A record day! Were there really more than 200 people on the river?! Welcome to the students taking advance placement classes at the U of Iowa. We always need more friends of the river. Hope you enjoyed the Turkey! Plenty of tires, especially – but many hands make lighter work. Weather cooperated through the day […]
AWARE – Day 6 – Motor Mill to Garber Read More »
A gold star for the weather – again! Warm enough to slosh in the water; cool and cloudy enough to avoid a sunburn. And – perhaps in gratitude for removing the trash – the Turkey River shared some of its scenery and secrets. Clams inched their way across sunken sandbars. Minnows darted in the shallows.
AWARE – Day 5 – Frieden’s Park to Motor Mill Read More »
What a perfect July day! Winding river, white clouds, blue sky, slight breeze. Great crowd for dedication ceremony at Gilbertson Park to celebrate the Turkey River Water Trail. Plenty of junk in the river on the downstream float – but AWARE volunteers took up the challenge. John “Chainsaw” Larison dealt harshly with a nasty sweeper
AWARE – Day 4 – Elgin to 10-Mile Bridge Read More »
Another delightful day on the river. The scattered showers might have dampened gardeners – but no problem for intrepid canoeists! Logistics of the midday stop at historic Clermont to unload junk and portage around the dam went as well as could be expected. Rumor had it that Governor Larrabee even greeted the paddlers. Gilbertson Park
AWARE – Day 3 – Turkey River Access to Elgin Read More »
Despite an overnight rainstorm, 100-plus AWARE campers and paddlers enjoyed a bright and productive day. We retrieved plenty of tires and assorted other junk from the Turkey River. Also took a little time to swim watch bald eagles and cedar waxwings. Many camped Monday evening at Gilbertson Park at Elgin, where we’ll make another overnight
AWARE – Day 2 – Eldorado to Turkey River Access Read More »
More than 150 paddlers made the sparkling waters of the Little Turkey and Turkey Rivers even cleaner by hauling out old tires, appliances, car parts, barbed wire, and assorted other junk. Bald eagles, great blue herons, kingfishers, killdeers, sandpipers, muskrats, turkey vultures, and a bewildered fawn supervised the volunteers. On down the Turkey from Eldorado
AWARE – Day 1 – Gouldsburg to Eldorado Read More »
Project AWARE kicked off Sunday, July 10, from Gouldsburg Park in Fayette County. The annual river clean-up will spend 6 days on the Little Turkey, Turkey, and Volga Rivers. More than 400 people could participate one or more days. For details, check out http://www.iowadnr.gov/Recreation/CanoeingKayaking/ProjectAWARE.aspx See you on the river?! AWARE campers
AWARE Cleans Up the Turkey Read More »
Too many things happening so far in June to take time to write a blog. But here are some of my distractions . . .
Not since Mark Twain has any river rat captured the essence of the Mississippi River better than the late John Madson, with his 1985 classic, “Up on the River.” Long out of print, the book now is available again, thanks to the University of Iowa Press and Bur Oak Books. It is appropriately subtitled “People
Savoring wild plum blossoms Hearing the first witchety-witchety calls of the yellowthroat Listening to a chorus of other warblers – whether or not I can name the songsters Watching the turkeys strut on the distant hill, oblivious to yelps from my box call Thrilling to the unique chortle of a sandhill crane, then spying the
May: The BUSY month! Read More »