I spent a week in Colorado last month. On August 13th I drove down the Big Thompson Canyon. I've made this drive many times before, and it's one of my favorite relaxing drives. Just a gentle cruise through the mountains.

So, here is a video of that drive. I started recording right at the edge of Estes Park and the video goes down the canyon and ends just past the end of the canyon outside Loveland.





One month later and it's amazing how much has changed. Exactly one month after my drive the entire area was flooded. The gentle river had turned into a raging torrent, washing away houses, bridges, and roads along the way.

This video starts at the bottom of the canyon outside Loveland. The dam is on the right side of the road, just past the large overhead pipe seen at the end of my video. The cameraman is at the two story brown shop on the left at the end of my video.

The video then moves up the canyon. The house being torn down and the road being washed away in the last half of the video can be seen on the right side of my video at 6:51 through 6:55.





It's amazing how much can happen in a single month.

 

More of the damage to Big Thompson Canyon and Estes Park. You can see the massive amount of damage to the canyon road starting at 5:00.

 

I used to live in Fort Collins and I miss the hell out of it. When my old boss posted the pics, I was really sad.

 

I visited Estes Park as a kid. I suppose it was the prettiest place I've ever been. What a shame.