Bigelow Park in Bay City, Michigan has a history that includes the donation of land by Charles Bigelow, a local sawmill operator, and the development of the park over several decades:
Land donation: In 1929, Charles Bigelow, a local sawmill operator, donated land for the park.
City purchase: In 1949, the city purchased additional land for the park.
Development: The park was developed in 1991 and includes a footbridge to the riverwalk and Veterans Memorial Park. The Bay City Lions Club built a pavilion and playground equipment.
Bigelow Park is located on Middleground Island in the Saginaw River and has many features.
I have provided two waypoints for parking to get to this cache. One is close and nearby, they other is quite a walk but worth it. The bay city fitness parking waypoint will make you take a walk along the Bay City loop on the Saginaw River.
The Lesson:
A riverine island is a solid foundation and a place between two parallel rivers or in the middle of a river. It can also be formed in a large river if the river has two large streams and a small islet between them. There are more than a thousand river islands in the world. These are places with water all around, and these places have beautiful and amazing views. River islands are of course the result of river flow. As we all know, most of these islands are naturally formed and tectonic.
The place that lies between two parallel rivers or in the middle of a river is called Riverine Island. But the ground in the middle of the river must be firm and not be below the water level. Some of the islands in the river are so large that millions of people live there.
Natural river islands are basically formed between two rivers or where rivers have two streams. Before the formation of Riverine Island, let’s take a close look at the river’s formation. River formation takes place on a hill or where many small streams converge into a large stream. There are two kinds of natural river formations. The first is rainwater through small streams. And the second is the melting of the glaciers on the hills.
A river flows from high sea level to low sea level. In summer, when the ice starts to melt, it flows down to flat fields and forms rivers. When water flows from top to bottom for a long distance, it is called a river. A solid foundation in the middle of this river is called Riverine Island. Water always flows around these riverine islands.
Different types of Riverine Islands
Seasonal Island: Seasonal islands are temporary islands that form mainly during the rainy season. These islands are no more when summer comes because the water in these rivers usually dries down in the summer.
Permanent Island: We all know that some rivers always flow persistently or are evergreen in all seasons. The islets of these types of rivers are permanent and some of them are habitable. The inhabitants of many small islands live there and do everything possible there, such as fishing, farming, and several other works.
Flooded Island: Some islands in the river only forms when there is a flood. When the flood water level drops, these islands are no longer islands.
Single River Island: Single river islands create a solid foundation in the middle of the river. Water flows around the islands. These types of islets are formed at a sharp bend in the river.
Parallel River Island: When two parallel rivers flow together and a solid place naturally forms between these rivers, they are called parallel river islands. There are very few naturally formed parallel river islands available.
Coastline River Island: Most of the rivers end up on oceanic coastlines. River islets that naturally form the coastline on the other side are called coastal river islands.
Habitable river islands: Habitable river islands are islands with comfortable inhabitants. There are thousands of islands available where people can live with basic needs. But the life of the people living here is very difficult. It’s really hard to live on small islands in the middle of the river like this. For example, when you visit the river islands, you can also see a small primary school on the island where children travel by craft in small boats from other islands.
To Log This Cache:
1. What type of riverine island is this? Explain your answer.
2. Check out the river water level. Do you think it's at it lowest or highest? Or somewhere in the middle?
3. Which way is the water flowing?
4. Take a pic at ground zero or somewhere along the loop on the river. If you dont want to be in the pic, take an original pic.