Alluvial Fan in Rocky Mountain National Park release of 29 million gallons of water swept trees and car-sized boulders four miles down to the valley floor

AJ Schroetlin

6:52 PM  -  Public

For #waterfallwednesday
Curated by +Eric Leslie

Near the bottom of the Alluvial Fan in Rocky Mountain National Park.

On July 15, 1982 at 5:30 a.m. Lawn Lake broke through the terminal moraine that had held since the end of the last ice age, thousands of years ago. The release of 29 million gallons of water swept trees and car-sized boulders four miles down to the valley floor. In addition to tons of lighter rocks, gavel and sand creating a 42-acre alluvial fan. A trash collector heard the waters crashing down the Roaring River and called park rangers, who evacuated campers at Aspenglen 

campgrounds. Two were lost to the flood at the campground and one along the Roaring River. Much of the flood's force was weakened while submerging the meadows of Horseshoe Park, but still had enough force to flood the town of Estes Park to a depth of six feet. Lake Estes to the east of town contained the floodwaters preventing further damage.

http://www.rmnp.com/RMNP-Areas-HorseshoePark-AlluvialFan.html

#colorado #alluvialfan #RMNP #rockymountainnationalpark #waterfall #water

Collapse this post

More photos from AJ Schroetlin

1

+6

Jason ON7:06 PM

+1

I didn't know any of that. Thanks for the info and great shot!

AJ Schroetlin7:09 PM

I can remember when it happened +Jason ON
We had a cabin in Grand Lake and used to make the drive from Loveland through the park many times a year. One trip coming home we had to go a different direction because of this flood.
Knowing the story sure helps the brain make sense of the geography in that area. ;)

Add a comment...