What trail did you do today? Bring IPAs.
Events/Trails LCDC8 Official Thread (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter codyaustin5
- Start date
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Hoosier Daddy
SILVER Star
Those attending LCDC - did you notice those beautiful blue waters of Peru Creek and the Snake River? The pristine river bottom, free of algae? The brilliant white and red rocks that line the river?
We saw these today on the Peru Creek run, and I thought it was all glorious. Then I started reading about it and learned that what we're seeing is actually acidic, polluted water that will not support native fish or microbiota. (Any fish you find in the Snake River has been stocked.) The red rocks are stained with iron oxide and the white rocks are stained with aluminum oxide. The beautiful blue water is actually full of heavy metals, zinc, copper, and such.
If you drive up Peru Creek to see the old silver mine, consider that the mine's tailings and waste rock have increased exposure of naturally-occurring pyrite to oxygen, which then undergoes a chemical reaction and produces sulfuric acid. The sulfuric acid leaches metals out of the ground and those end up in the river. This process of acid drainage into the river is a natural process, but the mining apparently turbo-charges it.
Anyway, I'm not really a tree hugger, but I thought that was interesting to know the story behind why the river looks like that.
We saw these today on the Peru Creek run, and I thought it was all glorious. Then I started reading about it and learned that what we're seeing is actually acidic, polluted water that will not support native fish or microbiota. (Any fish you find in the Snake River has been stocked.) The red rocks are stained with iron oxide and the white rocks are stained with aluminum oxide. The beautiful blue water is actually full of heavy metals, zinc, copper, and such.
If you drive up Peru Creek to see the old silver mine, consider that the mine's tailings and waste rock have increased exposure of naturally-occurring pyrite to oxygen, which then undergoes a chemical reaction and produces sulfuric acid. The sulfuric acid leaches metals out of the ground and those end up in the river. This process of acid drainage into the river is a natural process, but the mining apparently turbo-charges it.
Anyway, I'm not really a tree hugger, but I thought that was interesting to know the story behind why the river looks like that.
Thanks for the info. We were talking about how white the rocks were.
laserturbo91
GOLD Star
North Fork to Middle Fork. Those can be sourced locally
We were wondering the same thing! Thanks for this info.
Had a great time on Red Cone today as well—I was pretty nervous about it after the rain, but indycole calmed the nerves at the welcome event. It was a great chance to challenge myself and learn from some experienced individuals—the descent was an absolute thrill
mcgaskins
SILVER Star
We had a great group on Red Cone today. Everyone did a great job driving!
Had a great first day with the friendly folks in the McAllister Gulch trail group! Thank you Matt for leading us!
Thanks for letting my wife use your phone, and thanks for all the spotting!
Today, I can officially say that I’m no longer a mall-crawler! Somehow I left LCDC unscathed last year, but now I have pin stripes, wheel damage, and some bruises on the sliders!
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ATwoZ
SILVER Star
Great trails and group today- we did get to use all the tools! Thanks for all hanging in on a great trail ride!
kcjaz
SILVER Star
A few pics from North Fork run yesterday. Thanks to Aaron for a great run!
Fantastic group on the Santa Fe peak trail today.
vabluefish
SILVER Star
Another great time with Nathan leading Mosquito Pass.
Peak 10 w/ John & Bryan. Epic.
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kcjaz
SILVER Star
Question for the folks you ran Mosquito Pass the last two days: how long has this taken time wise? I know this can vary a lot and tomorrow is supposed to rain. Just trying to gauge time the best I can.
ATwoZ
SILVER Star
I didn't run with this group, but the mosquito part is relatively fast depending on how often you stop for pictures etc. It's the getting down Birdseye that can take time and then coming back from Leadville.
Today Mosquito Pass/Birdseye Gulch took 4 hours at an average speed of 3.4 mph according to my OnX track. The distance was 13.3 miles.
