Gusher

Coming home last night, the road opposite ours going up the canyon we live in was blocked off with cones and a parking enforcement vehicle. "Odd", I thought to myself, "Must be some sort of parking emergency!!!" This means I was forced to drive up our street, which is counter to my normal routine, as usually I drive up that side so to be pointed the proper direction to park on the street or pull into the driveway.

As I ascended, there was a flatbed tow truck idling right opposite my driveway. Hmmmm... I get to the top of the street, turn around and park, and go to investigate. In addition to the tow truck, there's parking enforcement and another flatbed tow truck on the opposite street, and cones set up there, too. A few people are milling around over there. I thought maybe someone had wrecked over on that side, or maybe someone managed to drive into the canyon. From the days when my grandfather lived here I'd heard tales of parked cars rolling down into the canyon, yet I've never seen the likes of it.

The property opposite us on that street has some nice river rock retaining walls. I finally notice that the portion by the corner is fallen down into the street, of course followed by much of the dirt behind it. Hmmmmm again!!! I make mention to one of the neighbors out there that it's a shame, I really liked that wall. They agree, and then say something about how there was so much water. ??? It had rained that morning until around noon or so, but nothing serious, only about half an inch at most, I'd guess, and probably less.

Well, you probably guessed from the pictures, I was missing a key element here. Somehow, the fire hydrant over there got sheared off!!! Apparently it was pretty loud and of course went on for a while. My oldest had the presence of mind to take the camera out and get a few shots, as well as a video. Used to be able to post video on here, but I don't see the link for that anymore. The second shot I cropped for effect, you can see the spout is going about three times as high as the basketball hoop!!!

I like the last shot, with the water just cascading off the yard. I still wonder exactly how it happened!!!

Bad Scene at Eaton Canyon

Over the weekend we went for a hike up Eaton Canyon again. I realized as I was preparing for this post (and looking at the previous Eaton Canyon post) it's been almost four years since we were up there!!!



The weather has been excellent, and it looked like everyone else had the same idea!!! The place was PACKED!!! My dad had suggested bringing a change of shoes & socks, as it had been quite wet leading up to this. He'd anticipated the stream being swollen and that we'd end up getting our feet wet.



We probably could have avoided soaking our feet, but it was so crowded that it would take a while crossing on rocks & such, as you'd have to wait for people coming the other way. The stream was a bit fuller, but not that bad.



Of course, the water was freezing. I kept saying, "It's as if they made it from melting snow!!!" My younger boy would complain when he'd get his feet wet. His brother helped him across several times by carrying him on his back. We made it up to the falls and were resting, taking pictures, enjoying the view. The falls, I'd say are 30 to 40 feet, with the canyon walls rising 45 to 55 feet on either side, a classic box canyon.



Now for the bad scene: After we'd been there a few minutes, there's the noise of rocks coming loose and bouncing off the walls. Shortly after that, we hear screaming and crying. Looking over, there's a young teenage girl out cold. Quickly a crowd is gathered around her. I check to see if my phone gets any reception, but no. Fortunately, someone else has better reception that me and calls 9-11. We left pretty quick after that, as did a few other hikers with small kids. Guess no one wants their little kids to have to deal seeing a dead person, or whatever.



It was rather chaotic there, and we're not exactly sure what happened yet. The official story that the local paper had on their site was what we'd thought had happened: She (and other hikers) had climbed up over the falls, and she ended up falling down, and in the process knocking a few rocks loose that ended up raining down on her. We did see people up there, and it seems like an exceeding bad idea. The other stories we'd heard were that she had been down below, and someone above inadvertently loosened some rocks, which fell of her, or they were tossing rocks down from above. The latter two scenarios seem plausible, as I would have expected to hear some yelling if she'd fallen. Of course, one rap on the head right at the beginning of a fall and you'd be silent the rest of the way.

Anyway, there was just a little bit of blood. The paper's site said she was in serious condition. We got to see the rescue helicopter nice and low on the way out, and saw a couple police and half a dozen firemen, as well as a couple of park rangers heading in as we were on our way out. I looked up the hospital's phone number today and was considering calling and seeing if I could find out any more information, and even toying with the idea of paying a visit. Hope she's OK!!!

Eaton Canyon

Not only has it been a while since I've made a substantive post, but it's been a while since I've gotten out with my camera and taken any shots.

My mom called up on Thursday, I think it was. They were planning on coming up on Saturday for a little picnic and hike up Eaton Canyon. Were we interested in meeting up with them to join in???



Actually, that sounds like a great idea!!!

The road closest to the falls was locked up, so we ended up hiking up the streambed from a ways farther back. Strange, the streambed was dry, but once we got back in the canyon, the stream was a-flowin'!!!

Can you tell which shot I knew was the money shot as I took it???

A great way to spend an afternoon!!!