SURF’S UP! = CLOSED TRAILS

It is raining and the rivers are rising expected to go way above flood stage. That means that most of our local trails will be flooded over and closed. Boo Hoo! Probably only one trail will be unaffected and will remain open (hopefully). It always bums me out. It only takes one day of rain to close a trail but then it takes several days sometimes weeks before it reopens. This usually happens at least a half a dozen times a year. Here is a video I filmed almost 4 years ago of trail flooding.

Even small creeks and ditches can cause major problems and close trails.

The flooding shown in the beginning of this video above no longer occurs. The street has been entirely reconstructed and raised up so flooding can’t happen there anymore. And there is a new bridge over the creek.  It is a great improvement.

One of the things I am most amazed with is how deep the flood water can get. On one trail, the Maumee Pathway, there is an area that floods over where the water level is higher than I can reach while standing on the trail. In the picture below I have drawn a yellow line about where the trail is under the flood water. The red X is about where the water level is  well over my head. I am short so I can only reach about 7 feet up. My guess is based on what I see on the trees the flooding gets about 9 feet above the trail. It doesn’t seem possible. BTW, in the picture below the Maumee River is on the other side of the trees. That is not a river you are looking at in the picture. It is flood water across the trail and over onto an adjacent farmer’s field. The first picture below shows the trail and the farmer’s field.

The next picture below shows the same area flooded over. The trail is marked in yellow and the red x is where it floods so deep.

Below is a photo of that area of the trail that floods over so deep. You can see the river on the far left and the farmer’s field on the right.

In the video below you can see this area and all the flood water that covers several acres of farm fields on both sides of the road. It takes a long time for all of this water to disappear.

Yeah, it really bums me out when all this flooding occurs. It would not be so bad if it would go away quickly and the trails would reopen. But every time it floods the trails get covered with clay river silt which makes for a very muddy and slippery mess. All of that has to be removed which is no easy job.

Sometimes gates have been closed so trail users can know that the trail is closed. But sometimes there is no way of knowing flooding has occurred until you come to it riding along the trail.

I learned the hard way not to attempt to ride thru flood water. One can’t tell how deep it is and attempting to ride thru it can result in bad things happening. I won’t elaborate on that other than to say that cold water on a winter day is no fun to ride thru when it is a foot deep or more. Brrrrr!

Well, despite flooding and trail closures I am going to do my best to …

Keep On Trikin’

It may result in having to ride on streets and roads more than I usually do. It won’t be the first time.

There won’t be any rain or flooding in heaven. There probably won’t be any tadpole trikes either. That’s okay, though. I am sure what ever the Lord has it will be great … far better than anything we have here on earth. Are you ready for the journey ahead? The way has been provided and made clear. It all starts by accepting God’s free gift.

A FREE GIFT awaits you!

I woke up to this report this morning …

Trail Closures and Detours: 

Flooding – St. Marys Pathway between Sherman and Main St

Flooding – St. Marys Pathway in Swinney Park West in the low spot between Jefferson Bridge and the parking lot

Flooding – St. Marys Pathway between W. Swinney Park and Taylor St Bridge

Flooding – St. Marys Pathway between the Fairfield Ave Trailhead and Tillman/Calhoun

Flooding – Maumee Pathway between Pemberton and Maplecrest Ext

Flooding – Maumee Pathway the N. River Rd Trailhead and Rose Ave in New Haven

**********

There is no mention of the Towpath Trail but I bet it is flooded over also. They have to physically go there to check it out unless someone reports it to them.