Nest #3 Leaning

This is a e-mail sent by Dick Tuttle on 3/4/07

Hello Everyone,
 A huge ice flow at Alum Creek took out No. four platform -- it is gone! Presently, Alum Creek Lake is 3-1/2 feet above winter level and the platform is most likely in the ice and debris near what I call "Big Bend," the last visible stretch of lake as seen from Hogback Rd.

 Platform No. three leans ten degrees but that will be relatively easy to correct. Dick Phillips and I have a good system for straightening the electric poles. We perfected a method after the high water/ice nightmare two winters ago.

 Also, 14 of 16 signs are down. Since only crusty snow encased the signs,
they should be found within ten feet of their original position unless the
flowing ice bulldozed them away.

 Here is our plan: We are going to construct a new platform at my home. The winter draw down season ends April 1, so once an opportunity window appears, we will act to install a new platform near its original spot at Alum Creek. First, the window must open, and we accept the fact that we will not be working on a frozen mud flat. It could be that the mud will prevent the activity needed to install the platform and then we will wait for next winter. There is much more to the plan, but this is the condensed version.

 Also, we will analyze ice scars in the mud to determine if there is a safer location for the pole and we might add concrete as an anchor. Honestly, I don't think anything but a different location could have saved the platform from the ice flow. One observer reported that an ice dam had developed near Kilbourne. Did it break loose all at once?

 We will use my wide canoe to tow elements to the site as we did for the Hoover Reservoir platform in September 2002 . By the way, the Hoover platform is surrounded by ice, relatively high on the pole. Once the ice starts to break up, add wind, and the results might not be good.   We would like to salvage the original pole and platform if it is seen again. For this we would most likely need a motorized boat, something that neither of us have. Also. if an opportunity window can be planned days ahead, then we would welcome able-bodied volunteers that don't mind doing crazy things.

 Remember, Med-Flight can land wherever we install osprey platforms.

 Raptor on,   Dick Tuttle