Mike Powell

The Potomac River is affected by the tides and, as a result, the levels of water off of Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge are also affected. Some of the trails at the refuge run parallel to the water and when tidal levels are unusually high, those trails are sometimes flooded.

This past Wednesday I visited the refuge. We had had some rainstorms recently, but I did not anticipated that I would encounter so much water on the trails. There were signs at several locations that warned of potential flooding, but they have been there before when there has been little, if any, flooding.

This time, however, there was a significant amount of flooding. In some cases, there was standing water on the trail, but in other cases, as you can see in the second photo below, the waves were washing onto the trail. There was a lot of debris on the trail as well, complicating my passage. I thought the water might be ankle-deep, but in a number of places, it reached my lower calf.

I was wearing boots that were somewhat waterproof, though they were inundated when the water levels were higher than the top of the boots. Fortunately, only about a third of the length of the trail was covered with water, so I was able to make my way down the trail without having to turn back. Needless to say, I did not see too many birds or dragonflies as I sloshed my way through the water, but strangely enough it was pleasant to experience to see these familiar trails in a different way.

We were mostly spared from the effects of Hurricane Helene, but I suspect that the water levels are still high in the Potomac River today. We had a fair amount of rain the last couple of day, but the sun appears to be shining right now, possibly encouraging me to go out with my camera today, though usually I avoid doing so on the weekends when the wildlife refuge is more likely to be crowded.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.