The two Wood Duck pairs in the raft of leaves at the down water gap are only 100 yards above where the creek has made it down the channel. No raging torrent, the creek arrived here this morning. We’ve been watching its progress two miles upstream for the past six weeks or so, drying back with high temperatures near 80 degrees as the sycamores began to take on water to support new leaves. Typically, the creek is usually running by December, some years without the benefit of recent rains. The creek is the physical and psychological lifeline for all life in the canyon.
It’s estimated that the creek carried 20,000 cubic feet/second during the Christmas Flood of 1955. The USGS gaging station was washed away during the Flood of 1967, relocated before the larger Flood of 1969 that measured over 14,000 cfs. According to the USACE Hourly Reports USACE, current flow is 5 cfs. Though paltry, we’re tickled to see it.
drycrikjournal 