Avalanche! by auntietk
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Description
More from my trip with Sig ...
Sorry for the delay in the story (did you even know I was telling you a story??) :D Computer troubles ... I've been reduced to borrowing laptops in order to get on line and comment, and just got my own computer back. Yay!
Anyway ...
When last we saw our intrepid heroes (that would be Sig and me) they had turned around in Winthrop and headed back up into the mountains ...
We got about halfway up to Washington Pass and had to stop. While we were down in the valley taking pictures of fences, there had been an avalanche that covered the road! They said it would be eight hours (or possibly overnight) until the snow was cleared.
Going around the other way meant a seven hour drive, but waiting to see how fast they could clear the road just wasn't an option. Sig had a boat to catch the next day, and neither of us wanted to just hang out by the side of the road. Besides ... there were other avalanche chutes that could have gone any time, so we decided to take the long way home, and got back to my place at 11:00 at night. Sig still had more driving to do to get to his accommodations - it must have been 11:30 by the time he got in!
I found out later that one of the guys at work had a buddy who had gone up Highway 20 Saturday afternoon, and he got there just as they were clearing the last of the snow away. He waited five minutes and got through ... that was at about 7:30. If we'd waited, it would have been four hours of sitting there, plus the drive back to my house, and it still would have been 10:30 or 11:00 by the time I got home.
For those of you who are still awake, let me tell you what you're looking at ...
The top image is the view looking back down the valley. Can you see the triangles of snow along the road? Those are places where they cleared out previous avalanches.
In the center section, the top left-hand image is looking back down the road. There's a fairly sharp turn there. You can see how much snow there still was. Oh ... for those of you who keep saying "where's Sig?" ... he's the guy walking up the road. That's his white car behind him.
Center bottom left-hand image shows the DOT (Department of Transportation) guy talking to some people who were heading back down the mountain.
Center right-hand image shows one of the avalanche chutes in the area. What happens is that the snow melts, the water runs underneath it along the rock, and eventually the whole thing just slides off the mountain. It happens really fast! I was standing next to somebody's car (not Sig's) taking this picture, and the DOT guy came over to me and said, "That's not a good place to park - that's an avalanche chute there, and it could come down at any time." I said, "Yeah I know, but it's not my car." :D He settled for telling me I shouldn't be standing there, either. (Well, heck ... how else could I get the photograph to show you? Of course I had to stand there!)
The bottom image is as close as they would let me get to the actual avalanche that was blocking the road. Right after I took this photograph, the cop waved me off.
It was a long day, but we had a good time.
..........
Full view will give you a better look!
Comments (31)
Faemike55
Outstanding set of photos and what sounds be be an exciting adventure for the two of you! I do hope that you have more pictures of your trip and that you will post them soon! Thank you for a wonderful series of photos overall
beachzz
LOL, "it's not my car"--I don't think Sig would've been too happy to see that Mercedes buried under a blanket of snow!! Great shots, though, you really give us an idea of what it looked like!!
bmac62
Now between you standing in avalanche chutes and Marilyn going around fences marked do not enter and leaning over bridges...all for our viewing pleasure...which one of you is going to get in trouble first? This is a cool collage. It really gives the feeling of being there!!!
babuci
Exciting photos even if a bit scary. We have to deal with rockslide a lot here so I truly understand a situation when they say...no you have to take a detour road. Nice pictures.
MrsLubner
We have this sort of thing every winter north of us. The roads on the mountains are always getting buried and you were lucky it was so easy to get around this one. I've seen a road here closed for 3 days with no turn off or detour available. How exciting to see it this close!
lyron
Beautiful place and great shots!!
blinkings
Oh wow what a great shot and thanks for the info.
helanker
So beautiful captures indeed. WOW What a trio HUH? You must have been exhousted.
PSDuck
Great set of pics! Never been near to an avalanche before, but a mudslide (bigger than that, by the by)...yup. I guess you got the "cook's tour".
BessieB
Superb photography Tara, great narrative so we know what is going on!
durleybeachbum
What an exciting life you lead! What really interests me in the bottom pic is shorts and snow in one frame! A super story!
emmecielle
Excellent collage of beautiful images! :)
petercp
Well that certainly makes for a long day Tara! It makes for a very exciting photograph that's for sure, excellent captures!
PD154
well documented, and what a cool thing to witness tho very scary!
MrsRatbag
Kind of brings those "avalance warnings" into perspective; we tend not to pay much attention to them here in the suburbs! Great collage and story!
flora-crassella
wonderful photos! Great landscape!!!!
moonrancher
We take those passes for granted. Lots of work goes into keep them open. Great story, and I'm glad it ended well.
ontar1
Cool, excellent captures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Merrylee
Nice collage Tara...very impressive
Octaganoid
I really like the top photo, it's a real nice landscape shot !
flavia49
fabulous reportage!!! GREAT Panoramas!
sandra46
wonderful luck! and terrific collage!
bebert
superbe paysage. belles photos.
jocko500
wow what a story this is
mbz2662
Super.. something I don't see here. Great story :)
Katraz
Great pictures glad you got home OK.
elfin14doaks
WOW, I know you live somewhere in the mountains, do you still have snow?
hipps13
thanks for the laugh, Tara May the last few words :-) this is cool as is the words have a wonderful evening warm hugs, and love, Linda Kaye
lucindawind
amazing shots ! and very beautiful landscape..thanks for the info too :)
anaber
Superb capture!