Hiker gets impaled; One-of-a-kind music venue; Hypothermic hiker in monsoon rains; Flooding; New fire sparks; & More

[00:00:04] Welcome to another episode of the OutThere Colorado Podcast. Once again, I'm Spencer here with Seth. Hello. We got Tim over there in the booth doing the video and the audio for today once again as well. And once again as well, we have many things to talk about. Might get to this music venue that Seth's been itching to talk about here for quite some time. I don't know. Maybe people will find it interesting. Extremely interesting music venue. Astoundingly crazy.

[00:00:33] In a part of the state that not a lot of people go to. No. So that's exciting. So, first things first, have you seen these flooding videos out of the Aspen Acres area in Beulah, Colorado? It's getting pretty rough, huh? It is wild, man. It looks like there's just like, like, just expansive water coming off of some of these creeks and rivers. As we've talked about before, anytime there's a burn scar, the rain can't really penetrate the charred ground.

[00:01:02] And there's no flora in the area to slow it down. So it just rushes to other places. So, yeah, the video and the photos of this, pretty wild. And it's supposed to have some more flooding today. We're recording this on July 29th around noon. But, yeah, looking at the Weather Channel map, basically some major storms coming in across this stretch of I-25 between Colorado Springs and Denver here in the afternoon.

[00:01:32] Yeah, Flood Watch issued for a large part of Colorado from Pueblo to Colorado Springs and beyond. So something to keep an eye on for sure. But, yeah, wanted to mention that. I mean, if you haven't seen the videos yet, check them out on the Pueblo County Sheriff's Office Facebook page. Crazy stuff. So, yeah.

[00:02:24] So, yeah. Kind of extending from Trinidad all the way up a little bit north of Colorado Springs in that monument area, including Canyon City, Westcliffe, Woodland Park, Calhoun. But, I mean, the same thing can probably be said for more storms coming this week, too. That's why I mentioned it as well.

[00:02:42] It's just, we've got, it's monsoon season in Colorado, right? So we've got rain coming in. And if there's rain coming in, those flash floods will, there's, you know, there's some often potential. Especially where there's a fire. Yeah. The confidence, the confidence, too, is the scary thing with the National Weather Service report here. The confidence is high. Mm-hmm.

[00:03:30] Mm-hmm. So this report came out from the Alamosa Volunteer Search and Rescue, who was requested in a mutual aid request from Saguache County Search and Rescue. Basically, this 75-year-old hiker was up in that area around Willow Lake when all of a sudden a severe storm rolled through.

[00:03:57] He lost the trail in this intense weather and spent a good amount of time trying to find his way back. At one point, he crossed through a waist-deep creek trying to find his way back to the trail. Eventually, night falls and he's still lost. Starts calling for help. Somebody hears him calling for help, thankfully. I want to say it was around maybe 9 p.m., but maybe scratch that.

[00:04:22] But someone heard him calling for help after dark, and this person came to his aid, took care of him over the night, got him warmer, got him some hydration. He was reportedly found blue, soaking wet, severely hypothermic, dehydrated, and experiencing significant cramping.

[00:04:44] So once the morning comes, apparently he set out from that campsite attempting to make it back to the trailhead on his own. Search and Rescue lands in the area, or the medical helicopter drops off some search and rescue in the area. They talk to some of the hikers that are nearby, and they find out that this man is laying along the trail a little bit down from where those campsites are at with all of his gear spread out.

[00:05:11] So they ended up finding him and essentially were able to hike him down with not much assistance. It was described as a long and strenuous hike out, but the man was able to make it out on his own accord. Just a reminder, though, I mean, getting caught in those monsoonal rains is no joke. Like, absolutely no joke. Yeah, and it can be disorienting, you know, as that report kind of suggests. Yeah, very much so.

[00:05:38] Especially when, I mean, depending on how big of a trail you're on, right? Like, once everything gets wet and muddy and things start kind of looking the same, it can be easy to get off trail there. Especially when intense rain is falling. So, something to keep in mind. Just always make sure you're checking the weather. Yeah, what else do we have today, though? I wanted to mention that. There's a new fire. You hear that? Out in Pagosa? Yeah, about 10 miles south of Pagosa Springs.

[00:06:08] Last report I saw, 400 acres, about 373 homes were threatened, I want to say. So, very much so in the early phases of this fire. Not a lot of reporting has been released on it yet. But something to watch, that last update was probably around 10 a.m. on July 29th. So, it doesn't seem like it's threatening Pagosa, but there are neighborhoods south of Pagosa, essentially. Gosh, yeah, Pagosa's had some events in recent years. Yeah, a lot of... That one gets controlled. Yeah, yeah.

[00:06:38] Talk about flooding. Yeah, right. Was that last... Last year? That would have been, like, last, what? Spring? October, I think. Something bad? Yeah. Boy, it just went crazy in town there, yeah. Yeah, last fall, I want to say, because I was... I remember coming home from a trip to Vail and getting a video together on that. Oh, yeah. I remember thinking, man, and it was probably a terrible thing to think because, you know, it was so beside the point, but if that had come down as snow, you know? Right. I remember thinking that. Yeah.

[00:07:08] Like, man, that could have meant so much for the ski season. It was a sign of... For the brutal ski season that was, you know? Yeah, sign of what was coming. Yeah. That was rain. Just hot. Yeah. And rainy. Yeah, exactly. Rain in January. Yeah, right. Yeah. So, here's another rescue story that I want to kind of fly through real quick, but it's going viral. It happened in Montana. I saw this. You saw it, dude. The photos are crazy. I know. They almost looked fake. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:07:36] I was like, you know, especially in this age of AI, I was like, no way, that's real. Yeah, this guy essentially was hiking what I believe is Montana's tallest peak, Granite Peak, about 12,800 feet or so. So, he was hiking with two buddies and he tripped and fell and his hiking pole impaled him through the side. Like, and it does look fake. Yeah. It looks like one of those bow and arrow, like an arrow where it has the little wrap around thing. So, you can make it look like it went through your head type of thing. Well, and especially like... Like a costume.

[00:08:04] In the photo that at least I saw, I think it's real. Like, he just looked okay. Yeah. Oh, yeah. There's a photo of him. He was just kind of sitting, you know. There's a photo of him posing where he's like doing some like hero pose on a rock with this pull through his side. It's like, no way. Yeah. And I mean, a big part of why it's so shocking is you would expect a lot of blood probably, right? There's no blood really. Yeah. So, apparently this guy has a professional career as a wound care nurse.

[00:08:33] So, he was able to assess the situation. Basically was able to say, okay, I'm not lightheaded. I can feel everything. There's not significant blood. Nothing vital has been struck and the pole is pretty much stable where it's at through his side. Like, fully through his side too. You can't emphasize that enough. So, then he ended up, they contacted search and rescue and were like, hey, we're self-rescuing back to the trailhead 10 miles away. 10 miles. Right.

[00:09:03] So, wild. I think my head would go to, even if I was like feeling good in that moment, oddly good or whatever. That's probably not the way to put it. If I was okay, whatever. If I thought about needing to hike another 10 miles, my mind would be going to, okay, eventually the shock is going to wear off and I'm going to be in a bad situation in a couple miles. Right? Yeah. Wild. And I got to get the heck out of there. Yeah. Yeah. And apparently he was pretty chipper the whole time. Maybe he's thankful to just be alive. Maybe that adrenaline's hidden.

[00:09:31] He was to the point where like, even with his buddies, he was having one of them go ahead to warn people with kids on the trail so they wouldn't see him in this grotesque injury of this hiking pole literally through the side. You're not saying that. Can you read Deadpool? Yeah. Reminds me of that. Yeah. This is how Deadpool would handle this situation. Wild. Absolutely. Immune. Yeah. Is this guy a super guy? His name's David Cifaldi. Does he have any Marvel appearance coming up? Right. We've got Spider-Man coming up this weekend.

[00:10:01] Yeah, man. And basically they drove him to the, once he got to the trailhead, they drove him about two hours to the closest hospital. Wow. Where they could deal with this type of wound and it was out of him about nine hours after it went into him. Wow. Yeah. Crazy stuff, man. That is wild. Crazy stuff. We should probably space that topic out with a food topic we had in mind later. Yeah. Because I don't have the appetite now. Probably a good idea. Yeah. I mean, hey. Lucky him.

[00:10:33] You know what? Let's just go ahead and do it. Let's get into this music, Vinny. We've been teasing for weeks and months and feels like years. Let's be done with it. Let's get this in the tank, Spencer. Seth brushed up on his research. Pun intended. Tell me about the tank, Seth. Okay. So I was at this place some years ago. I want to say maybe back in 2018. So in far western Colorado, kind of on the rural, fairly remote outskirts of western

[00:10:56] Colorado by the town of Rangeley stands this 65 foot tower tank that looks fairly nondescript. It bears the old railroad logo for it. It's an abandoned water storage product, an abandoned water storage tank that sits on this sandy hilltop, has for decades.

[00:11:21] And at least since the 60s, from my understanding, the mystical power of this tank has been known by at least locals, right? So the story goes that rebel rousing youth would sneak through the drain hole and aware of what was inside this stunning sound that would emit in this tank. When you threw rocks on the wall, when you banged the wall, when you hummed in there,

[00:11:51] when you whistled in there, the sound had a way of flying around kind of these curving walls and as if like floating up to the top. It's been described as like this anti-gravity experience. It's been described as transcendent and otherworldly. I've seen it also described as a mind-blowing revelation, right?

[00:12:15] So in over the decades, it became known kind of by underground sonic explorers, if you will. People who are interested in exploring like the boundaries of sound, of this sensation, right? Story goes that a young man out of music school was traveling through the oil fields there back

[00:12:39] in the 70s when some burly men in an oil truck pulled up and said, are you the sound guy? And proceeded to show him to this old water storage tank where this man, you know, he got inside and they banged two by fours on the outside. And he would later describe it as like 10 times the effect of like St. Paul's Cathedral. Just endless echoes, endless, endless echoes that just overwhelmed him, right? Wow.

[00:13:09] So he would get the word out to some other sonic exploring friends of his. And the tank kind of took on this like cult-like reputation, this religious reputation. It was like a mecca for people around the country. They'd come and experiment and make music. And I mean, I've heard stories of like people like rubbing like coins against the walls

[00:13:37] and just like crying because it was just overwhelming or they were terrified. It has that effect. You can tell I'm trying to describe something that's pretty dang hard to describe. Yeah. Yeah. You almost have to be there, right? So now people can be there. Flash forward a little ways. There was this threat years ago that maybe the tank would get scrapped. It would get sold, whatever. The landowner was done with it.

[00:14:03] And this group of people who knew about its sonic powers came together and acquired it and opened it up somewhat to the public. So now there's occasional concerts in there. There's recording sessions in there. There's occasional Saturdays is my understanding when people can just go in and experience it. Yeah. I'm seeing Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 2nd through October 31st. Got it. Yeah. And yeah, it kind of has come onto the map somewhat.

[00:14:32] You know, ever since, especially like, I think it was like in 2017 when the New Yorker wrote about it. And the words of the New Yorker were, one road to the musical future now runs through Rangeley. Rangeley, Colorado of all places, right? So the obvious question, how is this happening? How is this effect happening in this tank?

[00:14:55] Some point to, again, like just the way these curving walls were manufactured, the steel in these curving walls. Some people point to like that kind of triangular top where the sound seems to be traveling. Some people point to like the surrounding heat of the desert that's known to energize sound waves, right?

[00:15:19] Some people point to, it kind of sits on this like kind of curved parabola of like gravel that people think has something to do with it. But other people would just say it's magic. It's mystical. It's the tank. Gotta be there and hear it to believe it. It is wild, man. It's funny too because, I mean, it just looks like a generic tank. Like I'm like, surely they manufactured thousands of these around the country. And who knows? Maybe thousands of them around the country have the effect.

[00:15:48] But I think there's a lot of tankers who would say this is a one and only. That's so cool, man. Yeah, it is. Yeah, dude, like you could just be like humming and you sound like an angel. Wow. I mean, yeah, that hum just echoes endlessly. I'm sure people listening will want to look up what this sounds like online. Does that even capture? I can't remember the last time I listened to it. I know, I feel like we recorded it. Yeah.

[00:16:17] I don't know if that exists somewhere anymore. Yeah. But yeah, check it out. Cool stuff. See if the digital sound gives it justice. I don't know. Very cool. Yeah. Pretty well. So let's zip back to the Colorado Springs area here. Where do you think the best Mexican food can be found in Colorado Springs? I'm thinking high and low. Okay. High.

[00:16:42] I like driving up the road in Manitou to a hidden not so secret spot called Crystal Park Cantina. I love Crystal Park Cantina. They're in Manitou Springs, in the hills of Manitou Springs. You hear good things about their margaritas too. Great margaritas and the food just tastes fresh, you know? Like I feel like you taste the difference in the freshness. Like I really like the burritos and there's like surprising things.

[00:17:08] Like I'm kind of remembering this like tomatillo alfredo, which you wouldn't expect to smother your burrito with, but it was awesome. Very cool. The rice and beans, that saffron rice is awesome. And then, and then like I said, like surprising things like a burger. People love the burger there. It's like on the Santa Fe corn bun. The wings. Don't sleep on the wings. All right. I know we're getting away from Mexican food, but if the question is Mexican restaurant, you

[00:17:36] know, yeah, I really like Crystal Park Cantina. All right. I'm going to give you a two and it's because they're right in the same area. So sorry if I'm stealing one of yours, Seth. But I'm going to say Don Turries. It's a brand new spot. Very good. They have these, their burritos, they like flame the outside of them. If you get them with cheese or you can get them bacon wrapped in flame too. They have a whole like little salsa bar there you can hit up. Very just cool vibe in there too.

[00:18:06] Like nice and relaxed and friendly. And man, the food that I had there was absolutely awesome. The second one I'm going to mention is Por Favor, which is also kind of over in that Garden of the Gods area. The Garden of the Gods and Centennial area. Yeah, man. I always, I can never decide how to say Burria. Is it Burria? Burria. Burria. Burria. Burria. I always get their Burrito there. Oh, yeah. I got it too.

[00:18:34] It comes with that side of the consomme and very good, man. Like just, it's just like a perfect burrito. It's so good. And their tacos are really good. Their salsas are really good. Honestly, I can't say enough good things about Don Terry's and Por Favor. Hit them both on the same road there. Right. Yeah. It's all right. I'll be driving over there and I'm like, which one? Left or right? Yeah. And, uh, but they're both totally worth checking out. I mentioned high and low on the lower side, if you will.

[00:19:03] I don't know why I'm using that phrase, but, uh, kind of a hidden, hidden gem, uh, hole in the wall. I think the best Mexican food around town are kind of the dives, you know, and Tacos El Amigo. Ooh. Such good tacos, man. Yeah. I crave those tacos constantly. Just good old fashioned kind of street style tacos done right at Tacos El Amigo, which means friend, of course. And that place is a friend. Yeah. There you go. Yeah. I'll maybe go with another hole in the wall here too. Um, I used to hear it mentioned a lot whenever I first moved here.

[00:19:33] I think as, as the Mexican food markets kind of got in a saturated a little bit, um, yeah. In, in years to use the followed, you don't hear about it as much, but, uh, another pick for me is going to be a Tlaque Pache. I always say that one. I don't think I've ever heard of it. We're learning. I can't pronounce things, but yeah. Tlaque Pache. Um, just like feels very like authentic and, um, just like feels like a spot where, um,

[00:20:01] anything on the menu is going to be good. Um, and yeah, I mean that place for tacos, uh, just absolutely, absolutely, uh, up there with the best for sure. So. I got to look it up. Yeah. And they have Sopa Pias. So that's a major, major. Yep. Also look up, uh, Huevones, which I got to know is a food truck over the years. I think they've made some moves and it looks like they have a location downtown with maybe some limited weekend hours.

[00:20:29] Um, which maybe just lends to the rare delight that this place is. Buttermilk tortillas. If it sounds crazy, give it a go. I remember those tacos being on point. Huevones. That sounds good. That sounds anywhere where there's like that little bit of a twist, you know? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It was great. Um, last one that comes to mind maybe is, uh, an old reliable in town.

[00:20:55] Monica's for good, affordable burritos to go. Monica's always hits for me. Yeah. Yeah. That's a good spot too. I'm going to give away one of my like. Kind of happy hour secrets. So hopefully it doesn't get too crowded, but, uh, one of my favorite, uh, happy hours right now is the T-Birds happy hour. Oh yeah. Yeah. T-Birds good food and, and their happy hour has food on the menu and it's very good. That is a good happy hour. Yeah. Tacos.

[00:21:23] You can get a quesadilla, a little burrito that they have like a rice and bean burrito. I'd say, don't worry about that one, man. People fill it up and they're already. Man. They're, uh, they're queso too. As, as an Indiana boy where Indiana take pride, Indiana, Indiana, Indiana, Hoosiers, Hoosiers take pride in their queso. And I would say that T-Birds might have my, my favorite queso in Colorado Springs. Dude. I love that queso at T-Birds. Yeah.

[00:21:51] Also, also you got to give a shout out to Alfonso's. Yeah. That one. It's like, yeah. On 21st. Or it, my rent. Yeah. On 21st. Yeah. Um, that's a great spot to just, you know, get something to go. Huge portions. Yeah. Um, just got it. Got to mention them. That's a good one. Yeah. I do like that place. I'll be curious what people say we left off this list. Um, I'm sure we will. We'll get, we'll know all about it. We'll have to make a part two soon. Last time we talked about pizza, I think we ended up having to do, yeah, two or three extra videos.

[00:22:20] And we mentioned like 12 the first time and probably 14 or 15 the second time at a point where it was like, well, people were really mad that we left this one off that neither of us have heard of, but. Yep. Oh no, I could keep going, man. I mean, you mentioned T-Birds downtown. Love that. Okay. So I also love kind of a newer one, Estica Urbano, I think it was. Yeah. Yeah. Um, I really like their tacos and margaritas over there. You also got Dos Santos and Dos Dos. Here we go. Part two. Part two already. On the works. Um, El Chapin is one that I'm sure people will mention.

[00:22:47] Um, I, I have not personally had their food, so I, I can't, I can't attest to whether or not it's great, but people say it's great. So. The Rays. Yeah. Green chili. Green chili. Yeah. And I don't know, I don't know. Is a stout following. Yeah. Yeah. That's a good, I've heard of that one too. Um. Look at us go. Yeah. Look at us go. All right. Well, that's enough food. I'm hungry now. My, uh, my stomach is, uh, literally growling as we're talking here.

[00:23:11] Um, so dude, did you hear about this crazy situation that unfolded at Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park? I did not, but I feel like there's always something kind of crazy going on at Glenwood Caverns. Yeah. I mean, well, and it's a, it's a fun place to go and check out. Um, if you haven't been to Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park, I would recommend it. You know, I love my caves and there are caves there that you can explore. Um, and they also have a bunch of these rides, right? So it's started out, it's actually a, it's actually a, um, uh, national landmark. I don't know if you knew that.

[00:23:41] Uh, but the, I mean, the operations at this place date back to like the late 1800s when some of those caves were first opened to the public. Um, in more recent decades though, they've started to add a lot of these rides, right? Uh, and there are some rules for riding the rides. You have to be certain height, you know, certain age for some of them. Um, not allowed to be, uh, intoxicated or, uh, on, on alcohol or otherwise.

[00:24:07] Um, some of the rides aren't recommended for people with certain medical conditions or if they're, if they're pregnant. And we don't really know why a, a recent guest was denied entry or, uh, was denied the ability to ride their rides. But what we do know is that witnesses reportedly said, according to the Garfield County Sheriff's Office, that whenever he was denied the ability to ride some of the rides, he threatened to shoot up the attraction. Yeah.

[00:24:37] Um, and obviously that's alleged. Uh, but yeah, these witnesses said that this man, um, uh, essentially became verbally aggressive and was, uh, threatening to get a gun and shoot up the park. Um, yeah. So he was, uh, the report came in at 7 PM on January 27th. Uh, he was given a refund. July 27th. Oh yeah. Sorry. Yeah. The report came in on around 7 PM on, uh, July 27th. What'd I say? January. January. Oh yeah. You're getting ahead.

[00:25:06] July, July 27th. Um, so he was reportedly given a refund, uh, but allegedly the aggressive behavior continued before he left. Um, obviously deputies responded. They interviewed all these witnesses. They were trying to track down this man. Uh, they ended up identifying him and arresting him the next day. Um, sounds like on a, uh, the charges that he, uh, was arrested for were misdemeanor harassment and a misdemeanor menacing charge as well, as well as disorderly conduct.

[00:25:35] So, um, not sure why that happened. How it did. Uh, he was a 54 year old from Texas, uh, is the suspect. So, yeah. So it'd be interesting to see if anything else comes out about that case, but yeah. Glenwood Caverns adventure park. I feel like we always mentioned Glenwood hot springs and iron mountain hot springs, but we never really mentioned the adventure park there. That's right. Up top. Yeah. A gondola ride away. Mm-hmm. Good view. If you're into, do they call it the highest roller coaster? Yeah.

[00:26:05] North America. Highest, highest elevation roller coaster in North America. I think they have three roller coasters now. I want to say, I think they also had the first Alpine coaster in North America too. Okay. When they installed that. I think it was back in the early 2000s. I'm recalling that Alpine coaster. They've got like a big swing. Yeah. Kind of that goes around, that goes high above the canyon there. Yeah. And the caves. The caves. I did the cave tours. I think it all started with the caves, right? It did. Yeah. I think it was all about kind of the caves and then everything else was built from there. Yeah.

[00:26:32] I think the rides really went in around like the 2000s. I want to say. That was when they started building those. Yeah. At least. Ferry caves, right? Yeah. Ferry caves. Yeah. I think if I remember correctly, I think the lines were getting long for the ferry caves and then they were like, we need to give these people other stuff to do. So then they started adding rides. So yeah, kind of a something to check out, but also a crazy story that came out of there recently. So chill people. Yeah.

[00:27:03] Yeah. What else we have today here? I guess I did. I did kind of want to mention this just because it is approaching the anniversary here. The 50 year anniversary of this, the big Thompson Canyon flood, the deadliest natural disaster, at least as far as confirmed numbers go to occur in Colorado history. 50 years. Yeah. 50 years. So basically the weekend of July 31st and August 1st in 1976, a lot of people were in big

[00:27:32] Thompson Canyon celebrating the state centennial. Right. And, um, rain start to kind of come down, uh, on, on the night of, or on the afternoon into the evening of, uh, July 31st. And then they really pick up after dark, uh, to the point where, I mean, ultimately, um, something like a, a 20 foot wall of water was essentially coming down this canyon and bringing mudslides down.

[00:27:58] So you get this chaotic scene where, um, rocks have come down on the road. People are trying in their cars, trying to escape the canyon. And, uh, they're just not able to, while it's flooding very quickly into the night. Um, 144 people ended up dead. Five were missing and, uh, an additional 250 people were injured. Um, that flood caused 35 million in damages. So just a crazy situation.

[00:28:25] Um, yeah, I mean, uh, basically they got kind of close to, uh, if I remember correctly, close to, um, the amount of rain that typically falls in a full year. Wow. Uh, about 75% of that, uh, in a matter of hours. Wow. Um, maybe even just a one and two, one to two hour period. So, uh, absolute catastrophe. Uh, but we are coming up on the 50th, uh, anniversary of that tragedy.

[00:28:52] And I've seen a lot of media, uh, companies talking about that and remembering that. Um, I mean, yeah, I mean, especially with how we kind of started the episode talking about flash flooding. Right. It's a good reminder, um, just to, uh, take, take that risk very seriously, you know? Um, also, and I mean, another flood came through there too. Uh, let me see if I have that here. Yeah. In, uh, 2013, uh, another flood went through big Thompson Canyon, uh, caused more than $2

[00:29:22] billion worth of damage and, uh, eight people died in that flood. So, um, yeah, a day, uh, in infamy for sure, man, in tragedy, the most tragic days in Colorado history. Kind of also a reminder of like, you know, anywhere, anywhere we're at the mercy of mother nature, but especially in Colorado in this terrain and in this kind of weather. Yeah. Yeah. Well, a lot happens, man.

[00:29:47] And I think it's important to remember too, um, in the case of that, that first flood in 1976, um, one of the biggest flood floods in Colorado in thousands of years. I've heard it described even, um, I don't know how, how great the records are going back thousands of years, but you'll hear some people describe it that way. Um, it happened at night, right? So impacting a lot of campers that are probably just in their tents. Um, there's a storm outside, there's lightning to trying to just kind of ignore the outdoor

[00:30:16] setting at this point and just call it a day, go to sleep. And then all of a sudden things start flooding. And it's like, what do you do in that scenario when you're in your tent and all of a sudden there's water suddenly in it as well? Um, you know, it's like you, you got to make sure that you have a source of light close, right? That's not your cell phone, especially like, um, maybe a headlamp and a flashlight that are by your head. You know, if you think you could be at risk in this scenario, you also got to have an escape plan. Like, where are you going to go? Um, where's your higher ground? Yeah. Where's your higher ground?

[00:30:47] Yeah. I mean, I forget the exact number. I think I have that here as well. Um, but, uh, yeah, yeah, here we go. Um, so also something that's worth noting around 800 people were helicoptered out of the canyon after this flood that were able to get to higher ground essentially. But then you're stuck up there with like, you know, a river raging below you. So there was a mass rescue that took place.

[00:31:10] Um, the water that day for that flood, uh, put it in perspective. Um, it was 31,000, uh, cubic feet of water per second. Um, I was just looking at the, uh, just looking at the normal stream flow at the mouth of the big Thompson river. It's about 50 cubic feet per second. So, um, and the highest that it's been, uh, at least on the source that I was looking at, uh, the highest it's been in the last five years was 1600 cubic feet per second.

[00:31:40] And that's the highest it's been. So that's like 5% of what it was during this flood. Biblical flood, man. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, something to keep in mind. I mean, it's, uh, as we're, as we're heading into, uh, centennial, uh, or not. I don't even know how to pronounce 150 yet. Yeah. Is it? I've been going 150th. Quincecentennial. Semi, semi, yeah. As we're heading into the 150th, uh, anniversary. Ooh. There we go. Tim's got it.

[00:32:10] Semi-ces quintennial. How come I can't do that? Uh, producer Tim here. I got that wrong. So, semi-quincentennial is 250 years. So, that's what America was celebrating this year. And then, sesquicentennial is 150, which is what Colorado was celebrating. Uh, so, yeah. That's, uh, that's on me. Chill, look that up. Anyway, back to the show. There we go.

[00:32:40] I gotta remember that. I always read it and I can't read it. Tim, Tim nailed it. Semi-ces quintennial. As we're, as we are headed into that, um, and all the celebrations, it's important to remember those people that were lost to. Yeah. Semi-ces quintennial. Got it. We need to, I can't believe neither of us knew how to pronounce that. I've just. I've written it down. You've seen it on page and I'm just like, yeah. A hundred and fifty just for me. Yeah. Yeah. Um, yeah. Let's end it on a happy note, Seth.

[00:33:05] Um, you've got some, uh, you've got some, uh, uh, bucket list items. For the, uh, sim-ces quintennial coming out. A hundred and fifty of them. Um. We talked about some of these on Monday, right? We talked about, well, we talked about the hiking stuff on, on Monday. Oh, we're getting to some bucket list stuff. Yeah. Let's go back to the bucket list, uh, just so we're ending the episode on a happy note here. Yeah. Um, so I'll, I'll kick us off. Let's see. Let's see what we have here. Um.

[00:33:35] I know. I'm looking too. Ooh, here we go. All right. So. Yeah. Yeah. This is interesting. Yeah. I think that people should track down some cliff dwellings in Colorado this year. Love it. Yeah. Get out to Mesa Verde National Park to see some cliff dwellings where they, uh, where they were naturally, uh, found. Right. Yep. Um, or if you're in Colorado Springs, uh, area, you can see the, uh, Manitou cliff dwellings. Right. Which, um. The real deal, right? Uh, so they were relocated. Relocated.

[00:34:05] Yeah. So ultimately, uh, well, uh, essentially, um, the Manitou cliff dwellings, uh, I forget where exactly they were originally located. I'm sure I can find it here on the website. Um, let's see, uh, near Dolores and McElmo Canyon. Got it. Um, so there were these cliff dwellings, uh, but in the, uh, early 1900s, uh, they were set to be bulldozed over. I think, I think if I, if I remember correctly around the time, there were, there were a lot

[00:34:35] of concerns about people looting them as well and looting the area as well. Uh, but yeah, they were packed up and moved to Colorado Springs as a replica of what they were. Got it. Um, so if you can't get all the way out to Mesa Verde National Park, you know, it is kind of in that far remote Southwest stretch of the state. Um, maybe you can get to Colorado Springs and the man and Manitou Springs and see the Manitou cliff dwellings. There you go. Yeah. Mesa Verde is really great. And you know what I realized going there for the first time some years ago? Um, of course I went for the cliff dwellings, right?

[00:35:06] Oh man, there is so much to see in that park. I can't remember the trail miles, but it's significant and trails go by other, you know, um, Native American, you know, petroglyphs and other reminders from that life long ago there. And yeah, I remember just thinking, man, I want to spend some more time there. Yeah. That's a great call. Mesa Verde. Maybe in the fall when it's a little cooler, huh? Yeah. Early fall. It's probably a good idea. Uh, you got to book a reservation to tour some of the big stuff. And I want to say it just goes through October. Yeah. We'll get a double check that.

[00:35:36] A range of guided thing. Go see the Sandhill Cranes. Believe the hype on the Sandhill Cranes. You know, I'm shocked you haven't mentioned that yet as we've been going. I haven't. I haven't. Maybe I have. No, you haven't. You haven't. That's a great one, man. Yep. So the, the Monta Vista Crane Festival, right? Um, I got to double check that date, but usually the Sandhill Cranes descend upon the San, uh, San Luis Valley between like mid February and through mid March, uh, thousands

[00:36:02] of these big ancient birds that come to the Valley for the nutritious fields there and wetlands that just make that ideal stopping grounds for them on their migration. So that's worth seeing going to see those Sandhill Cranes. Yeah. I've heard only good things about that from, I've never seen them. I've never been down there for it, but I've heard only good things about, uh, about that from people that go and they're just like, it is one of those things where you hear about it. But then once you're there and you see thousands of these massive birds just around you, like it's supposed to be pretty cool.

[00:36:30] Um, the mass flights, you know, backdrop by the song graze man. Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah. March 5th to 7th of 2027 is when, uh, the next Sandhill Cranes festival will be taking place. Yeah. Well, like I said, I mean, the Monta Vista Cranes festival. You can go to the festival and enjoy like the art and craft there. And there's even some book tours, but otherwise you can just easily just go drive on your own through the, uh, the, the national wildlife refuges out there. Cool stuff. It's awesome. Yeah. All right.

[00:36:58] Well, there's two more bucket list things to wrap up the show. Uh, you got anything else? I'm good, man. All right. I'm good too. Uh, until next time I'm Spencer. I'm Seth. We'll see you out there.