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9:23 p.m. - 2005-07-09
French, BCVSP, France, water, wells.
Dear Critter Readers,

Greetings and happy hot Saturday! Tonight marks a return to weekend work hours. But it's not too bad to be here. I spent some time translating a Paul Verlaine poem from the French (still haven't found a translation on the internet.) Here's an excerpt from my version: "Casandre, at the bottom of the avenue pours an unrecognized tear on your disinherited nephew."

Hmm, I wonder what it's really supposed to mean?

Unfortunately, my research on artesian stream habitats was rather unfruitful as well. The whole subject came up because R sent me an email a few weeks ago, which said, "pack your bags, we're going to Beaver Creek Valley State Park!" When your beloved tells you to pack your bags (well, I guess unless you're getting kicked out!) it's very exciting! And, if you're going to a place where beavers roam, you know it's going to be an adventure.

This park lies in the far southeast corner of the state, near Caledonia. If you haven't visited the region, I highly recommend it. The landscape there is part of the "driftless area", that is, land that was not glaciated in the most recent ice age.

But if the glaciers didn't cover Caledonia, why is the area interesting?

It turns out most of the melting WATER from the glaciers flowed on down south, carving huge valleys. This water cut through up to 300 feet of bedrock, which was laid down 450 to 500 million years ago by an inland sea. Some of the bedrock held water, and rock cracked open, causing the water to come out in the form of artesian springs.

The word artesian comes from a spring in Artois, France. (Whoa, a French connection to the top paragraph that I didn't even plan!) The water flows out under pressure as the water bearing rock is "sandwiched" between two non-water bearing layers.

So, Beaver Creek Valley State Park has two artesian wells, feeding the Beaver Creek. The creek is a class one trout stream, and we saw some of those fish chilling out in a bend of the stream. When I told my Dad about this, he said, "Wendy, the brown trout are good to EAT." And I had to explain that we don't have fishing licenses, not to mention poles.

The streams' water is always 48 degrees (I thought it was 44 but R was correct), and it is sparkling clear. When we were at the park it was hot and humid, and a fine mist arose from the stream, which was romantic. And watercress grows in it year-round, but I don't know if it's the kind that you eat. Also there are some challenging hikes, rare birds, and "lightning bugs".

Highly recommended!

Yay for camping!
Wendell


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