Creeks & Rivers Raging

The Chiwawa River and Phelps Creek are raging right now and at the dam it is running everywhere, you can barely see the dam under all of the water right now. It is finally starting to clear up a bit after being muddy and full of debris from this past fall season. After finally getting to the dam for the first time since Nov which was not an easy task due to all of the trees on the road and the snow slide remnants on the road to the dam, one area still has over 6' of snow on the road along with trees and rocks from a late season avalanche. We had to walk the last 1.25 mi because of everything on the road. The screens have been filling up with debris or trees coming down the creek have been blocking the water flow to the powerplant so we have been going up a couple of times a day since Mon just to clear things out and keep the water flowing. I was amazed to see how high the water in the creek was and Reid mentioned that it was the highest he has ever seen. The Chiwawa River has cut new channels to the east this year and part of the river is running right through the back pond which is flooding the Buck Creek Tr and it is under 5-6' of water right now. Not only is there lots of water everywhere but the road into Trinity is only open to Atkinson Flats, the 2nd snow gate is closed due to large numbers of trees being down and blocking the road in places and even part of the road is gone washed out with a creek running across where the road was before Nov. It looks like a war zone and the question is now does the Forest Service have the funds to make the needed repairs & to clear the trees and debris from the road alongwith repairing the washout, not looking too good at this point. Back to going to the dam Peace and I have made several trips to the dam since early Monday morning after the plant dumped Sun night from lack of water due to the screens being clogged with debris and silt, we cleared the screens twice Monday and once Tues, this is my busiest time of year just keeping them cleaned and the plant up, once the water clears up it will be easier then there is more water than we can handle. Peace is a trooper and keeps up getting plenty of exercise and then sleeping after we get back, she's a joy to have here but definitely keeps me on my toes. So if you are planning to get out in the woods be prepared for anything especially with the high water and trees down everywhere pack a saw and shovel and some extra rope you might just need to tie off to be safe. Even with all of this that has happened out here and the difficulty driving in and out, it's still Paradise to me.
I found my Paradise, hope you find yours too.