning to take it out with them, or there are more volunteers picking up after others, or both.

The group was mellow around 15 that rotated throught the day, and the majority chose to go nude. In addition to AZ Mike and I, Naked Man, Gary Roe and Jobe were some of the other regulars that were there. I did hand out the first six brochures when the opportunity presented itself, but I did not feel under the obligation to make sure I gave one to everyone. AZ Mike said that he was going to try and get up there during the week to do some cleaning, but we might want to plan on doing some cleaning before or after our meeting next week.

Take care all and happy soaking!