COLUMN: Trailing or Leading: MYPath survives the flood

"What will you do when it floods?" At MYPath, we get asked that question a lot. Certainly, the people in Spencer and Owen County are very familiar with flooding and the impact it has.

"We won't go hiking that day," is our usual answer. It seems simple. How does a flood affect a trail? When the water goes down, things go back to normal.

This year, we knew the trail would flood at some point. And we knew it would be different. As you know, the Riverfront Trail is now paved. I was feeling pretty good about how the paved trail would handle a flood.

One of the features of the new trail is a bridge over Elliston Creek. The bridge is set back from the river. Floodwater flowing into and over the bridge would not have extreme current. Shouldn't be a problem, right?

As I shared last month, MYPath now has amenities for gathering. There are seven new benches, two picnic tables and a pavilion. Even though the benches are 200 pounds apiece, Owen County residents who are familiar with flooding said we better anchor those benches or they would wash away. Same with the picnic tables. The pavilion was set with mobile-home anchors. I was (somewhat) confident.

Then the rain started falling. I was monitoring the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) site and things looked frightening. The Owen County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) office serves as my office too. I've heard stories about floodwater reaching that building.

Friday, April 4 I walked the entire trail in the rain. The river was not over the bank, and it was about two feet below the bridge. According to NOAA, the water was about 15.5 feet above normal, considered a minor flood level.

That Saturday, the White River water level was over 20 feet. I was beginning to wonder if I was too confident in the anchors on MYPath. I tried to check out the trail, with my boots, but I could not make it far. I could see, from a distance, that water was over the deck of the bridge, the base of the pavilion and the tops of my boots.

What is now the fifth highest flood since the Civil War (according to Owen County historian Tony Neff) crested at just over 24 feet around 1 a.m. on Monday, April 7. Internet photos showed that everything was under water. On that Wednesday, our Wednesday Walkers met at Main Street Coffee to talk about what we could do once the waters receded. What do we do when it floods? We don't hike that day. This was the first time we could not do a Wednesday Walk.

The water finally receded. The Wednesday Walkers resumed the following week. The trail is open again, but it looks different. There is a lot of new sand and silt on MYPath. The debris stuck in the trees along the trail show how high the floodwater reached. Even though our great volunteers have removed a lot of debris from the trail, it is not back to normal.

MYPath has always been a place where you can experience nature. I encourage you to visit MYPath and see the aftermath of this historic flood. Until we remove the sand and sediment, the trail is not ready for wheelchairs. Use caution near the unfinished natural surface trail where the riverbank was transformed. And enjoy any of the seven benches, two picnic tables, pavilion and bridge that DID NOT BUDGE during the flood. What was I worried about?

Kyle Hannon is the project manager for the MYPath Trail System. He has served in many community development and trail connection roles throughout the state. On many weekends, he serves as an interpretive specialist at McCormick's Creek State Park.