Everyone had been holding their breath a bit this Spring, worrying about the massive amounts of snow in our surrounding mountains, and the very real possibility of flooding in this area. Warmer days and very cool nights is the perfect scenario for getting the snow out at a slow, steady pace. It started out just like that, then we had a few very warm days and warmer than normal nights, and here came the water.

My folks moved closer to town last August, from the farm they had lived at for the last 27 years. Said farm was surrounded on 3 sides by the Shields River. This river is fed by the snow in the Crazy Mountains, where our cabin is. I've shown you photos in previous posts of how much snow there was at, and in the areas around the cabin. It was 4 to 6 feet deep all winter up there, and even deeper in other areas of the mountain range. I went up the Shields a week ago with my Mom and Dad, just to see how things were going. It was a strange experience – sad and dismayed to see the damage the river was causing, but so relieved and thankful that my folks weren't having to deal with all this trauma and drama this year. They did their share, after all those years, of worrying or actually dealing with the shenanigans that river can deal out.

This road completely washed. I don't even know if the bridge held, although I didn't hear anything specific on the news about it.

It is usually just a thin ribbon of water that wends it's way thru pastures. But when there is massive amounts of snow, come Spring that ribbon turns into a beast.

It peaked at well over what they consider “flood stage”, but was short lived and dropped back to a semi-manageable level after just a day or so. That was a lucky break. This was just on the Shields. The Yellowstone River, to this point, has had no flooding problems, which is amazing because it is fed starting in Yellowstone Park, and has many more tributaries feeding it. There was just so much snow in this State this winter; nearly every area was affected to some degree with water problems this Spring.

I think all the people living along the Shields and Yellowstone are probably out of the woods now. It has been raining a lot, but is so cool I doubt there will be much threat of flooding the rest of this Spring. I'm just so thankful my parents don't have to worry about it anymore. Even though the farm was a beautiful place and it was sad to leave it, it really took a toll on them every single year with the worry of it all. Any time you live near water, it's pay your money, take your chances.

TTFN,

Teresa

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