TAUM SAUK MOUNTAIN

“has anyone been down in the area of Lesterville, Mo since the Upper Resivour collaped sending a billion gallons rushing down the mountain in about 12 minutes. I was hiking back in, oh about 1990, my first hike with way too much equipment when i saw a sign that said resivour 1.5 mi. I was thrilled thinking that would be a perfect place to camp for the night but when i got there i found this giant concrete bowl(50 acres and 90ft high) on top of the mountain, not a good place to camp but one of the most unusual sights I had ever seen. If anybody wants to see a picture after the collapse go to foxnews.com and search Lesterville, Mo. Just wondering if it was going to be rebuilt if the whole area was still shut down ?”

“Keep this floated toward the top and I am sure stikmon will be able to give a report.”

“Wow. I didn't know this had happened. I wonder what it would have been like to be on the mountain when it let go? Would you have heard it?
last edited: 3/08/06 7:57:23 AM”

“I haven't been in the area since late last summer. Pics of the damage would be nice.”

“I bet Stikmon had something to do with it. He was probably sitting on the crest of the resevoir in his canoe saying "this is going to be a ride for the ages!".”

“before



after

”

“way too much power my way. I and my canoe had nothing to do with this. Although it would have been one hell of a ride. I don't know of anyone who was on the water and I don't really know if you were even allowed on the water.

I haven't been up in that area for over a year now...all I know is Johnsons Shut in and Taum Sauk Mtn state park. Provided the weather is nice, I'm going to go to Taum Sauk tommorrow to witness the flowing of Mina Sauk Falls. We had tremendous rains yesterday and I'm sure shes raging now. A few years ago, I slipped on a rock while trying to cross Mina Sauk, while she was frothing and Khatru and I fell into the falls and fell 7 feet and I bashed my shoulder with a heavy pack on. It took over a year to rehabilitate the shoulder and even now, it works differently than the other shoulder.

But to the point, I didn't even know there was a resevior there until the news of its collapse.”

“As far as I know there was never any recreational use on this reservoir, just strickly built for some power plant. The Taum Sauk campground is one of the nicest ones i've ever been to. I wish Indiana's primitive grounds were as nice and that one,, we chop too many trees down. Missouri and Kentucky seem to have the right idea when people go camping they don't want to be cramped up with a couple of hundred people.”

“You can see more photos and get more info here:

http://www.mostateparks.com/jshutinsdamage.htm”

“Holy Moly. That looks like a lot of damage.

http://www.mostateparks.com/jshutins/pics_ba_misc.htm#office



”

“Thanks everyone for the info. luckly it wasn't middle of summer with a full campground.”

“There's a bunch of information and links on Danny McMurfy's MoTrails website:
http://www.motrails.com/trails.html

Where you REALLY need to go is also listed on this page, the Yahoo MoTrails group.

It's very active and has very good information:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/motrails/

Search messages on that group for info on Taum Sauk.

This was posted Feb. 7:
This is from the Missouri State Parks Newsletter that came out today:

=========Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park Recovery=========

The cleanup of Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park continues following the Dec. 14 breach of the Taum Sauk Reservoir, which flooded the park. Heavy machinery and personnel are being used to remove sediment and large tree debris. Assessment continues on the status of structures, especially the
boardwalk to the shut-ins, which was damaged by floodwaters. Work also continues on a strategy to address water quality issues and the channel of the East Fork of the Black River.

Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park remains closed until further notice. The
department's goal is to provide some services sometime this summer. There will not be camping this season.

The planning process has begun on how and when the park will be redeveloped. This planning process will include opportunity for public comment.

Park superintendent Jerry Toops and his family, who lost their home in the flood, are all doing well. They have expressed thanks for all the support and financial assistance they received.

The Department of Natural Resources is planning the third in a series of meetings on the incident and recovery effort for Thursday, Feb. 9. It will be at 7 p.m. in the Lesterville High School in Lesterville. The focus of this meeting will be water quality in the Black River. For more
information on the meeting, go to
http://www.dnr.mo.gov/newsrel/nr06_033.htm

For more information about the park and the recovery effort, please visit the Web site at http://www.mostateparks.com The Web site includes before and after photos of the park, and updated information on the situation. This Web site will be updated on a regular basis to keep everyone informed
of the progress.”