Landslide

It’s not every day you get the chance to walk right through a HUGE landslide, but the other day I did just that.  During the Great Flood of 2013 from last September, the floodwaters unleashed landslides up and down the front range.  One of those landslides actually destroyed the house and killed the occupant of the former Mercantile owner in Jamestown, Colorado.  In Rocky Mountain National Park, there were twelve large landslides, and numerous small ones surveyed by the US Geological Survey.  The most notable one that can easily be seen from Highway 7 near Lily Lake is the one off Twin Sisters, the double summit just to the east of Longs Peak.  While it looks impressive looking at it from the road, it is even more shocking seeing it up close and person.  The landslide actually went right through the switchbacks of the trail, so the above picture is taken from above looking down.  The impromptu trail actually goes right through the heart of the slide, and then detours up the right-hand side making for a much steeper trail than before.  Seeing the slide this close really reminds me of the power of water as a force on the land, and the amount of havoc last year’s flood wreaked all around us.  We are fast closing on the 1-year anniversary of the flood, so am hoping for an uneventful and peaceful September this year….