The Sun’ll Come Out Tomorrow

As I struggled with a password problem and a non-functioning phone, news forecasted a dry day and receding rivers that finally crested last night with record high marks. Sounded to me like an invitation to a much needed adventure!
Donning cold weather gear, I rode out for the valley's edge in the frosty air, passing high-schoolers waiting for the (2-hr delayed) bus, a month’s worth of missed recyclables piled high for pick-up and dirty remnants of last week’s melting mess. My Three Rivers Ride was expectedly cut short at the Springhetti Rd overlook into the valley. Note the difference between the springtime view and today’s waterway.




Two men in parked DOT trucks stood watch over the road, smartly suggesting I might not want to drop down into Snohomish today.

Expanding water holes and greens strewn with downed pine branches hadn’t swayed the steadfast Friday Kenwanda golfers and I wasn’t the only one out for a picture of Mother Nature’s latest gift.

Pausing on the valley rim, a Carhartt clad man stepped out of his Ford with a camera stating he needed a shot to compare to one taken in 1995 when he lived much closer to the river. He stood for a moment, having snapped his shot, and gazed wistfully down the waterlogged Snohomish River Valley. “I lost 105 horses that year” he said, “Now I live on a hill.”

Today marks 4 weeks, the longest stretch in nearly 4 years that I’ve been home without traveling on business or otherwise. In that time, Western Washington has endured a deep freeze and record-breaking snows followed by isolating floods. My next flight is Monday. The forecast calls for sun.

More pics from Flood Ride 2009