Deathcricket
08-20-2012, 01:09 PM
So Z-crew did Behuinin yesterday, had a great trip and I'll probably toss up a TR later this week. We got done about 5ish. We saw some clouds forming and it rolling in, but right when we got down to the bus at Emerald Pools trailhead, the storm hit full force. We saw a huge waterfall shooting out the last rap where we had been an hour previous. So not really a close call or anything, but still a sobering experience to be sure. We had some trouble getting out of Zion, all the buses were full with people vacating the premises. So we just enjoyed the myriads of waterfalls and eventually got out. We went to our normal Oscars for burgers and beers, then went home. On the way out it became apparent that the Subway area also flashed hard from this storm. So we thought we would stop by in Virgin to check it out. Across from that tourist trap with all the little houses there is this road called Sheepridge or maybe SheepBridge. It's also to the bottom of JEM trail, and crosses right over the Virgin river, I'm sure most of you know where it is. So I'm guessing this video is taken almost 2 hours after the storm hit. And we are well ahead of it of course, you'll see hardly any clouds even in the sky yet.
So we drove up to this little picnic spot and the river is chocolate milk flavored but hardly raging at all. We turn around and decide to bail since we aren't sure how it will take to reach us. We are driving back across the road and we now see a small crowd of 10-15ish people gathered at the bridge, and a cop who signals us to stop. We roll down our windows and he asks if we saw anyone in the water at the picnic area upstream. We say no and that we saw the flash up by Zion and were hoping to see a raging torrent but not much happening down here. The cop says it is very close and will be here in a very short time. We park with the small group of people and sit on the cliff. It hit less than 3 minutes later.
So I was expecting this to be gradual, perhaps over a 2-5 minute period. I set my camera in a lower stationary position. Because it won't move I can get a good shot of this one river bend and then I can just high speed the track and capture the water levels of the river. So like a 2 minute time lapse to see the rapid increase in flow. That's why in the video you will see us "oohing" and "aweing" but the camera view is kinda boring. We are looking upriver about 1/8th mile at the carnage approaching. But it wasn't like that, it was a wall of debris and it was instant.
I was shocked seeing this in person. Literally shocked. I've seen a dozen videos of course but it doesn't quite prepare you for the loud noises of grinding boulders, trees being snapped like twigs and pulverized in mush, the wonderful smell of churned earth (reminded me of Patchouli oil), the extreme violence and raw power, etc. And sadly this video also falls short in this category I'm sure. But it was like meeting a violent entity, it had a voice and it's own way of moving, and "screw you" if you got in it's way. Perhaps akin to a herd of trampling buffalo? But it was more than that, I had been in canyons all weekend long appreciating their beauty, and this was like getting to meet "in person" the very creator of these canyons. A lessor god or a primordial, if that doesn't sound to blasphemous, but definitely a more powerful being to put me in my place as a frail, tiny, pathetic organic life form. It's just amazing to stand so close to something that can kill you without a 2nd thought, and an experience I won't forget for a long time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81LKbgHjQ_0&feature=youtu.be
So we drove up to this little picnic spot and the river is chocolate milk flavored but hardly raging at all. We turn around and decide to bail since we aren't sure how it will take to reach us. We are driving back across the road and we now see a small crowd of 10-15ish people gathered at the bridge, and a cop who signals us to stop. We roll down our windows and he asks if we saw anyone in the water at the picnic area upstream. We say no and that we saw the flash up by Zion and were hoping to see a raging torrent but not much happening down here. The cop says it is very close and will be here in a very short time. We park with the small group of people and sit on the cliff. It hit less than 3 minutes later.
So I was expecting this to be gradual, perhaps over a 2-5 minute period. I set my camera in a lower stationary position. Because it won't move I can get a good shot of this one river bend and then I can just high speed the track and capture the water levels of the river. So like a 2 minute time lapse to see the rapid increase in flow. That's why in the video you will see us "oohing" and "aweing" but the camera view is kinda boring. We are looking upriver about 1/8th mile at the carnage approaching. But it wasn't like that, it was a wall of debris and it was instant.
I was shocked seeing this in person. Literally shocked. I've seen a dozen videos of course but it doesn't quite prepare you for the loud noises of grinding boulders, trees being snapped like twigs and pulverized in mush, the wonderful smell of churned earth (reminded me of Patchouli oil), the extreme violence and raw power, etc. And sadly this video also falls short in this category I'm sure. But it was like meeting a violent entity, it had a voice and it's own way of moving, and "screw you" if you got in it's way. Perhaps akin to a herd of trampling buffalo? But it was more than that, I had been in canyons all weekend long appreciating their beauty, and this was like getting to meet "in person" the very creator of these canyons. A lessor god or a primordial, if that doesn't sound to blasphemous, but definitely a more powerful being to put me in my place as a frail, tiny, pathetic organic life form. It's just amazing to stand so close to something that can kill you without a 2nd thought, and an experience I won't forget for a long time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81LKbgHjQ_0&feature=youtu.be