The Colorado Advantage
by Jon Burch Photography
Title
The Colorado Advantage
Artist
Jon Burch Photography
Medium
Photograph - Digital Capture & Enhancement.
Description
The Colorado Big Thompson River, a tributary of the South Platte River, is nearly 78 miles long. The river begins in Forest Canyon in Rocky Mountain National Park in the northern part of the state. It eventually flows east through Moraine Park in Rocky Mountain National Park and into the town of Estes Park where it is held in Lake Estes reservoir by the Olympus Dam before being released into the Big Thompson Canyon where it continues eastward.
Another tributary of the Big Thompson, the North Fork, also begins in Rocky Mountain National Park but on the slopes of the Mummy Range. This river also flows east, through the town of Glen Haven where it merges with the larger Big Thompson River in the town of Drake.
The Big Thompson tends to flood its banks every once in a while and can be deadly. Signs are now posted along the river advising people to climb to safety in case of flood. I narrowly missed the big flood of 1976 by diverting south to Salida when I saw the storm clouds forming over the canyon. The 2013 flood was, by some accounts, nearly as bad as the previous one in 1976 but fewer lives were lost.
This is what the river looked like before the 2013 flood re-arranged most everything.
Image copyright 2014 Jon Burch Photography
Uploaded
October 19th, 2014
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Comments (19)
John Bailey
Congratulations on being featured in the Fine Art America Group "Images That Excite You!"
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