Rice Lake EarthCache EarthCache

This is not your typical geocache, it is an earthcache, you will not a "cache container" rather, an earthcache is designed to bring you to a geological feature. See http://www.earthcache.org/ for further details.

Wisconsin is one of the best places to witness the many landforms created by the Ice Age glaciers. Your quest for this Earthcache is a visit to the Kettle Moraine Southern Unit.

Rice Lake is a Wisconsin State area so you would either need to purchase a yearly sticker or pay a daily admission fee. Stickers can be purchased at the Visitor Center for the Kettle Moraine State Forest-Southern Unit located at S91 W39091 Hwy 59 Eagle 53119. The posted hours are 6 AM – 11 PM daily. Pets are also not permitted. The Parking Lot is located at N42 46.730 W88 41.554. I did pass a ranger station during my visit but it was closed.

Hunting is NOT permitted in this area. However if you are geocaching in the Kettle Moraine, Geocachers are advised to wear blaze orange during the gun deer seasons. The seasons change each year, in 2007, the gun deer seasons are October 18-21 and November 17 – December 9.

Rice Lake originally was formed by the Ice Age Glacier that crossed these lands 10,000 years ago. After the glaciers receded, two large isolated ice blocks remained in the area. When the ice blocks melted, they left behind two deep kettle lakes and a large wetland. These “kettle lakes” were named Whitewater Lake and Bass Lake. The wetland area became Rice Lake when two dams were built on Whitewater Creek in 1947 and 1954 which flooded the area.

GEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND ON WETLANDS

“Think of a wetland, and one pictures a watery area with cattails, rushes, and waterfowl. Now think of the scientists who study wetlands, and botanists or biologists probably come to mind. Geology is seldom mentioned in the context of wetland studies, yet geology plays a critical role in understanding wetland dynamics. Three characteristics make wetlands unique -- vegetation, soils, and hydrology. The vegetation is dominated by plants adapted to wet conditions; the soils are developed in water-saturated materials; and sites are either saturated, periodically flooded, or contain permanently standing water.

Hydrology may be the single most important factor in the establishment and maintenance of specific wetland types. For example, wetlands receive water from various sources: precipitation, surface water runoff, and groundwater. Each source is characterized by a certain water chemistry, which in turn affects the type of vegetation and diversity of species. The permanence of a water source determines the type of soil that develops, which also influences the type of vegetation present. Understanding the hydrology of a wetland is important to decisions involving its future and to evaluating trade-offs involved in protection, development, and mitigation. Wetlands are often valued in functional terms; for instance, does the wetland reduce flooding, does it recharge groundwater, or does it improve water quality? To address these questions and provide adequate wetland evaluations requires an understanding of why wetlands occur in a particular place and where the water comes from. These are fundamentally geologic questions. “

Source: Wetlands: Their Geological Connection by Carol A. Thompson

http://www.igsb.uiowa.edu/Browse/wetlands/wetlands.htm

THIS LOCATION

While out scouting the various springs in the area prior to our All A Glow Geocaching Event held in October 2007, I came across this beautiful nature trail. I traveled the ½ mile trail and discovered a very serene and undisturbed pocket in an area of a great deal of activity. I totally enjoyed my journey. At first I thought I had found another Kettle Lake but after some research, realized it is something more.

Rice Lake has retained its wetland qualities but now is permanently a lake due to human intervention with the creation of the dam which changed the geology of this area. Wetlands are a transitional area between water and land created by the glaciated landscape. The term wetland means those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands are a natural receptacle and they receive run off water and overflow from the rivers and streams. The various biological processes evolve over geologic time to handle the flow and trap sediments to break them down. The dams changed the hydrologic relationship and now this wetland holds water year round creating this habitat area.

The Nature Trail features a numbered trail with guide book to help with your discovery. From station #1, home to the wetland singers, the bull frogs, to the final station, home to the Aspen Tree on which the beavers in the area feed on, I am hoping you enjoy your journey as I had. This Lake is home to Painted Turtles, Dragon flies, Wood Ducks, Cattails and many other shoreline plants. The guidebook is free to use but a $.25 donation is requested to help offset printing costs.

As you will be visiting the Kettle Moraine, the glaciers definitely left their mark on the terrain. I crossed moderately sloping hills as I followed the trail around the lake. Younger children should be able to make the journey but will require you to take them by the hand in several locations as the trail does follow very close to the water line. This is a dirt path with several hills and ankle biter root locations so watch your footing. The Trail loop is approximately a 1/2 mile.

YOUR TASK TO LOG THIS EARTHCACHE

To log this earthcache, you must complete 2 tasks. The coordinates given are for the start of the Nature Trail.

1) BRING YOUR CAMERA. We would like a photo of your team with your GPSr by the Trail marker #5. However, if you are solo caching, a photo of your GPSr with enough of the lake in the background that can be identified, will also be accepted. Please upload your photo(s) with your “found it" log.

2) Estimate the distance across this lake. My best estimate was that the point between Nature Trail marker #5 or #6 was the halfway point. Take a GPS reading and compare the distance from the coordinates given for the start of the Nature Trail. Please email me your answer.

Please be advised, failure to complete BOTH tasks listed above (emailing the answer and posting your photo will result in log deletion without notice.

You do NOT have to wait for confirmation from me before logging your find. Please do not make any reference to your answer in your log.

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