Bridging the Gap

I crossed the beaver dam over and back once. Coming back over I knew where all of the really bouncy parts were and my legs started shaking before I got to them. Art coached me to keep moving, don't stop, and to keep my feet apart to spread out my weight. Huh. I crept across to a sinky spot, stopped, clamped my feet together and shook. And shook. And started to sink. I stood there long enough to fully realize that there was no way to get a cherry picker down there to haul me out. I don't remember the rest.

But I'd been to the other side and I was determined to explore more. A trip to the lumber yard and some creative balancing by Art, and we had a bridge, of sorts!
John had no fear. He scampered back and forth many times without any hesitations!
The planks gave me some confidence. If I stay on the boards, my legs won't fall through the branches. (If I tip over, I'll be impaled on pointy beaver sticks!) I was able to relax enough to snap this picture of Hasty Brook upstream from the middle of the dam. Wow.
It was really interesting to look down at the dam construction. For the most part, the branches were very tightly woven. I was surprised at how much dirt there was. There were many rocks, some of them 8-10 pounds, packed into the works. The sturdiest areas supported growing plants, including a few aspen seedlings.
Hasty Brook is a DNR designated trout stream. We've assumed that there were fish in there, and looking closely at the dam we found several scattered piles of fish scales. Some critter has been fishing! I did see 2 river otters in the creek in May, maybe they're back!