Aravaipa Canyon, a coveted southern Arizona hiking spot, is no longer what it used to be.
The area’s wet summer dramatically altered the wilderness area about 50 miles northeast of Tucson, creating possibly record creek flows that scoured vegetation from the stream bed of Aravaipa Creek and flooded homes and ranches at the mouth of its 11-mile wilderness canyon.
Now most of the towering cottonwoods and creekside willows that made Aravaipa Canyon one of Arizona’s most gorgeous wilderness hikes are gone.
“It doesn’t look at all like it did,” said park ranger Patrick O’Neill, who lives at the mouth of the canyon and walked the stretch of wilderness after the floods tore through it July 28 and Aug. 1.
Mr. O’Neill said it was fortunate the floods came at the end of several rainy days. The creek had risen too high to cross and there were no hikers in the canyon.
“It was really lucky, because it came up in the middle of the night, higher than any flood in anyone’s memory. It roared through some campsites that I would consider pretty safe in flood conditions,” he said.
“People could have been hit in the dark in their tents, and somebody certainly would have been killed — that’s speculation but it’s good speculation.”
Scientists are still measuring the flood. The streamflow gauge recorded 6,000 cubic feet per second before it was washed away. The preliminary estimates of the U.S. Geological Survey were between 18,000 and 25,000 cubic feet of water per second, but Mr. O’Neill and the residents are certain it’s far more than that.
“It might have been 20,000, might have been 80,000,” Mr. O’Neill said. “You’re talking about flows the size of the Colorado River and this is just a little creek.
Chris Smith of the U.S. Geological Survey, said his agency will attempt a more accurate reading of the peak flows in response to reports from residents who say the creek was 1- to 3-feet higher than it had been in the record flood of 1983, which the USGS estimated at 70,000 cubic feet per second.
Devastation obvious
While the numbers may be in flux, the devastation is obvious.
The streambed has widened tremendously in spots and cut deep in others. It is littered with the remains of cottonwoods and other trees, in addition to vehicles and portions of homes and other buildings.
David Rychener, whose family and partners have spent the past five years developing their acreage along the creek into a spiritual retreat center, said only one home in the canyon was completely washed away. About eight canyon residents had water flow through their homes and just about all of them lost lawn, pasture or orchards.
Mr. Rychener said he’s saddened more by the loss of his trees than by the loss of his possessions or the damage to his center. “It has helped me realize my own smallness in all this and taught me the impermanence of things. I’m learning to let go,” he said. Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.