The Alluvial Fan

The young people got up early and set off for the doughnut shop. Susan and I had a leisurely coffee and Eggo in bed. Later, we all set off for the Alluvial Fan – a favorite RMNP site of both girls. You will recall from your readings in geology when you too were a kid, or perhaps from the Sci-Fi movie Tremors, that alluvium is a loose soil of sand and pebbles created by running water – rivers, typically. An Alluvial Fan is a landscape of such soil, sometimes with large cobbles or even boulders.

This particular fan was created in 1982 when an earthen dam around Lawn Lake, >3,500 feet above Estes Park, collapsed sending the lake’s contents hurtling down the mountainside into Fall River and into the valley below causing millions of dollars of damage and taking three lives. Estes Park was flooded in mud.

Fall River, at the alluvial fan, looks like this. Like all such cataracts, its soothing white noise belies the enormous energy of the water’s flow.

The young people made their way up the path to the waterfall that creates Fall River. I walked with Susan whose knees are barely up to the task. I took a few pics along the way.

We did finally arrive where the girls and their parents had settled. The grands were dipping their feet in the cold water of Fall River.

The picture below shows the waterfall as it is today. The jumble of boulders is all part of the dam rupture event plus or minus some park ranger work to make the river more accessible to visitors. The entire scene gives one just the slightest sense of the vast energies in our planet’s physical systems – a good tornado, hurricane, tsunami, or earthquake inspires similar awe.

We came home to rest. The young people went to play miniature golf; later, we had hot dogs and Nepalese food leftovers for dinner. Everyone is in bed but me, and I’m on my way.