Murder Weapon
by Jon Burch Photography
Title
Murder Weapon
Artist
Jon Burch Photography
Medium
Photograph - Digital Capture & Enhancement
Description
On the western side of Rocky Mountain National Park near the Lawn Lake Dam alluvial fan, a murder weapon can be seen in this photograph. The lopped off tree in the background is the victim and the rock in the foreground is the weapon. It was a boulder similar to this one that clipped off the tree and others like it as they were hurled down the mountainside during the Lawn Lake Dam flood. Numerous boulders were forced out of a narrow opening between much larger rocks and propelled downhill by the force of rushing water behind them, not entirely unlike a pea being shot out of a pea shooter. This event has been witnessed by individuals who were in the area.
The Lawn Lake Dam was an earthen dam in Rocky Mountain National Park, in the United States that failed early in the morning on July 15, 1982. Now known as the flood of 1982, the sudden release of 30 million cubic foot of water resulted in a flash flood that killed three people camping in the park and caused $31 million in damage to the town of Estes Park, Colorado and other downstream areas.
Lawn Lake was originally a natural lake with a surface area of 16.4 acres, located at an altitude of approximately 11,000 feet in the Rocky Mountains. In 1903 a group of farmers from Loveland built a dam to increase it to a surface area of 48 acres for the purpose of providing water for irrigation in Loveland. Over the years the road that had been cut to permit construction of the dam fell into disrepair and ceased to exist and because of the dam's remote and difficult location, inspection and repairs lapsed. The Colorado State Engineer determined that the probable cause of the dam failure was deterioration of lead caulking on the joint between the outlet pipe and the gate valve leading to internal erosion of the earth-fill dam.
The scar left by the scouring of Roaring River and the alluvial fan at Horseshoe Park are still very apparent will remain so for a very long time. The large boulders are examples of the material swept downhill by the flood in this area of Rocky Mountain National Park.
Some digital effects were applied to this original image after the photograph was made. No electrons were harmed during the transition. Ordered images will not contain the FAA watermark.
Image copyright 2018 Jon Burch Photography
Uploaded
January 6th, 2019
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Viewed 200 Times - Last Visitor from New York, NY on 03/24/2024 at 5:35 AM
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