A visit to one of my favorite places on Beatty Creek this morning turned up this interesting development: A new tangle of “big wood,” which has created a fairly extensive gravel bar smack in the middle of this section of the creek. In this downstream view of the channel, the tapered shape of the bar is just visible behind the debris pile:
Here’s the downstream tail-end of the gravel bar:
Note the reddish color along the far side of the stream, where a portion of the channel’s bank is being removed at a rapid rate:
The heavy rains also helped the creek rebuild a previously established gravel bar further down the channel (left hand side of the photo):
All of these changes have taken place in just the last few days, the aftermath of the heavy rains which hit the area a week ago today. The composition and placement of such bars are precise visual interpretation of the energy exchange processes which take place as the creek redistributes the organic and inorganic materials in its channel and surrounding banks.
While the presence of wood in riparian corridors is generally desireable, too much wood can clog small streams such such as beatty Creek. Currently, the log jam at the creek's confluence with McLane Creek could pose an insurmountable obstacle to the chum in next year's run. I will be discussing this issue, along with a couple others when I visit with a representative of the Stream Team later in the month.