Recently, I did my first kayak run of the Boneyard Creek from the Champaign-Urbana border (starting to the left [West] on the image above, at Wright Street) to just after it crosses under University Avenue (at Maple Street, to the East). To make sure this can be done safely, I scouted the whole route on foot.
I don't have any images of the kayak run itself, because the creek is only runnable during flood conditions, and there is barely time to get safely and properly prepared and get to the put-in. The trip was surprisingly easy - but I think that is in part because I prepared well in advance. Kayaking urban floodwaters is extremely dangerous, to the point of being potentially leathal, and, possibly, illeagal. If you conduct such activities, do so at your own risk and take complete responsibility for all your own actions. I hope to get some pictures on a future trip in the kayak.
Here are some images from my explorations which give some idea of the environment I'm working with:
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Here's what its like underground in one of the large tunnels through which the Boneyard Creek flows. This is during low flow.
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Here are some soda straws forming on the cement ceiling of one of the large tunnels through which the Boneyard Creek flows.
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Off of the Main Street bridge, near Strawberry Fields, is this large storm sewer. It goes a long way, becoming progressively smaller and branching as you head upstream.
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One of the intersting features of the Boneyard Creek is the presence of human debris, such as this grocery cart. Also, note the steep metal retaining walls, which make entrance into and exit from the Boneyard Creek difficult. In most places they are 8-10 feet high and bordered with a chain link fence topped with barbed wire.
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Another fine example of a grocery cart. That's my kayak paddle in the forground (picture is on the Saline Branch, near Crystal Lake Park). Grocery carts are a major hazard here when kayaking during floods.
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Looking downstream in the Boneyard Creek - here (I think) we are beneath Phillips Recreation Center
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This is a terrible picture, but you are basically looking upstream in the Boneyard Creek from under Lincoln street. Of note are two things: the waterfall (to the right, better picture upcoming below), and the (barely visible) storm sewer downstream of the waterfall. The storm sewer is about 4 1/2 feet high.
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Here is another view of the waterfall where the Boneyard Creek passes under Lincoln street. The waterfall is 42 inches (3 1/2 feet). I'm a nerd, I brough a tape to measure it with. To kayak the boneyard, I need a foot or two of water to safely do the waterfall. At that water level, things are roaring along nicely - it's an awesome ride, but fraught with a certain amount of danger (mainly from septic overflows). OK, I still need to work on getting a good picture of this.
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Here, we are inside the storm sewer under Lincoln Street that is about 4 1/2 feet high. I've found some string tied to a sewage pipe that passes throught the storm sewer. I'm not the first to have explored here!
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Here, we are still inside the storm sewer under Lincoln Street that is about 4 1/2 feet high. A smaller, 2 ft diameter pipe is coming in from the side. Note how brown the water appears. The color is actually the 'biofilm' growing on the bottom of the pipe, the water is clear.
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Still inside the storm sewer under Lincoln Street that is about 4 1/2 feet high. The 'biofilm' growing on the bottom of the pipe is slick and easily rubbed off. Here is my boot print in the water. I also saw raccoon tracks.
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Still inside the storm sewer under Lincoln Street that is about 4 1/2 feet high. A cave cricket resides on the top of the tube. The crickets are common in the sewer, as are some spiders and midges.
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Still inside the storm sewer under Lincoln Street that is about 4 1/2 feet high. At the junctions of cement tile sections there are, in places, little rimstone dams, much like those that develop in natural caves. Ballpoint pen for scale.
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Back in the Boneyard Creek. The creek flows underneath one of the buildings on campus, and where it comes out on the east side, there is a nice little display of soda straws growing from a seam in the cement, much like you'd find in a real cave.
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In the Boneyard. Here we are downstream from Strawberry Fields grocery, looking upstream from a railroad bridge at a second railroad bridge (abandoned) and the road bridge at Race Street. This is the first part of the stream that is downstream of those irritating 8-10 foot high vertical iron walls, thus, this is the first good take-out point for a kayak run. It is also a good spot to stop and scout ahead to see if there is sufficient clearance to get under a pair of sewer pipes that cross the stream just downstream of this view. There is a sleeping bag under the road bridge on a ledge which must belong to some homeless person - I've just left it alone.
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Slightly downstream of the picture above, still in the Boneyard Creek. I'm standing near the parking lot of the Silver Creek Restaurant and looking upstream at the active railroad bridge from which I took the preceeding picture. Here there is a major hazard: dual 2 foot diameter sewage pipes cross the boneyard only a few feet above the stream at base flow. Recall I need to have one foot of water added to be able to run the Lincoln Street waterfall, but here, I must not have more than about 2 feet of water (above the base flow shown here) so I don't get my head knocked off by these pipes. Oh the hazards of urban boating! During my recent Kayak run here, however, the water level was just about perfect, and I cruised under the hazard (after scouting to be sure it was clear) without even ducking.
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Further downstream, beyond where I take out (just downstream of University Avenue) on my kayak run, there is a large (3 ft diameter) sewage pipe that crosses en route to a nearby sewage treatment plant. Downstream the white is a cement embankment at the edge of a cemetary, where the Boneyard Creek emptys into Saline Branch. We're looking downstream here.
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Further downstream, we are at that cement embankment at the confluence of the Boneyard Creek and Saline Branch. We're looking upstream here, Boneyard Creek enters in the center-top of the picture, Saline Branch is flowing from right to left (west to east). You can see where this is on the map at the top of the web page.
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Further downstream along Saline Branch, it is flowing from right to left (west to east). We are across the stream from Urbana's sewage treatment plant. This very old lowhead dam might be exciting to run in higher water, but has the potential to be rather deadly with all that rebar around.
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This image was taken on Saline Branch, upstream of where the Boneyard Creek flows into it. We are looking downstream from beneath the Broadway Avenue bridge.
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This image was taken on Saline Branch, in Crystal Lake Park. This is the overflow from Crystal Lake, where it empties into Saline Branch. That's part of my thumb in the lower left corner!
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| My second kayak run |
