New Wood on the ‘Bend
Posted by Eric on December 6, 2006 at 2:01 pm | In Safety |Hiked up the Horseshoe Bend trail the other day and was surprised to see a significant amount of wood in the river between Bench Drop and SAT. I had heard that the run was still wood-free after the November floods, so it looks as if all the snow and ice from last weeks storm loaded down the trees and caused several to topple in. These new strainers could be very hazardous to a swimmer at Bench, because they are just around the corner and might not be visible while scouting the drop.
At this point, there are at least three riverwide trees in the two rapids below Bench Drop. The first log is across the big rocks that create the lower part of the first rapid. In the photo below, you can see a rope attached to the tree where someone has been trying to dislodge the strainer.
The next logs are not far downstream, in the rapid immediately before SAT. Here’s a look back up at the mess from the river right scout rock.
Strainer number four is right at the top drop of SAT, and number five extends out from river right at the base of the last drop. There is a final riverwide strainer just downstream of the rapid.
As if this wasn’t bad enough, a tree fell on the old set of wires that cross the river immediately below Bench Drop, so there are now two submerged wires/cables in the river just upstream of the first log mentioned above. All of this was seen at low water (~375 cfs), so some of the trees will probably be under water at more normal flows. Whether this makes them more or less of a hazard remains to be seen, but it is very likely that at least some of them will still be in play for paddlers. I’d imagine that some of these will move as the water levels come up, but several looked to be pretty firmly wedged in or still anchored to the shore by their root mass.
As things stand right now, it is a mandatory portage from the base of Bench Drop to the top of SAT, and it is possible that the first drop of that one may need to be portaged as well. It might be also be prudent to portage Bench, just to be on the safe side, although this isn’t absolutely necessary. The wood at the bottom of SAT is also a bit sketch, so use good judgement there.
Does this work yet?
Comment by Eric — December 8, 2006 #
Dunno, does it?
Comment by Eric — December 8, 2006 #
Does it work in IE?
Comment by Eric — December 10, 2006 #
this is with Safari
Comment by Chris — December 10, 2006 #
I cannot see the full header (You, eric) at the top of the page in IE.
This comment in IE
Comment by Chris — December 10, 2006 #
Hey I wonder if my comments work here. I hope so.
How do we make posts rather than just comment on other posts? Do we need special priveliges?
Also, was Eric’s movie posted somewhere before Dirk made the comment, where it had author, description, etc.? Or did Dirk actually post that as part of his comment?
Devin
Comment by Devin Smith — December 15, 2006 #
Yahoo!! My comments worked this time!!
Comment by Devin Smith — December 15, 2006 #
Will some obscure webmaster get angry if I post too many comments and just cut me off?
Comment by Devin Smith — December 15, 2006 #
Because this is really a lot of fun, although I just now figured out I can only post a comment every 15 seconds. That should sure put an end to mindless commenting
Comment by Devin Smith — December 15, 2006 #
This web site is totally great
Comment by Devin Smith — December 15, 2006 #
Eric not only has mad skills, he’s sexy too. Just look at his mysterious outline at the top.
Makes me wonder, can you hold the top line fixed so we can continue to admire Eric’s sexy frame (and all the useful buttons) as you scroll down through this endless supply of comments?
Comment by Devin Smith — December 15, 2006 #
Devin, you’ve gone insane. If you keep posting like that you’ll break the internet.
I’d rather keep the header the way it is so that it doesn’t use up so much screen space, especially for us laptop users with tiny, tiny screens.
I can, however, put some text-based links at the bottom of the page, so that you don’t have to scroll all the way back up to navigate .
Comment by Eric — December 15, 2006 #
Oh, and Dirk put up that video as part of his post (note that it was a post and not a comment). The permissions for posting articles, etc, need to be set manually by us.
Comment by Eric — December 15, 2006 #