10 years back- Oso close call

[Skip Newsom]

10:37 am today marks the 10 year anniversary of the Oso slide disaster... I still shudder thinking about it.

My Son and I had been waiting and watching for a weather and calendar opening to get in an early season overnight backpack trip to Ross Lake. The yearly reservoir draw down enables a hike to some campsites usually only accessible by boat.

We had been experiencing non stop rain for days prior, to our delight March 22 and 23rd looked great- lets go!
All packed up and driving toward the trail head by 8:30 am and since the Oso area is only 30 minutes away we were through that spot by a little after 9 am.

Got to the trail head and took a couple photos of us getting started down the trail- timestamp shows 10:42- 5 minutes after nearly a mile of the road we drove was gone and buried.









We had a great trip, cold but good gear and a warm fire kept us comfortable, we were completely oblivious to the disaster, we were well beyond any cell service.

Our first clue that something was amiss was on our way home turning off the North Cascades highway towards Darrington there was a big new sign warning that 530 was closed beyond Darrington- that seemed odd, so we got back on highway 20 towards Sedro Wooley.
We started getting cell service so I had my Son give his mom a call to let her now all is well and we are headed home... she was very relieved to know we were not buried in mud. She did not hear about the slide until the evening hours and was pretty sure we had cleared the area before the slide hit, but she kept thinking what if?

What if they forgot something and turned around, what if they stopped on the way...







Here's the memorial that has been built- opens to the public today


The scope of the disaster sank in after we were home. We live a few blocks from the largest airport in the vicinity and for months afterward the sounds of helicopters going back and forth retrieving remains put a dark cloud over me... even though my Son and I were so fortunate, my heart went out to the local families impacted.
I do go by there often on my way to outdoor activities and still turn the music or news program im listening to off when I drive past the site

[Superman]

I always enjo.y your write-ups Skip, though this is a tragic story. 43 people were killed, just like that. Glad you and your son were spared.

[911 Rod]

Wow. I am both sad and happy reading this.

[masraum]

Wow! A real tragedy.

Thank goodness that you and your son were spared.

Mother Nature is awesome and can be (in our eyes) cruel at times.

[herr_oberst]

Oh, so close. Glad you and the boy weren't swept up. What a weird thing to come back to a very different civilization after just a few days.... Rip Van Winkle-esque!

[Ayles]

It was a pretty wild event; my cousins are survivors though the mother-in-law did not make it. I see them regularly, and they are doing well.

Edit: Please just stay in the pocket of the thread.
Best.

[Seahawk]

Thank you, Skip.

Your wife must have been on edge for a few days!

[Crowbob]

These Pelicans continue to impress with so much knowledge and experience to share…

Thank you, Skip.

[Skip Newsom]

She was a bit worried, but she's also very intuitive and was confident we were just off having fun.

We were.











7771' Colonial Peak


Findlings from what's usually lake bottom


Three feet of radiant heat


9,075' Jack even popped out, snow loads were still plenty healthy.

[herr_oberst]

Blissfully unaware!

[LWJ]

I have family in Darrington. Driving up to visit in prior times, I commented how those homes seemed like they were in a high risk area. It was clearly a hazard, I’m not that brilliant.

And then tragedy strikes.

The whole thing was avoidable.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by Crowbob

These Pelicans continue to impress with so much knowledge and experience to share…

Thank you, Skip.

Yep .... I alway enjoy Skip's posts and pictures !

[Skip Newsom]

Glad some peeps like it when I share my adventures, misadventures and peculiar way of seeing the world through my lenses.
I consider my self amazingly blessed and lucky!

I agree with you LWJ- "The whole thing was avoidable"

After the slide there was a big effort to use Lidar imaging in that general area and it shows multiple slide zones that have happened over hundreds of years, this was not the biggest by any means.

The existence of a slip zone up above the river on the hillside that slid should have been a sign that trouble will happen at some point. This one came down and covered about a square mile blocking the river for a time and destroying 49 homes.

There is a similar hill side up the Mt. Loop highway not far from Oso as a crow (or a Crowbob) flies.
The difference is there are no residences and no development other than the road going through it and a campground that did get closed for a time out of concern for another slide.

Hopefully the use of Lidar and common sense will avoid building in slide prone areas, and this area will obviously not be rebuilt... it looks to me like it was built on top of and old slide that created come nice flat-ish ground for the neighborhood.

[Skip Newsom]

Lidar composite of that area and text from Wiki-



Shaded-relief geomorphologic map of Oso Landslide of 2014 and adjacent areas. Oso is two miles west of this map, Hazel, one mile east. Colored areas are older landslides, "D" being the oldest. Upper "A" is the March 2014 landslide, lower "A", Skaglund Hill. Topography shown is from 2006; red line is approximate location of the current head scarp. Red cross-hatching is the runout area, now buried in mud and debris. Terrace on the upper-left is Whitman Bench. Image from USGS OFR 2014-1065.

[masraum]

Interesting stuff.

Folks keep building in bad areas, near volcanos (VERY fertile soil), on the shore where waves and storms can take them out, in areas where mudslides are fairly regular and expected (seemingly by everyone but the homeowners?).

[Jeff Alton]

Wow, great story. Had never heard on it on the news. Glad it had a good outcome for you and your son.

Prayers for those that perished.