Colorado

[Robert_S]

Been here a day, and nobody has offered me a spliff.

Nobody said it was easy. Try Aspen or Boulder.

Or Nederland, just outside Boulder. Last time I was there it was hardnot to get high.

[Coito ergo sum]

Colorado --

Skiing
Hiking
Mountainclimbing
Hunting
Dude ranches
Ballooning
River sports
Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs
100 beer breweries
Picket Wire Canyonlands to see dinosaur fossils and footprints
Dinosaur Ridge
Aspen
Breckenridge
Crested Butte

[Seth]

Been here a day, and nobody has offered me a spliff.

Nobody said it was easy. Try Aspen or Boulder.

Or Nederland, just outside Boulder. Last time I was there it was hardnot to get high.

True enough. Just drive carefully in Boulder Canyon. Then take the Peak to Peak highway to Estes Park, one of the most scenic drives in Colorado.

[Robert_S]

Been here a day, and nobody has offered me a spliff.

Nobody said it was easy. Try Aspen or Boulder.

Or Nederland, just outside Boulder. Last time I was there it was hardnot to get high.

True enough. Just drive carefully in Boulder Canyon. Then take the Peak to Peak highway to Estes Park, one of the most scenic drives in Colorado.

Very much this!

If you don't have your own vehicle, I think there is a regular bus that goes to Estes Park and some reasonable accommodations at the hostel if you're on a budget.

[rainbow]

I believe White Water Rafting is big at the moment.

[Seth]

I believe White Water Rafting is big at the moment.

It's all fucking brown, smelly, sewage-and-chemical laden water at the moment. Going rafting right now is a suicide mission as well as the canyons are all above Class VI.

Truly epic here right now folks.

Not where I am of course, because I live on a hill well away from watercourses for that precise reason, but still.

The good news is that after the last Big Thompson flash-flood that killed 144 people many early-warning measures and response plans were put in place and they have worked incredibly well, with only half a dozen deaths verified so far. Lots and lots of property damage, but the warnings got the people out, and now they are being rescued by National Guard helicopters by the thousands.

US 34 through Big Thompson canyon has essentially ceased to exist in more than 14 miles of the canyon, and it'll take years to rebuild it.

I'm glad as hell I sold the ranch and moved right now. I do want to go back later and see if our bridge got wiped out, and if my old house remains. Our bridge survived many a flood, including the 1972 flood that was actually much larger in terms of volume (I think) on Boulder Creek, but affected only that creek. This one hit the entire front range from Colorado Springs to Wyoming, so the impacts are being felt as far as 200 miles east in Sterling, along the Platte River. Or will be in the next day or so.

Have to go this winter though, I'm headed for the east coast to go to Taylor Swift's final US Red Tour performance in Nashville, the Knob Creek machine gun shoot in Louisville, KY, and then the International Sniper Challenge at Fort Benning, GA tomorrow. Should be gone six to eight weeks.

Not that you lot are going to get a reprieve, I've got my laptop and wifi dongle and hours in hotels to annoy you.

[rainbow]

Glad you're safe.

[Seth]

Glad you're safe.

Thanks. It's not even over yet. The downstream communities are expecting record flood crests tonight and tomorrow. Like 15 feet, at least 5 feet above flood stage. Fortunately they have some time to prepare.

You have to drive about 60 miles east of the Front Range to cross the Platte going north or south, then drive back the other way to cross some of the other rivers.

Fortunately the casualty list is very small, they reduced it to 4 known deaths with two others missing. There's a few hundred people on the "nobody knows where they are" list, but that list shrinks every day as they helicopter people out of isolated mountain towns.

The devastation in the mountain canyons is absolutely epic. In many places it's as if man never built a highway. Huge sections have simply vanished, and westward access from Boulder to Ft. Collins is pretty much impossible...and may be that way for a whole year, because snow season is rapidly approaching and they can't build highways in the winter.

The lack of casualties and the rapid and excellent response from the state EOC and the National Guard is the best I've ever seen, and I've been in emergency services for a long time. When I worked as a police dispatcher our center was the backup dispatch center for the whole county, and when they installed the new siren network in the late 80s I authored the protocol and checklist for warning siren activiation. I'm gratified to see that it all worked so well. It's the result of decades of serious attention to the flash-flood risks. Boulder is rated as the highest-risk city of its size in the US, and everybody in the county takes preparation pretty seriously.

Back in the day I'd have been right in the middle of the whole thing. I can't say I miss it though, I've done my time and I appreciate not having all that responsibility.

[Cormac]

Glad you're safe.

Yep. Me too.

[JimC]

Glad you're safe.

Thanks. It's not even over yet. The downstream communities are expecting record flood crests tonight and tomorrow. Like 15 feet, at least 5 feet above flood stage. Fortunately they have some time to prepare.

You have to drive about 60 miles east of the Front Range to cross the Platte going north or south, then drive back the other way to cross some of the other rivers.

Fortunately the casualty list is very small, they reduced it to 4 known deaths with two others missing. There's a few hundred people on the "nobody knows where they are" list, but that list shrinks every day as they helicopter people out of isolated mountain towns.

The devastation in the mountain canyons is absolutely epic. In many places it's as if man never built a highway. Huge sections have simply vanished, and westward access from Boulder to Ft. Collins is pretty much impossible...and may be that way for a whole year, because snow season is rapidly approaching and they can't build highways in the winter.

The lack of casualties and the rapid and excellent response from the state EOC and the National Guard is the best I've ever seen, and I've been in emergency services for a long time. When I worked as a police dispatcher our center was the backup dispatch center for the whole county, and when they installed the new siren network in the late 80s I authored the protocol and checklist for warning siren activiation. I'm gratified to see that it all worked so well. It's the result of decades of serious attention to the flash-flood risks. Boulder is rated as the highest-risk city of its size in the US, and everybody in the county takes preparation pretty seriously.

Back in the day I'd have been right in the middle of the whole thing. I can't say I miss it though, I've done my time and I appreciate not having all that responsibility.

Looks like a good job done by all. In recent years, there have been mammoth floods in various parts of Oz. I must say, I'm rather glad our house is well up the side of a hill.

Take care of yourself...