Neighbors In Paradise - Hammett's Crossing Page

ARCHIVED HAMMETT'S CROSSING PICTURES


Here is Hammett's Crossing Wednesday, June 23rd, 2004 at about 7:30 AM.	And here it was June 23rd at 1:20 PM, with a little water on the bridge.


Here is what Hammett's Crossing looked like on Thursday, May 10th 2004 at about 6:00 PM.	Yes, that was an EMS truck over on the other side. I hope they were just sightseeing, not needed for an emergency over here.


Here's the bridge on April 7th, 2004.	Here is my Grandson Zac, playing in the rapids above Hammett's Crossing on August 16th, 2003.


Hammett's Crossing Sunday, October 3rd, 2004 at about 9:30pm. Note the piles of debris on the far side of the bridge left by the over-night flooding.	Hammett's Crossing November 18th, 2004, 4:30pm. Wha' hoppened to da bridge?

Here is Hammett's Crossing at about 8:00am on Monday, November 1, 2004. The pumpkins on the bridge are a Halloween tradition here. The one on the left is sad because he must know that, by about 10:00am, his happy brother up on the post will be washed away by the flooding river.


Here is Hammett's Crossing at about 4:30pm on November 17, 2004. See the bridge? The picture on the right shows the tree (center) that has the water level markers on it. This one's bound to keep us going the long way for a while, folks.	Here it is at 4:30pm, November 18, 2004. It has come down quite a bit but you still can't see the bridge. You can see where some yahoo got too close, though. You can also see quite a bit more of the marker tree. Even when the water clears, that mud is going to be a real problem for a while.

Here is Hammett's Crossing at about 9:00am on Saturday, November 27, 2004. You can see the bridge slowly reemerging from the depths. It has since almost fully appeared and can now be driven over (that is until the next big rain, which could be today).	Here is Hammett's Crossing at about 10:00am on Monday, March 7, 2005. The faint hearted might still want to take the long way around but I'd drive over it like this.

And here it is at 5:30pm, Monday. It's just a puddle. No sweat charging over.	But, by 3:00pm on Tuesday, March 8th, this picture shows that it was back up to a little above where it was Monday morning. Crazy river just won't be predictable. By Wednesday morning (the 9th) however, it was all clear - not a drop on the bridge.

May 5, 2006, 9:30am - Last night the storm raged. The rain gauge showed 3/4" but during all the fury it seemed like a flood was falling. Word is there is flooding up at Pedernales Falls so the bridge might be underwater before the day is out.	May 5th, at 1:30pm - Here's the flood.

May 6, 2006, around noon - Looks pretty peaceful, doesn't it? We're on a wild ride as this river yoyos up and down. You never know whether you can get across these days.

May 7, 2006, about 10:00am, the river is not crossable, as evidenced by that stuck truck.

What were they thinking? A neighbor told me that last night the TV news showed a helicopter rescuing some folks from a red truck. Could this be the one?

March 14, 2007, about 10:30am, the river is not crossable. At least they got the stuck Jeep off the bridge.

March 27, 2007, it was way up last night. You couldn't even see that sign with diagonal stripes. Down a bit now but more rain is forecast.

Tourists gather on the other side of the river to view the spectacle.

Here's what it looked like the day before - June 29th. Not too different.

Here was "Hammett's Lake" at 9:30am, June 30th, 2007. It was not moving because it was mostly Lake Travis backed up to here.

July 12, 2007, about 11:00am, it's up and brown but may soon be down. We'll check later.

July 12, 2007, about 6:00pm, our neighbor Troy tests the depth with his paddle to see if he is going to bring the truck across or paddle as he has been doing for a while.

He decides that he has waited long enough and will attempt the crossing by truck.

He makes it, canoe perched precariously in the bed. He is bringing the boat home, hopefully not to be needed again for his commute for a long time. Of course, with Mother Nature (enhanced by a little global warming) who knows?

Here's the bridge 7-25-07 at about 9:00am. And it got worse later in the day.

7-26-07 at about 1:00pm, there is a little water on the bridge but nothing to stop even the wimpiest driver. And it rained like crazy upstream last night. Go figure!

7-26-07: The bridge is passable but the barricades are still up. The nice thing about the bridge closings (though enough is definitely enough) is that we don't have to fear for our cat Sawyer's life when he follows us on our walks. Here he is lagging behind as usual, meowing plaintively.

7-27-07 at about 9:00am, it's a raging torrent again. It's become positively biblical. Anyone wanna chip in for an ark?

7-29-07 at about 9:00am, here we go again. The cisterns are full and overflowing. Enough!

7-28-07 at about 10:30am, it's all clear but for how long? The forecasters are predicting another 60% chance of rain for today. But what do they know?

River laps at the Hammett's Crossing bridge 7-30-07

7-30-07: A lineup of partially submerged trees on the upstream side of the bridge.

7-30-07, 9:00am: The river laps at the bridge's east side wall but, except for a few splashes, doesn't make it onto the roadway.

8-17-07, 9:00am: What a shocker to go out for our walk and find the river up this high. Note that the arrow and the tree with the 15' marker are not visible. And the level is a few feet above the "one lane bridge" sign.