The Big Blue River Meets the Kansas

The Big Blue River and the Kansas River intersect here in the northern edge of the Flint Hills.

The blues of the water are clear and bold but can become steely in winter. The clouds seem whiter than white as they build and billow above the gently moving water.  The riverbanks are lush with life; even in deep winter there are bald eagles, red-tailed hawks, migrating geese and pelicans (Pelicans!) and more.

Kansas River Clouds mary todd
Konza Prairie Girl Flint Hills Fine Art 

Sunburst at the Kansas River mary todd
Konza Prairie Girl Flint Hills Fine Art 

"The Big Blue River is the largest tributary of the Kansas River. The river flows for approximately 359 miles (578 km)[2] from central Nebraska into Kansas, until its confluence with the Kansas River at Manhattan.
It was given its name by the Kansa tribe of Native Americans, who lived at its mouth from 1780 to 1830, and who called it the Great Blue Earth River."
from Wiki

Also from Wiki:

"Shortly before intersecting with the Kansas River, the Big Blue discharges its waters into a reservoir called Tuttle Creek Lake, which lies slightly northeast of Manhattan. The reservoir is a man-made flood-control measure, held back by a dam composed of the limestone, silt, and gypsum dredged out of the floodplain by bulldozers left to rust underneath the flooded area. The land surrounding the reservoir is a state park area, although the Great Flood of 1993 decimated much of the northern area.

The river continues as the outflow from Tuttle Creek Lake for approximately five miles before intersecting with the Kansas River east of Manhattan."

This view of the Kansas River is just east of Manhattan.

The Painted River mary todd
Konza Prairie Girl Flint Hills Fine Art 

(Here is a story of a large turtle, rescued from a highway running through Manhattan and left on the banks of the river just here:)

Listen to some River Sailing Music....

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time to go lay down in a field...

Konza Prairie Girl Flint Hills Fine Art 
Kansas River Cloud Collage (small) mary todd

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