Late July Reportback
Downstream float: We floated from the bridge at the Marengo River Rd Crossing (coordinates 46°25’42.01”N, 90°50’50.49”W) to the bridge at Riemer Rd, and it took us about 30 minutes. We were floating on tubes which was lovely, minimal butt scraping.
- There’s an inlet stream about 200m downstream of Marengo River Rd on the left side if facing downstream. We spent some time sitting here looking for creatures and heard lots of birds.
- Lots of ferns on stream sides and Speckled Alders.
- Saw a hawk near the 1st deadfall downstream of Marengo River Rd!
Upstream Walk: We walked from the Marengo Rd Bridge upstream about 20 minutes to the first big bend. We spent a lot of time in one area and really enjoyed going super slow, looking at every little plant from the river up to 2ft up. A section of the river is between cornfields and private property on either side of the river, so floating down the river was perfect! According to the Public Trust Doctrine of Wisconsin, the constitution guarantees access to waterways.
We met lots of different beings!
- Lots of cedars near the easement
- At the bend, there is hip-deep thalweg where there’s a little stream input.
- A couple of beaver felled stumps on the shoreline
- Alders and some birches, fern covered shorelines
- Saw a king fisher and lots of interesting bird tracks
- Possible heard a Caspian Tern (endangered species) at the easement bend
- Dragonfly nymph shells and little fish at bank of easement
- Saw bittersweet nightshade, a non-local plant
- Great blue herons flying from Marego River Rd downstream and a bald eagle flew over the bend right after the first deadfall where the hawk was the day before!
- Saw many kinds of mints. Lots of guppies in the water
- A tree frog grabbed someone’s leg while walking in the water!
- Lots of narrow-leaved arrowhead (Sagittaria latifolia) along this section of the river, a species with an edible tuber
Early August Reportback
- Brief visit to Riemer Rd site, juvenile bald eagle flew overheard as we arrived
- Walked downstream for about 20 minutes
- Noticed two small inlets on either side of the river
- Prickly-ash, skullcap, monkeyflower, ostrich fern, black-eyed susan, damselflies, snaketail dragonfly (about to lay eggs?), arrowhead, small willowherb, speckled alder, clematis, horsetails
Here’s some pictures of the various beings encountered during these river floats
