Another propane post:

[micky]

Another propane post:

I could see a white blob in the woods next to my house, and it ruined the view, so I went over to it, about 80 feet away, and it was a grill-size propane tank, partly embedded in the mud. I figured it was empty but when I picked it up, it's at least 1/2 full. Lucky me.

Things get washed down the strem when the stream floods. I can't figure oout why most of this stuff is even near the stream (like bicycles! I've found 2.) but this is even more enigmatic. Who would leave a full tank of propane near the stream? I've walked the 2 miles upstream to where it is only 12 inches wide. There are a lot of people who live near it like I do, but everyone has a yard and then some trees. They did a pretty good job deciding how close to the stream a house could be built, and none of the houses flood. No reason to leave propane so near the stream and so far from one's home.

[Marilyn Manson]

Forgetful/lazy campers/picnickers. When my kids were young, we camped in the back yard quite often.

There's obviously a reason. It was there, wasn't it?

[micky]

Maybe. I'd still keep the grill closer to the house.

I meant no reason for someone who lived there to leave it so close to the stream. There's still the possibillity that someone else is dumping trash near the stream. There is a little bit of litter too, food packaging, etc. and I've wondered how that gets there too. Most of that gets washed further downstream next time it rains, and ends up in the Atlantic Ocean, I guess.

Anyone dumping probably used a car to get there. Looked at the map and there are 13 bridges upstream from me. I drive over many of them in the course of the year, and none have a way to drive down to the stream, but I think I'll check out the others, and get out of the car to see more. It will give me something to do this summer instead of drinking.

[Marilyn Manson]

That's not really camping.

When we camped, I had a pretty sweet kitchen set up. It was before cell phone pictures and on-line storage, so I don't have easy access to a picture. Gotta use your imagination.

I made two 2' x 2' x 2' plywood camp boxes with hinged doors and carrying handles to get stuff to the campsite. I made stands for them so I could set them at counter height, about 4 feet apart. They became the kitchen cabinets once set up. A piece of plywood spanned the gap between them, creating the counter.

The propane stove went on one end of the counter and a water container went on the other. The portable grill, with it's own stand stood next to the stove. One propane tank, with a couple of T's and three long hoses provided fuel for the stove, the grill and the lantern. The coolers sat on the ground between the cabinets.

It was very efficient with all meal prep done at counter height and everything needed within arm's length. We camped a lot. Raising 4 kids and a stay-at-home Mom meant relatively inexpensive vacations.

Yes, we used a lot of propane.

[Boris]

I had a nice, modern, 3-year old custom home in California's National Sequoia Forrest, at the south end of King's Canyon. It was 2 1/2 acres with a beautiful stream running through it. There was a bridge that connected the main road over the stream so I could drive onto the property. Every spring, with the snow melts upstream, I'd have to clear the stream of all sorts of debris that people upstream would throw in. Styrofoam, tires, umbrellas, bbq grills, and yes, couches and recliners. I swear. Never seen anything like it. If I didn't clear the stream, it would overflow onto the wooden bridge and erode the posts holding the bridge up.

[micky]

Amazing. People should be ashamed of themselves.

I guess I have a very mini-version of that.

I just looked at satellite view for two miles and almost every place has nice middle class homes, but I'm still planning to go in person and check the 13 places where streets cross this stream.

[Marilyn Manson]

Keep us posted.

Did you see what I did there? ;-)

[bruce bowser]

I wouldn't really say all of that now, after rain (especially in the summer time) all kinds of things get tossed around - even though its not in your back yard. During tornadoes even whole 18 wheelers are thrown around. It all depends.

[gfretwell]

Water also comes up fast in a flash flood and it might have gone over their patio, washing all sorts of things away.

[Marilyn Manson]

Hiking the canyons out west as a yute (*with My Cousin Vinny) I quickly learned to recognize the debris field left behind by flash floods - especially how fresh they were. If they were really old and there had been recent storms, you didn't worry as much.

New debris fields were much more worrisome. You watched the weather, kept an eye out for escape routes and prayed a lot when in a narrow.

As senior citizens, SWMBO and I went to Zion in 2017. We opted out of going very far into the Narrows because we didn't have the proper footwear. Later that night, back at the hotel, we watched the reports of this:

*My Cousin Vinny