Cancellation of the "Paddle Your Lizard Day" event did not prevent nine whitewater kayakers and canoeists from gathering to hit the water in north central Iowa.
Our first destination was the stream through Briggs Woods. The Boone was up. Unfortunately the drainage over the ww drops had already emptied out the "big" water from last Wednesday's heavy rain.
The next venue was Lizard Creek. We jumped on the south branch of the stream at the D22 put-in. Right after the put-in we came upon a large fallen tree that blocked the stream. We easily portaged river-right. The higher level made for a fun run. Rapids were solid class II and set up some bouncy, disorganized wave trains with a few waves up to 2-1/2 feet. We encountered just a handful of small, midstream surfable waves, and only a couple spots had good eddy lines.
After a bite of lunch the kayaks hit Soldiers Creek for a short, adventurous run starting at a park in northwest Fort Dodge. The canopy of trees that lines the narrow route gives it a secluded feel. The gradient is good and there are a couple small, but truly exciting drops. We took out at the railroad bridge near the mouth of the creek.
This stretch of Soldiers Creek requires attentiveness and skill to avoid serious hazards. Scoutable from the bridge at the park's edge, a large stone block that has potential to pin boats. There are three large trees that have fallen across the stream that trap forest debris and urban litter. Watch for rebar in and along the route, and be mindful of pottery and glass shards littering the gravel. On-stream chatter included suggestions of nominating the creek for next year's Project AWARE focus.
As it was getting late in the day, the last stop was just a visual survey of the Breens Rapids playspot. Surprisingly the rapid was not flattened by the higher river level. Concensus was that the higher level created more helpful eddies and that the feature looked less threatening than at lower levels. Nate estimates that the rapid will be excellent for a couple more weeks, and there was talk about coming back soon.
-- Lyle Danielson
