I was stranded due to the Colorado floods at the YMCA of the Rockies near Estes Park Colorado this week but yes, I am back! Reminded me of my Alaska days - stuck at tent camps for a week or so due to weather but in those situations I was alone. This was quite the adventure and at times the absolute lack of communication was frustrating but we were safe. We had a short window of opportunity to get out yesterday due to the Big Thompson River dropping just enough to drive through the river behind a large front end loader. We had to get out yesterday or we would have been stuck at the YMCA of the Rockies (which is where we were trapped) for three more weeks. To add to the urgency to get out; we had enough food for one more day and we had 500 people in the camp including the 85 - 5th graders you might read about. They were extremely sad yesterday; the Y had us all in one cafeteria yesterday to feed us one of the last meals they could prepare (500 stranded) and by my own and all accounts one half of the 5th graders were crying during lunch! Poor kids, I felt so sorry for them. They got out just after us so they are in touch with parents by now at least. More rain on the way this weekend and that will bring the rivers back up soon and that will finish off the thin, sliver of washed out road that we needed to travel to get to Estes Park which was a few miles down the road from the YMCA Camp so those of us with PF are very happy to get out and to avoid the three week stay waiting for roads and bridges to be replaced. We were told of the last time this happened, back in 1976, when 170 people died. There are already 4 dead from this and over 170 still missing. Many people have suffered a tremendous amount in this current situation. Some of us took advantage of the situation to check out the hills behind camp where the Elk and Mule deer were hanging out. Absolutely stunning scenery around the YMCA of the Rockies with peaks to 14,000 feet in full view. Too bad we had rain every day but yesterday we could take it in. We were lucky to be on fairly high ground or this story would have a different ending. We escaped by riding two ski resort buses over a 12,000 ft mountain and then up and over another high mountain on a 6 hour ride to Denver. Definitely the scenic route!
Posted on: Sat, 14 Sep 2013 22:16:06 +0000
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