Spring Creek  - Part 2

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1504 Ann Arbor Drive

Norman, Oklahoma 73069-5363

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“Serious problems cannot be dealt with at the level of thinking that created them.”  Albert Einstein

Day 15 brought another unexpected problem I had to deal with…dust.  The neighbors, who are used to living on a rather infrequently traveled road were complaining about the dust being raised by the frequent truck traffic.  Several options were considered, in the end a donation was made to the Peggs Fire Department and they sprayed some water on the road for us.

The second cross vane appeared to be complete, but unfortunately it wasn’t quite right so I had to make Terry take part of it apart and redo it.  Such is the life of building vanes.  He made short work of it though and finished it by the evening.

Work progressed nicely on Day 16.  The most interesting event of the day occurred long after we had quit for the day.  I had gone to the store, and to Glenn’s to feed “Lil Kitty” as I did every evening.  I had hung out until he was finished doing the requisite kitty clean up and gave him a lot of pets.  I head back for the cabin at about 10:00 PM.  Several cows (escaped from the neighbors) had been loafing in the area most of the day.  As I drove up several ran across the cattle guard at the gate to the cabin.  One momma started across with her baby behind her.  The baby made it she didn’t.  I watched her fight to get out for a while until she laid down, trapped.  I was freaking out.  I didn’t have a clue what to do.

I drove to the store to call Jennifer (Tom’s daughter, Neil’s and Glenn’s sister and the only one who lived in the area).  I was delighted when Jennifer showed up though she didn’t really know what to do either.  We roped the poor girl by her legs and tried to pull her.  We roped her by her neck and tried to pull her.  We got a pry bar and tried prying her trapped foot.  Nothing worked, she just bellowed.  Her foot was all cut up and appeared as if it may have been broken.  We knew we had to get her out so finally I just bounced on the pry bar and her foot popped loose.  We used the ropes to swing her around so she wouldn’t step back into the  cattle guard when she stood up.  I slipped the rope off her foot, then the one off her head as she just lay there tired out by her ordeal.  We looked each other in the eye, I pet her on the forehead and she stood up.  Her leg wasn’t broken after all.  I made it back to the cabin at 1:00 AM with even more respect for Jennifer than before.

On Day 17, it reached 108 ^oF and my feet were hurting but both excavators were building vanes.  We were almost through with the lower end.

Equipment problems on Day 18 slowed us down somewhat when a seal blew on the track mechanism on the 325 excavator.  He limped to the downstream vane and didn’t move for 2 days though he was able to complete a significant amount of the vane from the bank.  Day 18 was also the day we got the green light to work on the upstream site, albeit in a somewhat modified form.  Although the original plan was to place a cross-vane and three rock vanes, the scarcity of resources dictate that we scale back somewhat.  We opted to try a longitudinal toe slope protection (LTSP).

On Day 19 I got the chance I was waiting for.  We had sent Terry home for the Labor Day weekend so I got on the 330 excavator.  The air conditioned cab had a stereo.  Not only was I out of the heat and had music to listen to, but I was getting to build a vane.  After three hours a hydraulic hose began to leak and I was forced to shut it down.

The Darr mechanic came out on Day 20 and fixed both excavators.  I worked three more hours on the vane and it looked worse than when I started.  It’s definitely harder than it looks.  Larry and Pat put the final touches on the point bar and it looked great.  I was determined I was going to finish that vane myself.  I started early and finished it at 7:00 PM on Day 21.  It’s a little pregnant looking but it’s working.

Day 22 was Labor Day, and like the rest of the weekend, we worked a short day and stopped at 3:30PM.  The short days were good for all of us. 

We finished all of the work at the lower site on Day 23.  Terry and Larry did final touch ups on the downstream site and placed several root wads.  Pat moved material for a while and then started dozer work on the upstream site.

Downstream site—looking upstream.

Vane construction at the downstream site.

Vane construction at the downstream site.

The last vane - downstream site.

Maintenance and repairs are inevitable.

My own personal rock vane.

Root wad installation.

Another root wad installation.

The next four days were spent constructing the LTSP at the upstream site on Neil’s land.  The way we elected to do it was to stack the rocks out away from the bank.  Fill material obtained from the low water crossing clean-out was brought to the site in 10-wheel dump trucks and sloped to approximately a 2-1 slope.  Only minimal channel shaping was accomplished.

Willow trees acquired from the site were incorporated into the structure as it was built.  Larry dug them out from on the inside bend of the channel and I would lay them down and hold them as he spread dirt over them.

We completed the construction on September 10, 2000 after 28 days of work.  The total cost of construction including engineering, and the dump trucks brought in by Tom to haul the gravel from the low water crossing to the upstream site was $109,382.  We had installed 2 cross-vanes, 8 rock vanes, and approximately 400 feet of LTSP.  Approximately 1,700 tons of rock was used and over 12,000 cuyds of material was moved.

LTSP installation—upstream site.

LTSP installation with willows—

upstream site.

Upper end of downstream site –

looking upstream. (September, 2000).

Upper end of downstream site –

looking downstream. (September, 2000).

Lower end of downstream site –

looking downstream. (September, 2000).

Lower end of downstream site –

looking upstream. (September, 2000).

Panoramic view of downstream site

(September, 2000).

Upstream site – looking upstream.

(September, 2000).

Upstream site – looking downstream.

(September, 2000).

Upstream site – looking upstream.

(September, 2000).

Upstream site – looking downstream.

(September, 2000).

It was a great project, and fun to boot.  I met several new friends both human and non.  The crew, Danny, Terry, Pat and Larry were a lot of fun to work with.  I got to know Jennifer better and her brother Glenn is an especially nice guy.  We had a few very enjoyable (though late) evenings.

I also had two non-human companions that made my month on Spring Creek even more special.  CJ the horse and I became pals.  I spent many evenings swatting horse flies and rubbing him down.  Carrots and apples were on my supply list every time I went to the store as was cat food for my other buddy, Lil Kitty.  His meows for food and purrs of thanks warmed my heart every day.

The last night there I wrote, “I love this place as much as I’ve loved anything in my life. I’m going to miss this old creek, opening gates, crossing cattle guards, saving cows, seeing deer peacefully grazing and bounding away, the sounds of the crickets, cicadas, tree frogs and hoot owls, the smell and companionship of CJ and the cocky feline affection of Lil Kitty and the freedom from the boob tube.  Life in the city isn’t life.  It’s existence, crowded isolation, moving as fast as possible with no connection to the land and water that are the essence of life.  Part of me will always be here with the creek and a little part of this valley will always be with me.”

CJ munching on a carrot.

Lil Kitty being a cat.

To see how the project has withstood the test of time go to Spring Creek –3.

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