Returning To Village Creek To Find A Mud Flood.

My biking plan today was to first checkout Village Creek Historic Natural Area in the unlikely chance the park was open. If it was, I'd go biking there.

Village Creek Historic Natural Area is still closed due to flooding.

So the plan became to drive to River Legacy Park to see how securely the entry is being blocked. The last time River Legacy flooded I parked at a nearby park and biked into the flooded zone, as did many others. That day was also a Sunday.

But on this flooded Sunday the entry to River Legacy Park makes entry not possible. That and a park employee in a white pickup is at the entry.

So the plan went to last resort mode. Drive to Interlochen and park where the Village Creek Natural Historic Area paved trail morphs into the Bob Findlay Linear Park Trail, which I learned today is called Pioneer Trail. I figured if the creek had gone back were it belongs, flowing under, rather than over the dam/bridge, I could pedal into the park, getting easily around the gate.

Well.

The final resort mode needed another adjustment. Village Creek is still flooding over the dam/bridge. The creek has largely receded, leaving behind an incredible mess that I suspect is going to take awhile to clean up.

In the picture above you can see water flowing over the dam/bridge in the background, with a huge pile of mud in the foreground. That mud covers the paved trail with what looked to be 3 or 4 feet of mud and debris.

The mud and debris did not smell too good.

Quite a different look than what I saw on Thursday, with what looked like a swollen river.

Where does all this mud come from? I am not sure, but I think Village Creek flows from Lake Arlington. Lake Arlington is not very far away. What got eroded to make so much mud? Is someone somewhere missing a yard or two?