Two Gladiators Destroyed in Moab Flash Flooding

[ShadowsPapa]

Geological and meteorological speaking, water accumulation can happen quickly here in the Southwest. Just last month, we had a 37-year-old lady in her vehicle swept away in flood waters. It took something like 7 days to find her body.



When I was in college, several of my friends and I went to Moab for Spring Break. We camped along the Colorado River. I remember waking up the next morning and the water had risen something like 3' feet overnight. We figured the sudden warmer temperatures the day before had caused rapid snowmelt. Even though we didn't experience any moisture in the Moab area, what was happening upstream created localized flooding in the desert.

My wife and I try to catch the series "Mountain Men" and there's a lot of talk of how a change of temperature in one area can cause rapid rising of river levels. Where someone might cross ice one day, they find it's gone and there's no way to cross that river now. The temperatures at elevations, rain in the mountains, it all figures in.
Be aware of weather - which includes changing temperatures, in the whole area, especially mountains nearby.
I'd say, 40 years ago I might have been "one of those people", just never considered it even though geography, weather, the earth sciences fascinated me, I didn't think beyond my own area.

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[oldironsights]

Tough to watch, but I will gladly learn from the mistakes of others.
Glad all survived.
No wonder full comp & collision insurance costs so much on these.
I have been surprised by many flash floods & surf, but never got carried away................................

 

[BlueScapegoat]

When did this happen?

My guess would be 9th/10th of this month... I was out there for the first time and very cautious not to go into any flood areas but I almost got stuck taking a road google maps told me to take and it was the sketchiest shit I've ever driven in. Just soupy sticky desert flats. Moab was trashed. Nearly full throttle on a tuned diesel with axles locked on 40s for over a mile

 

[biodiesel]

My wife and I try to catch the series "Mountain Men" and there's a lot of talk of how a change of temperature in one area can cause rapid rising of river levels.

We commonly see this playout with the Rio Grande.

I'd say, 40 years ago I might have been "one of those people", just never considered it even though geography, weather, the earth sciences fascinated me, I didn't think beyond my own area.

I was born and raised in Kansas. I didn't know what an arroyo was until I moved to New Mexico. An arroyo is typically a dry creek bed, but they can turn into rivers under a heavy monsoon or rapid snow melt.

People who've experienced this phenomenon tell me that they can sometimes hear the roaring sound of a flash flood minutes before the wall of water arrives. In some cases, they say it sounds like a locomotive off in the distance. The sound is amplified in a canyon. As it nears, you can actually hear boulders being displaced, downed branches snapping, and water moving large amounts of material downstream.

 

[Orange01z28]

the remnants of a Pacific hurricane sat over the Southwest for a few days at the beginning of the month. This is the results of that

First time in history that Phoenix had rain for 5 days straight

I had to drain part of my pool

 

[cb4017]

I live in an area subject to flash floods (Northern NV desert) so I'm always aware. Almost every time I go out, I can find an area that has had one. One time a road is there. The next time the road is gone and it is nothing but a rocky stream bed or there are deep wash outs.

When I'm out camping I stay on higher ground, especially during thunderstorm season.

 

[Silverator]

I was supposed to be in Moab that week. Luckily for me, my wife broke a bone in her foot a couple weeks earlier, and we postponed. Now....glad we did. I've been in many flash floods, but none quite that bad.....

Rule #1 for flash floods. Just wait 45 minutes and chances are about 80% that it will recede. Looks like that second gladiator recovery broke that rule of thumb.

 

[Orange01z28]

Here's an example on how those storms changed trails in Arizona over a couple weeks

 

[Sweetums]

Here's an example on how those storms changed trails in Arizona over a couple weeks

I remember years ago hitting a massive storm on the way to Moab. I was in an XJ and my dad was in the FZJ80. Highway 191 south from I-70 was like driving in to Mordoor, but darker. It was 3 PM and as dark as night out; the lighting was never more than 15 seconds apart and so close to the cars you could hear the electricity break through the squelch on the radios just before it struck. And the rain was biblical, it was like someone was pouring Lake Superior over the cars. Even with the old elevated roadway and tall center crown the water couldn't get off the road fast enough, it was probably 2-3 inches deep at all times - and constantly running off the embankments the whole way.

The next day we drove out to Hurrah Pass - keeping it on the easy trails to see how bad that damage was. There was a line of Subarus and Crossovers waiting for the water levels to drop and the mud to dry out. The campsites along Kane Creek Road had high-water marks a foot up the tents (at least the ones that didn't wash away). We heard that the water came up so fast people abandoned their camps and just ran for the cars, trying to get up onto the road. They slept there, lined up on the road and cut off from town that night and were still waiting for the waters to drop enough for lesser vehicles to attempt the usually dry crossings.

The next day the waters had dried, so we did a trail that followed a creek bed in places. The grass on either side of the trail was laid flat down by the water flows a good three feet over the roof of the Land Cruiser. We approached a spot where the stream made a horseshoe shape and the trail went up and over the hill, crossing the "open" end of the horseshoe. I climbed to the top and thankfully stopped to see what was below my hood line.
Nothing. The other half of the hill was just gone. It was 12 foot drop straight down into the new creek bed. We backed down and followed the creekbed around the horse shoe bend. But it shows how drastically things can change, not just a washed out trail, but "cartographers hate this" levels of change.

 

[DanW]

My guess would be 9th/10th of this month... I was out there for the first time and very cautious not to go into any flood areas but I almost got stuck taking a road google maps told me to take and it was the sketchiest shit I've ever driven in. Just soupy sticky desert flats. Moab was trashed. Nearly full throttle on a tuned diesel with axles locked on 40s for over a mile

We got onto a BLM road on Friday that was mostly mud with some horrible dips and finally reached a washout we could not cross.

Wednesday night and Thursday night we got some rain. We did Hell's Revenge in the wet, which was fun, but mud is not fun. I leave that to my friends in Kentucky and Georgia, who really love it. Not for me.

Wow, I imagine you spent some hours cleaning that thing up!

 

[JTdiRtyD]

We were on our way to Utah during the rains (passed @BlueScapegoat on the way), so we knew there was a chance of bad conditions. Luckily all the water was relatively gone (Colorado River was definitely high), but the aftermath was apparent. Easy rated trails were now moderate to difficult from erosion and debris, surfaces looked fine but was soft and soupy underneath, etc. We were on a OnX rated 2 trail and dealing with large off camber shelves, large debris, washouts and mud. We turned a sprinter van around that was going the other direction as us and trying to get up a washed out ledge. IF they would have made it up that ledge, they had 2 more that were just as bad and even more off camber.

One issue I've seen is folks not local to or familiar with deserts don't realize that even though the weather might be fine and dry where you're physically at, if it's raining upriver or up-canyon from you it can cause flash flooding without much warning. I'm always watching weather for the entire region of where I'm going, not just the local forecast.

 

[Aberk]

My guess would be 9th/10th of this month... I was out there for the first time and very cautious not to go into any flood areas but I almost got stuck taking a road google maps told me to take and it was the sketchiest shit I've ever driven in. Just soupy sticky desert flats. Moab was trashed. Nearly full throttle on a tuned diesel with axles locked on 40s for over a mile

I was also out there for a couple of weeks during that time and also my first time out there. That was definitely a different experience. Still managed to get 10 badges though. So I was happy.

 

[Splenda]

Some people can't handle Vegas.

 

[Joe_G]

Thanks for sharing this... that recovery guy has a great YouTube page, that Mini wrecker, and his short bed blown dually, are VERY cool!

 

[1is2many]

My guess would be 9th/10th of this month... I was out there for the first time and very cautious not to go into any flood areas but I almost got stuck taking a road google maps told me to take and it was the sketchiest shit I've ever driven in. Just soupy sticky desert flats. Moab was trashed. Nearly full throttle on a tuned diesel with axles locked on 40s for over a mile

Sounds like fun!

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