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Saganashakee Slough EarthCache

Hidden : 10/21/2009
Difficulty:
2 out of 5
Terrain:
1 out of 5

Size: Size:   not chosen (not chosen)

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Geocache Description:

This is very easy to get to, but there are many other very interesting sloughs in this area that you can look at that are harder to access. You just have to search!

A slough is a type of swamp or shallow lake system, typically formed as or by the backwater of a larger waterway. Unlike a bog or marsh, a slough typically has trees growing in it, often a nearly closed canopy. The term slough is particularly reserved for small freshwater swamps which receive their water from rainfall, with no current or connection to any river system. On coastal barrier islands which are surrounded by saltwater, sloughs are often the only freshwater bodies and are vital habitat for many plants and animals, ranging from tiny tree frogs to large alligators, which otherwise could not exist on these small islands. In the southeast it can also refer to the area of deeper water between a sandbar and a beach or between two sandbars.
On the west coast of the United States and Canada, a slough is a secondary channel of a river delta or a narrow channel in a shallow salt-water marsh, usually flushed by the tide. While this is similar to the term as used in the eastern U.S., the trees native to the west do not grow into the waterway to form a swamp. The secondary channel meaning is particularly common on the lower reaches of the Fraser River in British Columbia, from Laidlaw downstream to the river's estuary. Important sloughs on the Fraser are the Deas, Nicomen and Sea Bird Sloughs, adjacent to the islands of the same name. In the Pacific Northwest of the United States, and in British Columbia, a slough also refers to a slow-moving, canal-like, river or channel, such as the Sammamish Slough, and can appear in the names of oxbow lakes, e.g. Meadowbrook Slough of Snoqualmie River in Washington State.
On the northern Great Plains of the United States, a slough is a pond (often alkaline) usually the result of glaciation; also called a pothole, whence Prairie Pothole Region to describe the area where these sloughs are abundant. On the Canadian Prairies, slough refers to any naturally formed shallow fresh water (or alkaline) pond, usually habitat for waterfowl, synonymous with the term marsh. Slough may also refer to any naturally occurring body of open water smaller than a lake. Sloughy (slew-ee) refers to any murky, muddy body of water, as in a "sloughy lake", a lake unsuitable for swimming.

This particular slough (Saganashkee) is one of the largest in the area, and holds a lot of plant and animal diversity, which can be seen if you travel around the slough itself. Once part of a great outlet river during the Ice Age, Saganashkee Slough is now a shallow lake that serves as a habitat for many different animals. The slough covers 325 square acres, which includes roughly four miles of shoreline. While the shallowest parts of the lake are around one foot, the deepest it ever gets is only nine feet. The average depth of this slough is 4-6 feet deep, and is considered a very good place to go kayaking or canoeing. Fish that are native to this lake are Largemouth Bass, Bluegill, Northern Pike, Channel Catfish, Crappie, Bullhead Catfish, Sunfish, and Carp. As far as waterfowl are concerned, some people have spotted over 19 species of duck here in a single day, and there are also many types of loons, gulls, and mergansers that call this place home.

In order to log this cache, you must do several things.
1) Take a picture of yourself at the slough and post it with your log.
2) Look down at the water. What do you see? What does the mud/water look like?
3) Describe the plant (and animal if you get the chance) life that surrounds the lake. Why do you suppose it looks this way?

Additional Hints (No hints available.)