Mt. Nusatsum

Mt. Nusatsum

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Runoff

After the Great Flood of 2010, there were a lot of changes to river channels, bed load movement and channel depth.  One area that is really noticeable is right after you descend "The Hill" and hit the pavement on Highway 20 in the Atnarko River Valley.  What used to be a small and stable side channel has turned into a much more vigorous channel of the Atnarko River, likely caused by the immense amount of bed load gravel movement in the tributary Young Creek just upstream of this area (you can see the changes to Young Creek as you climb the first switchback on "The Hill").  A lot of new gravel was washed into the Atnarko River and has changed the elevation of the channel in this area, such that in the last two springs with the snow melt, freshet water has been coming over the highway for a week or two during the freshet.  Grizzly


2 comments:

  1. So it doesn't look like the road is closed though. Is that right? We are heading out that way at the beginning of July, just wondering what to expect . . . Thanks!

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    1. Everything is good, just a little high for a few days - the sun will be shining by July! Grizzly

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