Colorado Flooding

jcazgoldchaser

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May 8, 2012
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Seems like gold moving waters

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Oh my, that looks like a bad day to me! Thank you for posting the pictures, what is the general location?................63bkpkr
 

Oh my, that looks like a bad day to me! Thank you for posting the pictures, what is the general location?................63bkpkr

These are from one of the several hard-hit canyons west of Boulder and Golden CO. And, yes, they do have gold in those creeks so I'm sure this is moving the gold around quite a bit...pan accordingly ;-) 'cause we might as well put this disaster to some good sluice!
 

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100s a places in trouble now and fall ain't even started. NOT a good indication of things to come as Arizona and New Mexico get slammed also. Gonna be a loooooooong hard winter-John
 

i cant wait to get up there in those canyons... its been almost 40yrs since we have had flood waters in those canyons. my heart goes out to those who have had a loss because of this.
 

These are from one of the several hard-hit canyons west of Boulder and Golden CO. And, yes, they do have gold in those creeks so I'm sure this is moving the gold around quite a bit...pan accordingly ;-) 'cause we might as well put this disaster to some good sluice!

Good to hear you are OK. Also good to hear you think like me. Good gold coming your way.
 

Heard lots after Katrina about how stupid it was to live in New Orleans. Think everybody is going to be moving out of Colorado now ? Bet nobody in Boulder had any flood insurance either. Well after the insurance companies bail out of Colorado, (which they will), you can always buy a tent at WalMart and join me prospecting full-time.
 

I camped in the Thomson canyon the week before it had its major flood in 1976......

On July 31, 1976, during the celebration of Colorado's centennial, the Big Thompson Canyon was the site of a devastating flash flood that swept down the steep and narrow canyon, claiming the lives of 143 people, 5 of whom were never found. This flood was triggered by a nearly stationary thunderstorm near the upper section of the canyon that dumped 300 millimeters (12 inches) of rain in less than 4 hours (more than 3/4 of the average annual rainfall for the area). Little rain fell over the lower section of the canyon, where many of the victims were.

Around 9 p.m., a wall of water more than 6 meters (20*ft) high raced down the canyon at about 6*m/s (14*mph), destroying 400 cars, 418 houses and 52 businesses and washing out most of U.S. Route 34.[5] This flood was more than 4 times as strong as any in the 112-year record available in 1976, with a discharge of 1,000 cubic meters per second (35,000*ft³/s).

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Thompson_River


https://www.google.com/search?q=big...15&biw=360&bih=515&sei=7Cg3UoiIFoL48gTVtICYCQ


Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
 

Incredible release of energy!
 

Those pics are just amazing. The damage up in the foothills canyons would make me think twice about buying a place up there for sure.

Down here in the city things aren't quite as dramatic but I went out yesterday to inspect a few of my favorite local spots and was just amazed by the amount of change to the creek beds and areas around them.
- big banks eroded
- debris piles 8-10 feet above normal creek levels (in suburbia!)
- Large amounts of sand burying cobble beds where the good gold is
- sand bars that have now disappeared
-sand/cobble/debris bars created where there were none before
- a 'beach' along one creek edge that is now about 1-2 feet higher than it used to be...showing how that spot, which seems fairly straight under normal flows, becomes an inside curve and area of low pressure at 100 year flows...likely to be good gold there now!!
-flows that are still quite a bit above normal 24 hrs after the last rain

...and that's just in suburbia, can't wait to see what Clear Creek looks like in the foothills after the water levels drop enough to survey the results!!!
 

Wow that is crazy, stay safe out there guys. I agree about the not buying a house in some areas Kevin, here in Ca everyone builds in dry forested areas with no breaks, really it's just a matter if time, I mean you may have the house ten 30 or 50 years but eventually a fire will get it. It's like 100year storms but with fires. Just like a earthquake will hit a fire will too eventually.
 

All that mud and debris will ruin mining and take years to concentrate into viable paystreaks. Sure a few nuggets will be found here and there BUT just open eyes and look at tv news. Ungodly mess with billions of tons on mud and debris does not make for good mining-John :BangHead:
 

All that mud and debris will ruin mining and take years to concentrate into viable paystreaks. Sure a few nuggets will be found here and there BUT just open eyes and look at tv news. Ungodly mess with billions of tons on mud and debris does not make for good mining-John :BangHead:

He's right so y'all give up and go home...leave it all to me ;-)

Seriously John, there are a few spots as you Imagine but not everything looks like what they show on tv. Lots of very interesting things exposed and turned over and ready to sample.
 

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He's right so y'all give up and go home...leave it all to me ;-)

Seriously John, there are a few spots as you Imagine but not everything looks like what they show on tv. Lots of very interesting things exposed and turned over and ready to sample.
No kidding.

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Some of this may have uncovered old beds with their pay streaks.

Here's the video I was thinking about when viewing some of those photos


(after 3:20 is only underflow sluice video)
 

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