{"id":243,"date":"2015-03-29T19:25:01","date_gmt":"2015-03-29T19:25:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/?p=243"},"modified":"2015-03-29T19:25:01","modified_gmt":"2015-03-29T19:25:01","slug":"the-power-of-water-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/?p=243","title":{"rendered":"The Power of Water"},"content":{"rendered":"

This story is a bit about our built environment as well as about respect for Mother Nature and all her powers<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

Few of us ever have the chance to experience our effect on nature or nature’s effect on us.\u00a0 A few learn dramatically and with great loss in cataclysmic weather\u00a0events. \u00a0The few lucky ones, like my son and I and the people we were hiking with one day in 2014, have a chance to understand and get through the experience with no long-term issues, just awe, respect, and new-found awareness.<\/p>\n

We left on a rainy morning in June to hike another Adirondack high peak, Mount Haystack.\u00a0 Hiking in the wet is no big deal and the temperature was perfect.\u00a0 Not too muggy, no black flies, all-in all very nice, though\u2026wet.<\/p>\n

As we rounded a corner to hike up to the slight depression before heading up Little Haystack (you have to go over Little Haystack and then down a bit to get up to Mount Haystack) we realized we were hiking up a waterfall.\u00a0 Seriously, a waterfall.\u00a0 The trail is usually the lowest part of the mountainside as it is often worn down. \u00a0Water migrates, in this case dramatically, down into the trail.\u00a0 As the trail got steeper, the water ran with more force and the rain added volume.\u00a0 My son and I and our friend, John, turned back about a mile from the peak. \u00a0So close, but it was too much for us to continue. As is said, the mountain will still be there on another day.<\/p>\n

\"Hiking<\/a>

Hiking the Haystack “trail”<\/p><\/div>\n

That is not the story, just the background.\u00a0 The story is the 5.5 mile hike back to John Brook’s Lodge (JBL) and what we experienced then. \u00a0The first stream crossing we came to, after Slant Rock, stunned us.\u00a0 We had easily crossed with dry feet by hopping rock by rock earlier this same day. All the rain had aggregated into the stream, which seemed now impassable, and we had to cross it.\u00a0 With much trepidation, John, crossed the too-deep water with a rope and tied it off to bank-side trees so my son and I could use it to stabilize our shorter and smaller bodies in the crossing.\u00a0 We made it, shaking.<\/p>\n

\"Jodi<\/a>

Jodi and Erik sitting on a rock in John’s Brook, about 10am.<\/p><\/div>\n

We crossed two other small streams with caution, and then arrived at John’s Brook, which we had to cross to get back to the lodge situated about 1.5 miles downriver on the other side.\u00a0 No way.\u00a0 The river was nearly 3 feet deeper than it was a mere 5 hours earlier. That’s a LOT of water. We were forced to bushwack (go through the woods with no trail) for 1.5 miles on the wrong side of the river to reach a trail that would eventually bring us to a high water bridge below JBL.\u00a0 This took us 3.5 hours.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The same John’s Brook rock, about 3pm.<\/p><\/div>\n

That is what happens when water flows.\u00a0<\/strong> It has speed and power and will make its own paths when needed, and grow and grow in volume as it runs down.<\/p>\n

Here’s the built infrastructure message: We don\u2019t treat water in our cities and suburbs with enough respect.<\/em>\u00a0 We contain it and we direct it, and it does NOT like it. Putting it into a pipe in the ground and flowing it to a bigger pipe and a bigger one eventually to dump into a treatment plant is a recipe for disaster, and for excessive costs and management. \u00a0We have seen this disaster in Upstate NY especially by building tight to seemingly passive streams and rivers only to have roads and buildings torn away by the flow. We have watched as manhole covers erupt up in our asphalt covered cities. Water is fierce. Water is not going to pay any attention to you, you insignificant human (nothing personal).<\/p>\n

So, I am re-committing\u00a0to Green Infrastructure (GI) efforts, efforts that include green roofs, inverted berms, rain gardens, pervious paving and bioswales.<\/p>\n

Resource:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Save the Rain website – plenty of successful GI projects with free access to details, specs, drawings etc. of all projects<\/a><\/p>\n

Green building is not, nor has it ever been, just about energy use reductions.\u00a0 It is about doing smart, long-lasting things that are durable, flexible, cost-effective, and that create no new problems<\/span>.\u00a0 Impervious surfaces leading to pipes underground very often create new problems even in best scenario; problems of storage, treatment, discharge and maintenance.\u00a0 In the worst scenario: flooding, destruction, danger, and untreated waste.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s engage<\/span> Mother Nature and work with her to filter the water through her own soils instead of running it into faster, bigger and costly man-made avenues. \u00a0Let\u2019s NOT spend money or power pumping and treating unless we have to!\u00a0 Let\u2019s recharge and renew, revitalize and reconnect the systems that were working perfectly well before we starting interfering with our hard surfaces and restricting pipes.\u00a0 We may need to invest in some more cleverness, but we will certainly find less expensive and more effective ways to let our mother help us out.<\/p>\n

Learn from your experiences, and be greener,<\/p>\n

Jodi<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This story is a bit about our built environment as well as about respect for Mother Nature and all her powers. Few of us ever […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10,6,7,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-critical-commentary","category-outdoors","category-personal-reflections","category-deep-green"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p40KlT-3V","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":145,"url":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/?p=145","url_meta":{"origin":243,"position":0},"title":"The power of water","author":"greenerjsa","date":"June 30, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The power of water. This story is not so much about buildings, but about respect for Mother Nature and all her powers. Few of us ever have the chance to see the connections between different natural systems or experience our effect on nature or nature\u2019s effect on us. A few\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Outdoors!"","block_context":{"text":"Outdoors!","link":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/?cat=6"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/2bgreener.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/IMG_5796-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":993,"url":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/?p=993","url_meta":{"origin":243,"position":1},"title":"Is it Sustainable: Hiking","author":"greenerjsa","date":"July 8, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The frustrating part about discussing sustainability is the term itself, and how it means very different things to different people. It can also mean different things in different situations. 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