Virgin river gorge low water level verses flash flooding

I’ve written a bit about our summer trip to the virgin river. We were looking for something new to do near Mesquite Nevada with the family. We went through what I call the virgin river gorge a couple times during the trip. On one of those trips we stopped off to see what the state park looked like. Here are some images from that short scouting trip.

Calm Waters

Unfortunately I didn’t realize what was to come, or I could have done a better job taking these pictures. I was just trying to get a few images I could show the rest of the family to see if they thought it would be interesting. The water was pleasant, and slow moving, and very shallow as you can see with the people walking up to their ankles in the water.

The family agreed that it was worth giving it a try. We went back 2 days after taking these pictures if I remember correctly. Things were a bit different when we got there. You could tell that the water had risen since we were there two days before. There was a fresh coat of mud, and the water was no longer clear. The flow was probably a little faster, but still gentle. We played in the same area where the first images were taken for a good half an hour or so. I’m sure there are dozens of pictures from that time, but I don’t know if I have any.

Eventually we decided to move up the river. We knew there was some possibility for more rain, and being in a river during rain could be dangerous. There was a plan put in place to pay attention to the water, and watch the river bank. We agreed that we wouldn’t go anywhere that would not allow us a quick and easy escape to higher ground. The preference was to have that higher ground be on the side of the river where the cars were parked. Although instructions were given that if things got scary getting out was the most important.

Jump Rock

Not too for up the river we found a place with a small cliff on one side. Next to this cliff the water was deep enough we felt like we could do some jumping. Again we spent over a half an hour jumping from the rock into the river. Most of the kids in the group took at least one turn. I’m sure there is more footage of this time than we’ll ever be able to watch. While playing there we felt a couple of drops of rain.

It was probably time to get moving anyway, so we packed it up and started heading back to the start. It took some of the group a little longer to get moving than others, so we were spread out over a couple hundred yards or so. Not much more than a minute after the last people started moving and we noticed the water moving a little quicker.

Excitement

My initial reaction was that we should move a little faster, but that we could continue in the water. That statement had barely left my lips when I changed my mind. I followed the original let’s keep moving, with an everybody out of the water. Everyone near where I was went to the bank and started making their way out of the river. I went forward to help make sure that everyone ahead got word, and made it out safely. I was one of the last ones out of the water, probably no more than 2 minutes after we first saw the water level rise, and it was up to my knees by then.

Once we were safely out of the water, we gathered everyone together. We took a quick head count to make sure we had everyone, and then started finding our path up to the top of the canyon. I wasn’t sure how high the water might get, and I didn’t want to wait around until I knew we’d be safe. Where we gathered was right next to a pretty easy way out. Within another 10 minutes we were all back to the top rim, well out of harms way.

High Water

I went back to the place where we started. We had left a cooler and some other items I wanted to retrieve if they hadn’t been swept away. We had left them on high enough ground that they were safe. After retrieving our goods I went back and took a few shots with my cell phone. Here’s what I got. There are no shots before and after from the same angle, but it gives a sense of how much things changed.