Wetland
Despite what we found in the heat of last Summer the land does have a tendency to look a little marshy in the Spring. So those in the family who believed the property to be a marshy wetland were not entirely wrong.
Wanting to do some camping next week Karleigh and I drove up to the property to scope it out and make sure the snow had all melted. With the late storms we’ve had here in Utah and the elevation of the ranch I figured there might be a little bit of snow so better safe than sorry and we made the drive up there. I was surprised and relieved to see that there was no snow on the ground in the valley, however, the mountain right above the property still has some snow and it seems to all be funneling right onto our plot of land.
The lower half of the land that is somewhat wet during the summer from unchanneled irrigation water is seriously a swamp complete with frogs. The upper half that seemed dry last year is barely better than the lower half. Our fire pit could be a small bathtub to wash off all of the mud that you get while walking around.
The one positive thing is that with all the vegetation still down for the count it is very easy to see all the logs that are strewn about that need to be chopped up. I think camping is off for now unless someone has a small houseboat they would like to tow up there but we need a few day trips to begin clearing more wood while it’s all exposed. I can also now see the definite need to get a little trackhoe of some sort to dig ditches along the upper part of the property to channel the melt water to the southern edge of the property as well as a deeper and more defined irrigation canal through the middle running north to south. This will, of course, require some money so hopefully we can get the family organized and start working on this.
Meanwhile, take a look at what’s up there right now.
I can’t believe your photos. What a contrast to the summer. We do have our work cut out for us, but it will be fun and worth it. Thank you to you and Karleigh and Jonathon. Howard dreams in color when it come to the “Miller Project” !
There are some very effective french drain designs I intend to put in place that should make this a thing of the past. I’ve already got some preliminary ditch patterns that will act as reservoirs, as well as some dry wells that *should* get all of that water back into the ground.
We will need an excavator for the dry wells; they need to be fairly deep, but the french drains would be about 15″ deep and 6-10″ wide, which can be made with backhoes and what not. I’ll get the design into something you can digest visually, but I’m more excited now that the full challenge is before us.
Go Planet!
so, it’s a winter/summer camping spot for now…no spring. maybe fall? very wise to go up ahead of time, i can imagine getting their after dark and walking though all that water and ebing quite shocked! way to be positive though, I’ll help dig ditches or haul logs…I won’t cut them though…I’ll the chainsaw work for you!
oh yeah, and Jacob really likes frogs so it might be fun to enjoy the “wetlands” while we have them…assuming there’s no gators!!