Life in the Suburban Jungle

Wild Dunes - Isle of Palms Beach Renourishment

Here is the latest news from Wild Dunes as it relates to the beach renourishment project:

We have Bulldozers, heavy equipment, pipe and personnel on the beach NOW & will start pumping sand soon

2008 Beach Restoration Project

PROJECT SUMMARY

The northeastern end of the Isle of Palms has been enduring a severe erosion crisis as a shoal attaches to that section of the island. If the current episode continues unabated, structures could be threatened. In order to protect the public safety and to ensure that the beaches remain healthy, the City has undertaken a beach nourishment project scheduled to occur in the spring and summer of 2008. The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (SCDHEC OCRM) has issued the City a permit that stipulates "up to 885,000 cubic yards of sand will be dredged from four offshore borrow sites and pumped via hydraulic pipeline to renourish 13,785 linear feet of beach." This project will restore the dry sand beach, control the erosion and include the removal of all sandbags currently placed in the erosion area.

ANSWERS TO PROJECT QUESTIONS

When will the project start?
Soon, but the exact start date is still undecided as the final steps are taken in the preparation and permitting process. Weeks Marine, the company that will perform construction, has mobilized their equipment. Any day now, beach goers may notice equipment on the beach.

When will the project end?
July 31, 2008.

Where will the project start and end?
The beach to be restored runs from

53rd Avenue

to Dewees Inlet. The project map (coming soon) shows that sand will be placed in three major areas called Reach A, Reach B and Reach C. Where the project starts and ends exactly, including where construction occurs on any specific day, depends on several variables including weather conditions and the potential presence of sea turtles.

What about the sea turtles th! at ne st on the Isle of Palms?
The City has been working closely with all appropriate local, state and federal agencies to ensure maximum protection for sea turtles. The permits issued by the agencies allowing construction to occur include clear guidelines to protect sea turtles. Every night and every morning, turtle monitors will walk the construction area looking for turtles and their tracks, and if one is found, the appropriate steps will be taken to protect the turtle and its nest.

Will the project run all day and night?
Yes. The project will run 24 hours per day and 7 days per week, even on Memorial Day and July 4th. The goal is to complete the project as soon as possible, so unless inclement weather forces a delay, construction will continue all the time.

What will construction be like?
Beach restoration is a large project that involves an off-shore dredger, large pipeline and heavy equipment and truck! s. Vi sitors and residents in close proximity to the project can expect to see this large equipment and hear noise. At night, lights will illuminate the beach so construction can continue. These disruptions will be temporary as the project moves down the beach.

Will the beach be closed?
The beach to be restored is approximately 9,200 feet long, but only a section of the beach will be under active construction on any given day. The section under construction will be clearly marked and closed to visitors. The rest of the beach will be open as usual. Also, the construction will be progressive, meaning it will move along the beach during construction.

Will the project affect boaters?
Boaters needs to be aware that pipeline, marked with buoys, will be submerged in the waters around the project.

What about the sandbags?
By the end of the project, all the sandbags will be removed from the beach.

What will the beach be like with the project is completed?
The goal of the project is to restore a dry sand beach.

Wild Dunes Review

We received a very nice review from some of our guests at the Wild Dunes condo recently:

Review Title: 33124 - "This condo more than met our expectations"

Review Rating: 5

Our group of 3 couples thoroughly enjoyed the beachfront condo and we all thought it was an exceptional value for the cost. The unit was very nicely furnished and had all the comforts of home. It was clean and the rental process, instructions, key pickup and checkout all went smoothly. Access to Wild Dunes was simple and we found many interesting sites and restraunts in the area. The weather was good during our stay and the ocean temps were still fine for swimming. We were interested and surprised by the extent of beach erosion along some parts of Isle of Palms but it did not affect nor detract from our vacation. We all agreed to another get-together in the area in the not too distant future.

For more informationabout renting this condo click the photo on the sidebar.

Antelope Canyon - Page, AZ

Photographer's paradise - this shot is aptly named "The Candlestick." Please check out the photo album from Antelope Canyon. We could have stayed all day!

Grand Tetons National Park

Pretty amazing place.  The Teton Range dominates this landscape. Still some snow on the peaks as they reach upwards from 10,000 to almost 14,000 feet into the sky. We hiked Cascade Canyon yesterday – a 9 mile round tripper not for the faint of heart.  I was a little concerned about our youngest as she struggled a bit on the way out. We stopped off with the masses at Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point – a couple of can’t miss points that are beautiful and impressive. Keep the chipmunks at bay – they make the squirrels at the Grand Canyon look like amateurs. These little guys will jump into your backpack if you leave it open!

The trail meanders along the creek bottom and features a number of beautiful rapids and pools with rock beaches.  About 2/3 in we spotted a full grown bull moose feeding on the grassy water plants creek side. He was pretty amazing to watch and not at all concerned with our presence. When he had his fill he ambled off into the bushes. We also had the pleasure of spotting a yellow bellied marmot (we didn’t actually see his belly) posing on the rocks for us and a few pika along the trail. The pika look (and sound) like a hamster with long ears and live along the rocks near the trail.  They look like excellent eagle and osprey snacks. At the furthest point out on the trail we found a nice spot on the creek and rested with our feet in the water – it was icy cold and they were numb in about 10 minutes! Fortunately for us all Anna was in much better spirits after a snack and a rest and she practically skipped her way back. Our bull moose was nowhere to be found but we did spot a bald eagle as we boarded the boat for our ferry back across Jenny Lake. We all slept soundly that night!

Wyoming

Did you know that the state of Wyoming is the least populated in the US? There are miles and miles and miles and miles and miles of rolling hills and meadows. We passed through several small one horse towns with populations of 100, 75, 220 and even a 350 or two.

There were numerous high wind gust signs along the highway, and miles of what looked like 10 foot high fences with numerous horizontal slats.  We concluded that these were actually set-up to break the wind and lessen its power on the cars and trucks along the highway. We also came by some wind farms with the largest windmills I have ever seen.  There were hundreds of them along a ridge and each seemed to be 100 feet tall with 30’ blades.

If I wanted to be a recluse or own thousands of acres of inexpensive land I’d move to Wyoming! 

Sundance Trail Creature / Critter List

Many of these animals were the kids favorites for the whole trip (especially the kittens):

• 1 large black bear
• 4 dogs
• 2 kittens
• 1 goat
• 2 donkeys
• 30 horses
• Many hummingbirds
• Many chickens
• 1 snake

Horse Sense

The following are some terms and musings that came out of a weeklong saturation of information and exposure to the world of horses. Please enjoy!

The Unscheduled Dismount (UD) – this is when the rider makes an unplanned exit from the saddle and finds their way to the ground.  These usually occur when either the horse or the rider get spooked and the rider loses control of the horse. We had one UD this week when a horse stumbled when loping (controlled running – not a full gallop) and the rider and horse fell forward.  The young lady fell forward and rolled and other than a bump on the head and a sore ankle was OK.  The horse also made it with through the ordeal with little more than a scratch on the nose!

The Emergency Dismount (ED) – this occurs when there is a problem with the horse and the rider needs to get off immediately. Caroline’s horse got pretty dehydrated and was getting ready to fall to the ground when and she had to make an ED to prevent being rolled with the horse.  Fortunately she got off in time and the horse did not go down.

Other terms from riding:

Horse to the barn – it was amazing how much energy  these horse had whn the ride was halfway over and we were headed back to the barn!

You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink – try to get a 1600 lb animal to take a drink of water when he doesn’t want to and you will understand what this means!

Horsefeathers – no such thing – didn’t see any this week

Horse sense – no such thing – horses are pretty predictable once you get to know them a little bit – and while they do have a personality and a mind of their own – they do NOT have any sense!

                                                                                                

Peeing like a racehorse – sorry if this is crude – but if you’ve ever witnessed a horse when he pees you get a while new understanding of what this means! And just like women that go in groups to the bathroom – when one goes usually many do!

Whitewater Rafting the Poudre River

We spent last Wednesday day rafting the Poudre (pronounced pooter) River in the Poudre Canyon State Park – seems within every 10 miles or so of Colorado is either a state or national park! The trip was the first whitewater rafting experience for the kids.  We suited up with vests, helmets and shoes and headed out into the canyon on the bus.  The river guides talked us through a pretty serious safety talk that gave everyone a chance to ponder the wisdom of this adventure. The kids were pretty nervous!

There were two groups of rafters – the non-adventurous types which included all the kids under 13 and the adults that were either with them or not interested in the more adventurous trip. As it turned out there was only one significant section of class IV rapids on the trip and the non- adventurers simply took their boats out and re-entered the river below that section. 

The guides were very professional and navigated the river with skill. We didn’t have any unscheduled swimmers in our group. The canyon was beautiful and my group of four dads enjoyed each other’s company and we navigated the river. A pretty nice way to enjoy the day!

The kids had a blast and can’t wait to do it again.  Their favorite part of the river was a small section where we beached the boats so they could actually jump in and swim down the rapids for about 30 feet and then get out and go again!  They both went several times!

The Black Bear Experience

Last Monday night as Caroline & I were just getting to sleep at Sundance Trail Ranch we heard noise outside or bedroom window.  The window faced the side of the main lodge toward the driveway and the dumpster.  We saw something moving around and with the motion light on we saw the largest black bear the we have ever seen foraging for food. We had heard from the wranglers that a bear had been visiting the ranch at night and eating the scraps in the chicken coop. We were amazed at the size of him – at night in the dark he looked to be about 400 lbs – in the daylight looking at the size of the dumpster he was probably about 300 lbs – formidable still. Caroline & I made every effort to video and photograph our nocturnal visitor – but it was too dark and the digital camera couldn’t focus. I ventured out on the porch with the digital to try and get a better shot. The camera flashed to try and get a focus on the shot that I wanted – and re-flashed  - and re flashed – and never took a photo! 

Did you know that a black bear’s eyes reflect green from a camera flash? Fear! I retreated quickly to the safety of the cabin and locked the door (not that it would have kept him from coming in if he’d wanted to)!! Oh – and did I mention that he stood up and his hinds legs and rocked the dumpster and tipped to over? He ate well that night. He was smarter than the average bear!

We found out the next morning that four other ranches had their dumpster tipped that same night! He was either pretty busy or there were copycats about. The wranglers put an electric current on the dumpster to “encourage” him to find another food source.- he did – and helped himself to one of the chickens.  They electrified that fence the next day!  During our last night they were out late looking for him – another method of discouragement involving rubber bullets.  No luck – no sightings.

Sundance Trail Guest Ranch

I had the fortune (or misfortune depending on your point of view) of riding the largest horse of the herd at Sundance Ranch this week.  His name is Clyde (1/2 Clydesdale) and he stood 16 hands 3 inches tall (about 5'7" at the shoulder - a pretty big fella!  It turned out that we had some pretty serious control issue to work out amongst ourselves – we both wanted it and continued to fight one another all week.  I’d say I won the battle – but he probably told the rest of the herd that he was the "man" or "horse."

I learned some interesting things about horses that I’d never known before:

• Horses are pretty much at the bottom of the food chain – a horse thinks that if it moves it will eat them
• Horses have terrible vision and very poor depth perception – something that is very far away can still spook
• The two sides of a horses brain are not very well connected – they have to learn on both sides – if you teach a horse to do something from one direction then you will have to start over on the other side – they do not translate – also – always approach a horse from the same side – normally the left.  It is not unusual for a horse to spook if you approach from a different (the right) side – he sees you entirely differently and may not know who (or what) you are.
• From the saddle if you give a horse a command be prepared to fight until you get your way – if you let him get away with disobedience he will continue to be disobedient – if you give him an inch…
• Horse are like two year old children – very stubborn – slow to obey – always interested in their own way – must be taught over and over and over...any parents out there?

Understanding your horse goes a long way toward enjoying your horse. I will miss Clyde - til next year I hope.