Flooding at twenty degrees below zero...

The bottom layer of water oozed out of cracks in the ice. 

There had been a series of deep cold spells that caused the creek to freeze over quickly, but still had water flowing underneath.  A couple days before it flooded, Bill and I were coming back from our nightly walk.  In the silence, I heard the creek cracking and it reminded me of Laura Ingall's story about crossing the mighty Mississippi right before the ice cracked and became unsafe.  It sounded like deep settling.

The first challenge we faced this winter included Clear Creek freezing over and eventually flooding right before Christmas.


Then the next day, I watched water ooze up from the cracks and flow downstream.  Because the water froze so fast, it froze all the way up to the banks and began overflowing onto the sidewalk.  It had no other place to go except wide.  It crept down the creek in slow, lapping movements, looking for the low places.

Flood froze neighbors rig to ground

Several of us kept an eye on the creek, watching the water ebb and flow, creeping over the sidewalk.

Late that Friday night, I saw flashlights bobbing through the closed curtains.  I knew that it spelled trouble.  I called for Bill and he put his boots on and headed
outside.  Then, gradually myself and Jessica, our oldest, joined him.  The creek was overflowing the sidewalk and into different RV spots.

Look at the cord frozen in the water!

It was so cold, that the outside temperature hovered around ten degrees below zero. The water was even colder.  One of Bill's coworkers had seen our RV lifestyle and been inspired by it.  She sold her house and bought a beautiful travel trailer with nice skirting.  But she had no truck to pull it.  Unfortunately, her spot was the lowest along the creek and the water was a good three inches high and climbing.  Although it was late and most people sleeping, several men came out and helped her hitch up the trailer to a borrowed truck.  We helped yank the frozen stakes out of the rock-hard ground and remove the stiff skirting.  They pulled her rig forward ten feet to get it out of the water.  We made the painful decision to move our rig forward ten feet (skirting still attached) just in case. 

A couple news stations sent camera men to video everything.  When a man shoves a camera and bright light in your face around midnight and you are freezing down to your core,  you shouldn't feel obligated to be diplomatic in your responses.  I know I wasn't...

We woke up the next morning to find that the water had come to within a foot of our rig.  You can see the red-neck skirting in the picture on the right.

We made the decision to bug out of there that day because officials were talking about evacuating folks in case of a flood.   We came over to the Jefferson County Fairgrounds and set up shop.

That night, an ice dam broke in Idaho Spring and set hundreds of gallons of water gushing down the creek.  Thankfully, the water diverted away from the campgrounds and for a few weeks carved a new path until the ice melted enough to handle the flow.  The ice froze all the way up to a foot bridge and from bank to bank.

 We stayed at the Fairgrounds for two weeks, even celebrating Christmas there. 

Clear Creek flooded and froze winter 2013