Quiet Mornings in the Canyon (on Instagram) by Marisa Renee
this might be one of my most favorite places to wake up - it's hard to beat the morning sun cresting over the canyon walls to illuminate the trees & transform the new green aspen leaves into a sea of sparkles ✨️🌿
Fire communication is fucking infuriating. There’s a new fire, but where? Who knows! It is somewhere in relation to Poudre Canyon from Arrowhead Lodge east to Riverside Drive. But if you google either of these it can’t seem to find the proper Riverside Drive or Arrowhead Lodge. There is a Riverside Drive in Fort Collins, but it is in the middle of town, not near the canyon in any way.
Okay, so let’s go check the official notice on the fire. That has to have more information, right?
NOPE.
It lists the same vague location, then says to text a number to get more information, or go to the local emergency alert site to find a map.
Guess what is not on the local emergency alert site? A map.
The evacuation is voluntary right now, but who is it for? A mystery!
Like. I understand this fire started all of an hour ago. But if you can push out an official alert you can include a damn google maps screenshot with a pin drop of the fire’s location.
I did find the fire location eventually by literally just scrolling along the canyon on google maps until I found the right spot. But all of this took about thirty minutes, which isn’t exactly what one would call GOOD when it comes to emergency communication.
Name an attraction or town close to home that you still haven’t got around to visiting.
Mishawaka Amphitheater is a great place to see summer concerts. I have driven past it in the Poudre Canyon more times than I can count.
In all the time I have lived here, I have always wanted to catch a summer concert there. Somehow, I just have never gotten around to it. It’s a great local place for hippies…
Two people died and one home was destroyed during flash floods west of Fort Collins on Friday night. Heavy rain – one to two inches per hour – fell on the Cameron Peak burn scar, and runoff flowed quickly into valleys and streams.
The flood killed an adult woman and a girl in a camping trailer that was washed away from the middle to upper Buckhorn area. Their bodies were found about two and a half hours after the first reports of flooding.
“Last night was definitely a demonstration of what can happen in a burn area, and how fast flooding can occur,” said Lori Hodges, director of emergency operations for Larimer County.
Around 5 p.m., the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office received multiple reports of flash flooding near Glen Haven and Crystal Mountain. First responders found some flooding in both areas, including washed out private bridges and culverts. Officials said some roads are impassable for cars but still walkable, meaning that nobody is completely cut off.
Hodges said the flooding could have been more destructive near Glen Haven, but highlighted mitigation measures as a “success story.” Homeowners worked with the county to install flood barrier bags, essentially giant tubs of sand, that protected their properties from rising water that carried debris.
A contractor hired by the county to clear debris from the area on Saturday said the flooding mostly consisted of water and wooden debris. Larimer County officials said they would not categorize the event as a mudslide.
When rainwater hits a burn scar, the soil is dead and ashy – unable to absorb water normally. Instead, it flows on the surface, quickly making its way downhill. That runoff also carries wooden debris, which can clog up waterways.
Flooding in 2021 killed at least two people and filled the Poudre River with debris from homes that were washed away. Floods and mudslides are far more likely in areas burned by wildfire, where ashy soil cannot soak up water.
2020’s Cameron Peak Fire still stands as the largest in Colorado’s history, and crews have been working since then to protect the people and buildings still in the burn scar. Across thousands of acres, helicopters have dropped mulch on burned areas in an attempt to stabilize the soil and promote restoration. Officials said any aerial mulching work near the flooded areas would not have stopped flooding, since not enough time had passed to allow regrowth of soil and plants.
Destructive flooding occurred almost exactly a year ago in another part of the Cameron Peak burn scar, killing at least two people in Poudre Canyon.
Scientists warn that climate change is only likely to make wildfires and floods more frequent and intense. Warming temperatures and extended drought have caused wildfires to burn more quickly, and during times outside of the traditional “fire season.”
This story is part of ongoing coverage of water in the West, produced by KUNC in Colorado and supported by the Walton Family Foundation. KUNC is solely responsible for its editorial coverage.
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