Steve and I left Seattle around 9:30 a.m., on November 16th, headed for the cabin to get our washer and dryer delivered and installed. We stopped at Safeway in Monroe to pick up a pizza for dinner. We had planned on stopping by Costco in Woodinville, but forgot to take the exit. We got to Sultan about 10:50 a.m. and decided to stop for breakfast at the Sultan Café.
As we were driving down Skyko Drive, we noticed that the trailer that was on the edge of the bank was no longer there and as we passed by Trish’s, our neighbor to the East of us, I noticed the deck on their property looked somewhat different, but I did not give it a second thought. It was raining and we quickly unloaded Steve’s car. We went to the river to see if we could see the trailer and as we approached the edge, we saw that the tree that had leaned out over the river was no longer there and that Trish’s deck was askew. The river was up right against our rocks and it was moving quite swiftly. We walked over to Trish’s property and saw the huge swath of ground that was taken out when the tree fell. Quite a few times over the past few years we had talked about this happening and had contemplated just going over there and cutting the tree down to prevent it from taking the bank with it when it eventually did fall…so much for those thoughts. Part of that bank that disappeared was the land that held Trish’s deck. We continued walking around and discovered that the bank under the abandoned cabin had also washed out under the porch and it was now precariously perched over the edge. The river had now taken a slightly different course and was not hitting the bank at the same angle. Hopefully the course the river is now taking will not erode the bank any further. We did notice that the bank on the property between Trish’s and our property seemed to be holding on. By the way this was not caused by the flood over the Halloween weekend as I was at the cabin on the 10th of November and everything was pretty normal. The Skykomish River had obviously flooded again from the time I was there on the 10th and now, less than a week later.
This is definitely the last picture of the tree leaning over the river.
It was taken on the 10th of November. This is the abandoned
cabin two lots East of us. If you enlarge the photo, you will
see the deck on the property next to us...it is visible through
the trees on the other side of the porch on the
abandoned cabin.
Looking upriver, you can see the trailer hanging over the edge still.
On the right is the front porch of the abandoned cabin.
A view inside the abandoned cabin.
Someone had been using it for (?).
Notice the coffee cups next to the mattress.
The Skykomish River can be so peaceful and calming in one
breath and in the next it can be wild and threatening.
This picture was taken on the 16th of November.
The leaning tree is missing as well as much of the bank.
The porch on the abandoned cabin is now starting
to separate from the cabin.
You can see the trailer that was hanging on the edge is no
longer visible. Did someone move it or did it get swallowed
by the river?
This is near the Eastern edge of the property where
the rock retaining wall made an inward turn.
We came back into the cabin and started doing some work. Our purpose in coming up this time was due to the delivery of our washer and dryer the following morning. Steve started clearing out the area where they were going to placed. We had had a problem with the laundry room circuit breaker tripping and had just left it in the off position. Steve checked it out and discovered that there was a bare wire in the outlet box that was causing a spark against the back of the outlet box. He changed the wiring, but thought it would be best to wrap it with electrical tape. Of course, we could not find any. I took Steve’s car into Gold Bar to the grocery store to see if they carried it. They did not, but I was told that the gas stations in town carried a lot of that type of thing and luckily they did. Steve got the wiring wrapped and put back in the box and it appears to be working fine. He also put the water heater restraint straps on the water heater. These straps are a requirement as a safety measure in the event of an earthquake. While he was doing that, I cleaned the fireplace window. We are wondering if the propane gas burns dirtier than natural gas as it had gotten quite dirty. It looked so much better once cleaned. I then applied the grout to the fireplace. By the time we both finished these projects, it was time for cocktails. We decided to put a 500 piece jig saw puzzle together and picked one that featured Ketchikan, AK. Other than the border, all the pieces were the same shape…rather unusual. We put the pizza in the oven and we were set for the night. We finished the puzzle around 9:45 p.m. and stayed up talking until around 10:30 p.m. and it was off to bed.
I awoke at 5:10 a.m. to noises that indicated it was raining quite hard. As I was laying there, I thought I heard a noise like rocks moving and decided to get up. I noticed the light was on in the living room and when I opened the door, there was Steve sitting in his chair. He too had heard the noises and he could not get back to sleep. We could not wait until it got light outside so we could see the river. There were some strong gusts of wind, but according to the radio, the winds were not supposed to pick up until 8:00 a.m.
Once it started getting light outside, we could see more of what was going on. It turned into a rather frightening scene. The trees were swaying in the roaring winds and branches were falling everywhere. When one would hit the roof of the cabin, it would make both Steve and I jump. From time to time you would hear a tree fall somewhere in the neighborhood. The wind was blowing east up the river and the sheets of rain were blowing perpendicular to the river. Every once in a while you would see the wind pick up the water from the river and fling it eastward. We could do nothing but stay inside and watch. It was too dangerous to venture outside. A branch had fallen on the frame of the gazebo and taken most of it down. Branches had fallen on some of our plants, like Steve’s rhododendron. It was bent over to the ground. A smaller maple tree had fallen across the driveway of the neighbor across the road. You could hear the roar of the wind bursts coming before you would actually see the trees swaying. Earlier we had noticed more of Trish’s deck had disappeared and at 11:20 a.m., you could no longer see any railing, just the ramp going up to the deck. Had the river moved in and was it going to continue eroding the bank and get behind our rock wall? Click on the link below to see the effects of the wind.
The power had been flickering all morning and finally went out around 10:15 a.m. Luckily we have the propane fireplace. Home Depot was the one delivering our washer and dryer and now there was no way to call us a half hour before they arrived, but with the weather conditions the way they were, we figured they would probably not be making the trip anyway. We also figured there was no chance that we would get electricity restored while we were here either. It would have been too dangerous to be out there working. All we could do is wait the storm out. Definitely too dangerous to be on the road.
As we waited and watched, it just kept getting worse. We were sitting in the living room when we heard this very loud crush. Steve was looking out the window in the direction of the abandoned cabin two lots East of us and saw it go in the river. This was around 12:30 p.m. We then noticed that a piece of our land that we could once see from the cabin, was no longer there. We could no longer wait to go to see what was happening and decided to venture out. When we opened the door, it sounded like a jet plane was flying over us. With the roar of the river and the howl of the wind, it was very loud and intimidating. As we were headed out, I looked up at the towering trees above us and it was frightening to see how far they were bending over. All of a sudden there was a loud snap and about a 15-20 foot branch came within inches of hitting me. Steve turned right at the last second to see it land. We hurried to the water’s edge and saw that the river had washed out quite of bit more land, but our rock wall was still holding.
You can see the ramp leading up to the deck on our neighbor's
property is the only thing remaining at the time of this
photo. The abandoned cabin is no longer there.
Trees were being ripped out of the ground and
floating by on a regular basis.
It was probably a tree similar to this one
that did the damage to our wall.
We returned to the cabin and continued to watch. We have a waterfall that is visible in early spring across the river from us. You have to be outside and you really have to look hard to see it. Not today! We could see the waterfall even standing in the kitchen of the cabin. The water was really coming down. If it was coming down that much there, we knew that all along the river the same thing was happening and the river was just going to keep rising.
We decided to hold out a little longer. We could not believe when we heard a large truck coming down the road and discovered it was Home Depot out of Snohomish and they were there to deliver our washer and dryer. Now that is dedication. There is no way I would have risked my life to deliver a washer and dryer. As they brought the items into the house we asked them what was happening around the area. They said that there were power lines and trees down all over the place. This was their last delivery and they were rushing to get out of there.
As soon as they left, Steve and I decided to do the same while we still could. We did not want to get stuck up there with the roads closed and no power and no food. We hurriedly got our things together and were out the door. The road leading to the highway was littered with branches and trees and downed power lines. I am thankful that Steve was driving. The wind was still howling and the rain was coming down in buckets. What a relief it was to get down the highway and out of the area where trees lined the road. Now all we could do is wait to see what damage was done.
I can not remember when I got the phone call from our neighbor to the West of us, whether it was that night or the following morning, but when she called, she said that our rock wall had been damaged. She thinks a large tree and its root ball got wedged in between some of the rocks and the swiftly moving river just kept moving the tree pulling the rocks out. Steve and I headed up the next day. Definitely sad to see what Mother Nature had done. The base of our rock wall was still there, but a lot of the boulders were now part of the river bed. We figured we also lost about 5 feet of ground along the whole bank with a few more feet missing East of us. We do not know what we are going to do. We have received estimates of $50,000 with no guarantee that it would hold. We are situated far enough back from the river that we will probably be okay for the remaining years we are alive even if we do nothing. We will wait to see what the neighbors are willing to do and whether there is really anything that can be done. Hopefully this is the end of flooding for the year and even more hopefully, the river has changed course once again and there will be no further flooding!
This photo was taken from the neighbor to the West of us
and shows the remnants of our rock wall.
Looking over the edge you can see how far down our wall fell.
And more of the land is waiting to go in.
Another view of the damage to the wall.
Steve walking by what remains of the abandoned cabin.
Notches in the metal roof caused by falling branches.
In early December we had a meeting with our neighbors to discuss what we could do. There were no definite plans laid out and there were more questions than answers. More of the land had disappeared into the river, probably caused by the rain washing it out. The photos below were taken in December.
Where the gazebo once stood.
The disappearing bank and wall
How did that pole survive? It once was a stack to hold the lights
along the top of the wall.
Not much is left
Steve standing next to the tree that held the rope used to
get down to the river.
Same as last picture but showing more of the devastation.
After all that damage, the view is still beautiful.
Notice all the remnants of trees left lying in the riverbed.
Another view of the wall
What remains of the abandoned cabin
A tree that is leaning near the front of the cabin
needing to be removed.
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