Where to watch a flash flood

[ibenick]

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[Udink]

Awesome idea. :cool2: I've thought before that it would be cool, but never seriously entertained the idea. I think a lot of San Rafael Reef canyons would be awesome in a flash flood. A lot of the southern Reef canyons have fairly large drainages and I'm sure you could see some nice falls off the sides, and maybe catch a wall of water coming down the main canyon. Bell, LWH, Chute, and Crack all look like they'd be awesome, and I assume you could just hike up the rim of any of them to witness a flash flood fairly safely.

[BruteForce]

In August, while riding a 500 mile loop with ~30 ATV friends, we got caught up in a flash flood in Casto Canyon. The canyon went from dry creek to 3+ foot of water in less than 10 minutes. It was an awesome site to behold. The power behind that rain was tremendous, push huge boulders and trees down. One of our members took video, located at: http://vimeo.com/14699571

[ibenick]

Awesome idea. :cool2: I've thought before that it would be cool, but never seriously entertained the idea. I think a lot of San Rafael Reef canyons would be awesome in a flash flood. A lot of the southern Reef canyons have fairly large drainages and I'm sure you could see some nice falls off the sides, and maybe catch a wall of water coming down the main canyon. Bell, LWH, Chute, and Crack all look like they'd be awesome, and I assume you could just hike up the rim of any of them to witness a flash flood fairly safely.

Good suggestions. I hadn't thought to consider the size of the overall drainage.

[ibenick]

In August, while riding a 500 mile loop with ~30 ATV friends, we got caught up in a flash flood in Casto Canyon. The canyon went from dry creek to 3+ foot of water in less than 10 minutes. It was an awesome site to behold. The power behind that rain was tremendous, push huge boulders and trees down. One of our members took video, located at: http://vimeo.com/14699571

Great video, thanks for sharing!

[p40whk]

We were camping in the Watchman campground next to the Virgin river last month when the Narrows went from 59 CFM to 1700 CFM in less than 3 minutes! I could hear the river raging behind the tent but was too lazy to put cloths on and go out in the rain to have a look. In hind site, I probably should have. Even that far down away from the Narrows the river had a huge amount of flow.

We could see evidence of flashing in the Subway 2 day's later (we stayed out of Orderville the following day due to the risk) and you could see it all along the banks approaching the Narrows on the river walk. I remember saying to my friend that it would have been a sight to see if we could have watched the wall of water coming down the canyon.

Obviously you'd want to find a narrow slot with a high elevation camp site that you could stage out of. Not being familiar enough with the area, I couldn't recomend a spot but if you find a safe one let us know.

[Iceaxe]

I've watched hundreds of flash floods.... probably the best place to chase flash floods and see them is Zion. It has good access to several large drainage basins and you can watch the weather to see when a good time to go is. Pine Creek has several good vantage points for watching a flood and a large catch basin so they are common. I've watched Pine Creek, Keyhole, Heaps, Orderville, Subway, Echo, Telephone, Employee, Spry and probably a couple I have forgotten about all flash.

If you have a good boat..... Lake Powell is a good place to chase flash floods. We used to visit Powell during the monsoon season and spend the afternoon chasing thunderstorms on the lake so we could watch the flash floods.

Cedar Mesa is also a good place to catch a flash flood. Highway 95 allows great access to several large catch basins. White Canyon is pretty amazing when it flashes as the floods are huge.

Flash floods are normally pretty localized so you want to be able to cover a lot of ground if you are chasing them. Its not uncommon for one canyon to flash and the sister canyon 1/4 mile away to remain dry. Being able to cover several large catch basins (example: Zion and Powell) will greatly increase your chances.

http://climb-utah.com/Zion/Files/ZionFlash01s.jpg

[mtthwlw]

I've watched hundreds of flash floods....
:2thumbs:

Hundreds?
http://www.jeremyperson.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/topper1.jpg


I love that picture of Zion full of water. Beautiful. Did you take that picture, Ice?

[jman]

:2thumbs:

I love that picture of Zion full of water. Beautiful. Did you take that picture, Ice?
Indeed it's a good one. Is there a high quality available??

[ibenick]

Indeed it's a good one. Is there a high quality available??

Yes. Excellent photo, that's what I'm dreaming of seeing. What canyon is that?