This screen cap was taken from a shaky UFO Conspiracy quality video shot at Devil’s lake this afternoon. If you happened to be at Devil’s Lake today you may have expected to see Kirk Douglas & Martin Sheen at any moment.  Of course this time warp was more likely caused by the Air Show that began at the Baraboo-Dells airport today and goes thorough the weekend.  So while we were hanging out on the South Shore watching staff take down some of the caution tape,  we were buzzed by a variety of vintage aircraft.  I don’t know what it is about the approaching drone of multiple old fighters that puts my ears back.  Must have seen to many old war films as a kid.

A couple other little notes.  The Steinke Basin parking lot is closed. A bit more of the South Shore picnic area is open.  Oh, and be careful near the water as all the break walls are below the surface. . that last step can be a lulu!

North Shore Boat Landing (well, the parking lot anyway)

Well, this morning I posted some pictures from yesterday and captioned them.  Go here for those.  Disappointing as disaster pictures go, but great news for us.  It’s just not all that bad considering what it could have been like.

Paul asked about boat landings. . . Well as you can see from the top shot the road to the North Shore landing (which is gated by the way) ends here. I actually filmed a kayak rolling demonstration in the parking lot! The little island that used to be out there is now just a few bits of green sticking a foot out of the water.   On South Shore the road to the boat landing is closed from both sides.  The landing is also under water other than a bit of pier which makes an interesting island at the moment.  So all in all, the lake will have to come down quite a bit before the landings are open again. (one advantage of small boats is we can launch anywhere)

Cosmetically there are lots of brown areas where the water has receded, there are some smelly areas, and as I said yesterday some really heavily mosquito infested areas (mostly on south shore).  However, the campgrounds looked ok from a quick drive by, the stores are open, the bands are playing (if the weather holds out), and the water is safe to swim in. .

What’s surprising is how minimal the damage really seems on the surface.  Yeah, there are washouts now filled with new gravel along the roads, the lake is high but lower than it was before the park closed, and there are vaious closures here and there. .(south shore road is closed on the west side)  still it could have been worse.  The north shore picnic area is taped off, but the water is gone.  It will open soon.  The Chateau is open, and they plan to have the big band music on Saturday. 

I did’nt actually get to the park until late in the day as I had to be in Spring Green. The Chamber of Commerce there wants everyone to know that things back to normal. The poor office woman is being drowned in calls! Anyway, once we got to the park we spent a couple hours taking pictures and paddling around the lake. I’ll share some of those pics with you tomorrow, but all in all the park is in good shape.  One thing though, the mosquitos are insane on the south shore beach area.  The water trapped in the grass is perfect breeding ground and they are flying in big hungry clouds!!  Take your bug spray!

Food Damage - 1993 (North Shore near Quartzite Campground & Hwy DL) - Copyright © 2001 Louis J. Maher, Jr.

July 17-18 1993. 12 to 13 inches of rain in 4 hours turned the Baraboo River and Skillet Creek into raging torrents of water. A young boy was killed, when the car he was riding in was swept away by the flood waters. Damage to homes, businesses, roads, and Devils Lake State Park totaled around $8 million dollars. - NWS Milwaukee

Beginning in 1993, then 2000, then again in 2008. . .  One thing is sure, something has changed. Let’s hope things stay a bit drier for awhile.  You can see more photos from the historic 1993 flood here. 

The Park opens at 6am tomorrow Morning!

Devil’s Lake State Park will open on Thursday, June 26 at 6 a.m.

* All campgrounds will be open and showers and flush toilets will be available in the campgrounds.
* The West and East Bluff trails will be open.
* The beaches are currently under water but visitors are still allowed to swim in the lake.
* Portions of the North Shore picnic area will be open.
* Most of the South Shore picnic area will be open but all bathroom facilities will remain closed.

We still have some trails and facilities that will be closed because of the flooding and storm damage.

* Many of the trails will be closed until further notice.
* Both boat landings will be closed until further notice.
* Portions of the picnic areas will be closed to public use.
* All bathroom facilities at the the South Shore picnic area are closed due to the flooding of the sewer system. Portable toilets will be available for visitors to use.

Parfrey’s Glen is closed and will remain closed until repairs can be done. Barricades are posted at the entrance. No admittance is allowed, including walking in on foot.

Compare that to my comment on the last post. . . lucky guess!!

Last Week

Here we are. It’s June 24th, and appart from the realization that I’ll be turning 43 in a few days I’m also waiting just like you to find out if the park will open this week.  Now to be sure, the area is drying out.  Most roads are again open and other than some brown grass here and there things look almost back to normal in much of the region.  We’ve watched as DNR trucks with busses of volunteers headed out to trouble spots over the last week and can only guess if they will have dealt with enough issues to open the park again.  The announcement should come today or tomarrow.

From The Park: "The park is closed for all use through June 25, including campers, day users, boaters, walkers, and driving sightseers. Rainwater and flooding have washed out some campsites, high water makes roads impassable in several places, railroad tracks have been washed out, and sewer and water utilities are down in some areas. We expect to have an update on the status of the park on Tuesday, June 24."

Later in the Week park staff will be meeting to assess the possibilities of opening the park. However, there are a lot of issues that need to be addressed. I’ve received lots of email varying from support and best wishes to frustration and anger. First I should just remind everyone that this website is NOT an official park website. I’m thankful that the park has always been supportive, but I should note that complaints are not something I can do much about. As of Saturday the park phone system was not working but the hope is that it will be back up today.

Regarding reservations you should call the Wisconsin State parks reservation center in Madison at 888-947-2757 to change reservations or request refunds. I have no official comment yet, (I have asked for one) however I can’t imagine that cancelation fees will be charged in the end. Again, that’s a guess.

Lastly I posted the above photo from North Freedom just a few miles to the west. Many homes in North Freedom, Rock Springs, Baraboo and other communities have been in the path of the water. These guys are going to really hurting as they deal with the clean up. It sucks to have the park closed and our camping vacations messed up, still we are talking about vacations and not our homes. It’s worth putting that in a bit of perspective.

No news today.  The park added a little note that "closed" means no walking in by foot either!.  I remember that from when I worked there in the 93 flood.  I spent all of one day standing by the the North Shore exit as people tried to walk in on the railroad tracks.  Can’t say I did’nt understand of course.  Curiosity gets the best of us sometimes.  The photo above is from Thursday.  This was the 2 inches that finally closed the park. Not to mention flooded many streets in Baraboo and resulted in calling the Ducks down from Wisconsin Dells to help get some folks off their roofs.

It’s worth noting that both DUCK companies sent down their vehicles to help out.  I mention this since one company is being more modest.  Thanks to both.

Conditions as of Friday, June 13, 2008:

The park is closed until further notice because of flooding and related damage.

Roads in the park and surrounding area are closed, and the park is without drinking water and sewers. Pumps are not working.

Staff will reassess the situation Wednesday night.

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The bottom line is that after those 2 days of sun things were wet but still ok.  Yesterday the rain was back with a fury.