Rain, Flood, Landslide, Pumping and Shoveling

I need not tell anyone that we did get a lot of snow, turning to rain over the past 30 hours. Being awakened several times during the night by just the sound of the rain, I was not looking forward to daylight and seeing the effects on the Hole In the Wall. It was much worse than I had even expected. Not only from the rain storm but also from the mud slides that the heavy rain created by over saturation of the soils. Two mud slides occurred, one at the normal location next to the Buffalo Wallow. As it did last year, Grannies Gully flowed mud out into the parking lot area but bypassed the Buffalo Wallow. The second mud slide occurred at the Wolf Den. John's Creek which feeds from John's Glacier, jumped the normal creek bed at the location where the "new" water line crosses the creek. It then followed the bed of the water line into the side yard of the Wolf Den. The pump system was rigged and de-watering started at 12:30 p.m. The pump has been steadily pumping since that time, currently it just passed the eighth hour mark. Although the pump is working, it is only maintaining the water that continues to flow into the pit area from Bear Creek and John's Creek. The new ditches that were dredged to channel the water was only partially effective. The upper portion of each of drain ditches did fill with sand and gravel either from normal washing or from the mud slide such as was the case in the area of the Buffalo Wallow. However, we were not the only ones to flood out. The Anchor River has reached flood stage and like the Hole In the Wall, has not reached the peak. Note the new log jam at the lower end of my favorite fishing hole.

Anchor River 10/10/08 Noon

Aerial View Of The Hole In the Wall

Ground View Of The Fire Pit Gazebo and Claire Allen's Flower Bed

The success story learned is from Bear Creek, the natural rock and clay mini wall that was built last summer is the most effective. With Bear Creek flowing a full head of water, equivalent to what we see in the spring run off, no water spread into the area of the Bear Den with the exception of one small tributary that was not blocked at the top. It has since been blocked and all water is being contained.

Bear Creek Falls

Bear Creek

Mud Slide Into the Wolf Den. Upon finding this, it made me sick but after looking at it in closer detail, no damage occurred and it could be a blessing. We have two options, this is all loose packed material, predominantly sand and gravel mixed with some clay. First option is to move it to the rear of the build where it will fill up the lower ground that collects water. 2nd Option is to level it off and the build the side and rear deck over the top of it. The foundation blocks are o.k., the center block is the only one that is covered, each block is visible

John's Creek Falls


John's Creek drainage area. I shoveled out the creek from the base up to the falls and reinforced the embankment to attempt to keep the stream confined to the drainage area. The upper portion of this creek is very rocky and with natural erosion, we should eventually be into the bed rock which will help in the stabilization.

Grannies Gully and Stream Bed. Where this stream hit the area of the gate and the new drainage ditch was dredged was covered in the mud slide that occurred at the top of Grannie Gulch. Due to the light soil and shale in this area, the newly dredged drain ditch past the Moose Wallow and into the Bronco Lane drainage canal filled up with sediment for the majority of it's length. I have re-shoveled this area and it is draining well.

I am treating this as a "learning experience". All along, I have been working with the concept of "blocking the water out" of the parking lot area by dredging the ditch so John's Creek funnels into the drain pit. After seeing how effective that the rock wall bordering Bear Creek has work, I am now under the concept of "blocking the water in". With a brief history, a drainage ditch in this area will not work due to the sediment that flows down the creek. With the tenants agreement and I would appreciate feed back. Forget the ditch concept to force the water into

the pit area. The two cabins sit about three to four feet higher in elevation than the parking lot area. Build a rock wall similar to Bear Creek from the new spruce tree to the edge of the drainage pit. Faced both sides with rock and plastic liner. Back fill with top soil and plant flowers or shrubs. The water flowing down Johns Creek will hit the wall and follow it into the pit area. If the pit is full, it will back up but it is going to have to get three deep to effect the cabins. By that level, it is over flowing into the parking lot and it does not matter what we do, we have a hell of flood. The draw back to this concept is that we will need to construct a small walking bridge over the wall to make easy and safe access. Unless the bridge is large, it will also restrict driving up to your doors. Ample parking is available and it really is no further than your present drive way to your front doors at your homes. The same concept will be used on the other drainage ditch at the Moose Wallow. The reason that we have had more than normal flooding this year is the cleared lots so we may consider a couple loads of top soil or a cultivator to break up the clay mixed soil and see if we can establish a lawn in this area to absorb some of the run off. As for the "old" Wolf Den and the Buffalo Wallow. The storm had no effect on either of these locations. At the Wolf Den, we may want to consider building some type of retaining wall or sand bags along the top of bluff to stop the flow of any mud slides that John's Creek may create in the future. We can never out smart mother nature, but we can wage an effective battle. Time to go check the pump and see if the water level has dropped.