Surviving Mother Nature on the Yampa River
June 2, 2008.Just after dinner on June 10th, 1965, a flash flood carried tons of rock down Warm Springs draw blocking the channel on the Yampa River. Within twenty-four hours the Yampa took aim and breached the dam, leaving in its wake Warm Springs Rapid, rated among the 10 biggest drops in the country. This rapid claimed the life of the first person to run it.
George Wendt, O.A.R.S. Founder and President, was on the river that day with a friend, both of whom narrowly escaped.
He recounted, “I remember it as clear as yesterday. It was June 1965. I was 23. A friend and I were making our way along a small creek bed in northwest Colorado, not far from the confluence of the Yampa and Green rivers. An incredible, torrential rain fell. We were forced to scramble for shelter in an old cabin high on the creek’s bank. But after a few minutes my friend suggested that since we were already so soaked, we might as well continue back to camp. Good thing. Less than half an hour later, in the most phenomenal exhibit of nature I’ve ever witnessed, the cabin was washed away by a flash flood. In 40 years rafting rivers ‘round the world, I’ve never seen anything like it! That day was one of the closest calls I’d ever had.”
George put on the Yampa River today with many of the people who were at Warm Springs Rapid or on the Yampa River or Green River back at that particular time in 1965. Accompanying them are friends & family members, as well as loved ones of those who did not survive the journey…
He called in this morning to report, “We’re all naturally glad to have survived that momentous occurrence. We are going to represent the trip that took place here in 1965, and we should arrive at Warm Springs Rapid almost 43 years to the day that the event took place.”
We’re hoping for interviews and photos later in the week.
