Thurs, Aug 6th, Gold King Mine BlowOut and This & That

Haven't been on any trails for several days; sometimes because of the rain; sometimes because we traveled to Montrose and sometimes because we were doing chores or being lazy.  Lots been going on though.

Most nearly all of our friends have left.  Brett, Alexis, Linda & Larry are back in NC.  Wendy & James; Dale & Betty are back in NM.  Cathy & Larry have gone back to Texas (100+ temp) for a few weeks.  They may be crazy.  Jane & Charles are headed to Canada.  They got into some bad weather headed north and had to navigate between some flash floods.

Looking thru Charles & Jane's RV windshield near Provo, Utah:

We see at least one moose almost every time we go to Mineral now.  

Someone has a video of Dad, Momma & baby all running & playing together.

It's so cute; will try to get a copy.

I have also seen a video of a BLONDE brown bear playing at Mineral.

My new goal:  To see this animal!

After our unsuccessful outing to find the fox family again a couple of days ago, Kent kept tormenting me with stories about seeing them and how he needed to get a new bag of fox food because they ate it all.  Then he & Annie showed up at our RV the other night with a box gift-wrapped in a map.  

Here's my prize:

Love their sense of humor!

Yesterday, we kept hearing dynamite charges being set off.  They were blasting on Hwy 550 just above us; just routine road maintenance. 

Okay, now for today's adventure.  Yesterday a plug blew out at the Gold King Mine sending about a million gallons of water plus mud & other debris roaring down to Cement Creek near Gladstone. Crews from the EPA & Colorado Division of Mining, Safety and Reclamation were working at the site.  I heard that the EPA took responsibility for the mishap that caused damage to county roads, plugged the culvert at Gladstone with timber & debris and washed a Chevy Suburban away.  The plugged culvert slowed the deluge and probably prevented Cement Creek from flooding in town.  There was no damage in town, but the Animas River is not looking so good where it meets up with Cement Creek. 

We drove up to Gladstone today to investigate.  The mine is up above "Hippie Town" in Minnehaha Basin, but the road was closed.

We drove along Cement Creek.  Here are a few pictures from different areas of the debris:

 The ugly side of mining meets the pristine water of the Animas River.

See the blue water to the right; nasty orange muck coming from the left & taking over.

The river in front of our RV is now orange muck.  Jim hears the train people on his radio checking on the "color" of the water.  We guess they are afraid of using contaminated water when they stop and take on coal & water half-way between Durango & Silverton.  Will be interesting to see how long it takes to clear.  Wonder what's in it???  Won't see me swimming!