Lands Lost~

November 2, 2015 The house, now riverfront~

Our youngest daughter & her husband purchased this property in 2007.  When Butch & I went up to see - we thought it was one of the most beautiful places they could have found.  Looking at Google Earth & county plots - it showed a 20-acre piece of property between the kids place & the Sauk River.

April 22, 2007  The work~

There was an incredible amount of work to get the property ready for the house.  We all had So Much fun!  One day Ben & I decided to take the pruners & try to make a path to the river.  We had no idea how far it would be - but it wasn't as far as I'd expected!

Ben at the river~ 4-29-07

When we all realized that the river was so close, it was pretty exciting!  Fishing, wading, swimming, all the wonderful things that would go along with living in such a beautiful spot!  As the years went by, we watched as the river went through yearly changes.  Ben's swimming hole went away, all the logs & driftwood would come & then go...

Originally, the main flow had been on the far side, with a large Delta in the middle & a lesser flow - on the same side as the property.  In November of 2014 - with weeks of heavy rains - things started getting Very Scary!  The course of the river started to change. 

Google Image July 14, 2015 - Twenty acre piece long gone~

Thanksgiving night, the kids woke to the sudden, ripping sound - of a huge piece of land falling into the raging river!  After making calls to all the appropriate agencies, it was suggested that if any more erosion occurred, or if the river continued to rage, the safe thing to do would be to leave...

January 25, 2015  All of this is now gone~

With two tiny little girls & Ben - it was the only prudent thing to do...  It was with great sadness that their home of seven-years was abandoned.

Feb. 7, 2015  Taken from the rivers edge~

By February, you could see the house from the river's edge, the river taking the bank in large chunks.

Coming over the bank~

We drove away, very relieved - that the kids were no longer living here.  As the winter ended & with it the heavy rains, things settled down.  Neighbors said that the kids were silly to have moved & that the river was done doing it's thing.

It was - at least until our first big rain maker of this season.   The kids are still trying to negotiate with their bank & also with the County.  The County has said that they would only red tag the house if the river came within 150 ft.  With the big storm we had last week, the river levels reached 12 - two feet higher than it takes to crest the banks.  Crest it did, taking away the last acre of trees & buffer between it & the backyard of the house.

Jentry asked me to go up to take a look & get some photos.  It was incredibly scary to come in the drive & see the river!  I paced off the distance from the corner of the house to the river & came up with just about 100 ft.  

What's left of the trail~

Looking upstream~

Downstream~

Directly across~

Roof of the house & river in the same photo now~

It was a fantastically beautiful afternoon, hearing the roar of the river from everywhere on the property was amazing.  I walked the property, then sat out at the edge of the river for a long while, thinking of all the fun times we had here & how the forces of nature can change things~

View from the back deck~

 I doubt that the property will even sell as a recreational lot, since with another storm, what land is left will probably be under water!