Thursday, 10/10/13 South Boulder Peak, Bear Peak, Bear Peak, South Boulder Peak

9.8 miles
5,645 vert.
3:01

Got out this morning for my first run/summits on open trails post flood.  Was quite happy to learn that Bear and SoBo opened yesterday morning via Fern and Shadow, accessed only by the Shanahan Trails, so I was eager to head over, since I had not yet seen Shadow Canyon.  Put in a moderate effort up Shanahan, South on Mesa, up Shadow to SoBo, across to Bear, down Fern, then back up for another dose of both peaks.  Steady pace today, not really pushing at all, just enjoying the freedom of moving along on open trails, without the worries of the only one new, human initiated post flood threat.

A few random thoughts.

• I am stoked to be able to legally access Bear and SoBo, this is a huge step.  Although I think it took them a few weeks to long, I am glad those trails are now open, so moving on.
• Moving on...  onto the still closed trails.  It makes no sense at all to have them still closed.  Shadow Canyon is very rough and eroded post flood and based on OSMP standards for safety and user friendliness, I am a bit surprised they opened it.  I personally do not mind at all though, it was fine before and though different now, a bit more technical, it is fine now.  I prefer technical trail over the buffed wheelchair accessible trails like they created on the new (last year) Green/Bear connector.
• Regarding Shadow, I am not sure whether it being open now inspires confidence that the much less affected trails on Green and elsewhere will open soon, or if it being open now erodes my confidence that those making the decisions do not really know what they are doing.  Seems as though there is no rational consistency here.
• Was thinking a bit today, with a chainsaw, some flagging and a pick/shovel, I could re-open Amphitheater/Saddle/Greenman AND Gregory/Ranger in a day, maybe a day and a half tops, by myself (taking into account that I have never performed trail work before).
• Thinking about comments relayed to me from the OSMP Council meeting last night, I am a bit disturbed by much of what I heard, but two things jumped out at me, that were cycling through my mind today while running.  They say they are not sure what to do with the huge washout on the dirt road the connects Realization Point and the Ranger Cabin that comprises part of the Gregory Ranger route up Green.  Not sure why this is so tough, and again, I am no expert, but it seems very simple.  Route the creek back on it's original path (currently it is flowing through the washout where the road/trail once was) and get the dump trucks of dirt rolling.  No biggie.  OR, they could leave it as is, create a trail on the hillside on the North bank of the washout/creek and have it be foot access to the cabin.  Not sure why it is essential OSMP trucks need to make it there.  They could also re-locate the outhouse to the Realization Point lot, where it could be more conveniently utilized by more people, or just scrap the outhouse altogether.  BUT, that is all no reason to keep it closed to hikers, as it is all easy to bypass.  Another option would be to temporarily use the old, still in tact trail that begins at the top of Gregory Canyon that ends just above the Greenman/Ranger junction, which would avoid damage entirely and enable a complete undamaged route to the top of Green.  This could happen right this minute with no work.
• One of the Council members last night mentioned that some trails may never re-open because of "fissures".  What are these "fissures"?  Where are we, Hawaii?  Vesuvius?  The San Andreas Fault?  I have no idea where they got this and why they would even embarrass themselves by saying such an ignorant comment.  It sounds as though some of these stiffs have never set foot off of pavement and these are the people representing our best interests?  Quite disturbing.
• I wish I had the time and skills to help fight the good fight like Buzz and Peter have been doing for so many years.  A huge thanks to them for all they do/have done.  I for one really appreciate it, these guys are heros.

Monday, 09/16/13 Longmont Flood Photos

With all of OSMP closed and the remainder of the foothills essentially inaccessible, I was forced to do some flat running from work on my lunch break, so I got out for a quick scout around Left Hand Creek and the St. Vrain River.  As bad as the flooding is, it made for a bit of an interesting adventure trying to get around all the destruction, closed paths, standing water and closed roads.  I made the mistake of wearing road shoes and I was sliding all over, essentially hydroplaning at times on the fine silty mud.

Left Hand Creek at 95th

This house was among the most severely damaged along the creek (at least in this neighborhood).

A lot of these houses really lucked out, missing the wrath by literally a few feet.

Pike road underpass (bike path underneath)

This is normally ankle to knee deep, now it is eating away at the banks and knocking trees over.

Damaged, but probably repairable.

Under previous normal flow, you could probably cross in a few steps, now it is really wide.

Collapsed pool

Looking East from 287/Main.  The cement path is completely washed out, I think all the way to 119 from what I could tell.

287/Main over Left Hand.  Looks like a crack has developed in the center of that buttress.

Now along the St. Vrain River.

Still very angry

National Guard is all over protecting neighborhoods, blocking roads and helping however they can.

The industrial parks along the river got hammered.  Have to wonder what chemicals spilled into the river.

I could loosely follow the path along the river, but had to really work at it, take detours and be creative.

Standing water near the fairgrounds.  It really stunk here, as the floods cleaned out the vast stables and left deposits of poop all over.

This whatever area was really toppled.

I was glad I quit following the path when I did and crossed the river on a road bridge (Sunset I think), as this bridge would have caused me some serious detouring or backtracking.

Saturday, 09/14/13 Boulder Flood Aftermath

It was a nice warm sunny day, so I took the girls for a bike ride to survey the damage around Boulder.  The damage from the overflowing creeks is obvious and expected, but beyond that, it seemed as though the majority of the houses were pumping water out of their basements and drying wet items out in the warm sun.

In our neighborhood in Louisville, we were largely spared any sort of flooding from the best I can tell.  Our house was completely unaffected and our yard did not even see the least bit of a puddle.  The only casualty was a potted flower we had on the front porch that got too much rain, so we really lucked out.

A washed out bridge from somewhere up S. Boulder Creek near Cherryvale and Baseline

S. Boulder Creek, still high, but much below storm crest

The bike path under Arapahoe at Foothills still under many feet of water and mud.

Looking North from Foothills and Arapahoe.

Boulder Creek where it goes under 30th.  The creek has subsided significantly since Thursday, but is still higher than I have ever seen it during the Spring runoff and is very angry and turbulent still.

Scott Carpenter Park.  The water had made it all the way to the pool/skate park parking lot.

Time out for some real fun.

Much of the path is flooded still.  You can loosely follow with a lot of detours and road crossings.

DreamMakers pre school where we enjoyed a Jeff and Paige concert last Monday.  While we were attending the concert was when the wet weather was beginning and I could only wonder (be slightly concerned) about flash flooding and how it might affect this location.  The building is in tact, but they were shoveling mud out of their 3 buildings and I am sure much of the contents inside are ruined.

Boulder Creek looking East from the Folsom Bridge.

CU lot where the creek passes under Folsom

If there was one good thing to come from this storm, all the time stuck at home (combined with the cooler temperatures) allowed me to just about finish my long overdue flagstone patio project (with help of course).