Local News

Forget bears or mountain lions; watch out for undetonated explosives

by Jonathan Romeo

So there you are, hiking one of Southwest Colorado’s beautiful trails, enjoying the fresh mountain air, towering peaks, vast pine forests, cascading creeks and … explosive bombs.

Recently, MK Thompson, a Forest Ambassador with San Juan Mountains Association, came across a rare sight near a trail north of Durango – but it was nothing near as cool as a lynx or right-sided sidehill wampahoofus (look it up, we did). It was an undetonated bomb, one of many that the Colorado Department of Transportation shoots off in winter to trigger avalanches at risk of spilling onto Highway 550.

“I was just near the trailhead picking up litter, and I didn’t know what it was at first,” she said.

Thompson was on the Pass Creek Trail atop Coal Bank Pass when she discovered part of an explosive. Unsure of what it was, she put it into her truck. The next day, about 150 yards up the same trail, she discovered the main blasting cap that contains the explosive materials, lodged into a tree stump. At first, the bomb appeared to be a water bottle, or even a child’s toy.

After a closer look, it was clear the mysterious, torpedo-like object was no water bottle. She sent a photo to a friend who works for search and rescue in Silverton, and eventually found out it was an explosive. Thompson then marked the location of the bomb with a photo and GPS coordinates, and covered it up.

“In my 20 years of wandering that was the first time I ever came across an explosive,” Thompson said. “Which is kind of mind blowing considering how much time I’ve spent in the San Juan Mountains.”

While rare, finding an undetonated bomb amid the beauty of nature is not unheard of, said CDOT spokeswoman Lisa Schwantes.

Every winter, CDOT, along with the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, regularly monitors and controls avalanches in 278 avalanche paths located above Colorado highways. Since the program started in 1992, no one has died in an avalanche while driving a Colorado road, even as the state’s population has boomed and more people venture out into the backcountry.

One common method to mitigate risk is to intentionally set off slides by shooting bombs from the ground or dropping them from helicopters. Every once in a while, however, a dud fails to do its job.

In winter 2018/19, a year infamous for its high avalanche danger, out of the 630 explosives shot in Southwest Colorado, 13 were duds. This year, just six failed to explode. Generally, Schwantes said nationwide, the average is about 1 percent of bombs used for avalanche highway control fail to go off, and that’s why CDOT has installed warning signs along the highway where explosives are generally shot.

Every bomb launched, however, is tracked, so in the summer, after the snow has melted, crews have a general idea of where they’re located. Drones, too, have helped more easily find the projectiles. CDOT has already recovered the six duds from this year, as well as two more from previous winters. It’s too risky to carry the bomb out, so each is detonated where it lies.

“It’s a much smaller explosive device, so it’s not a huge big kaboom,” she said.

After an extensive, five-minute Google search, it doesn’t appear there is an instance where an unlucky hiker tried to pack out a bomb and it exploded. Schwantes, too, said she wasn’t aware of that ever happening either. But the risk is there, she said, and that’s why CDOT is adamant that anyone who comes across an undetonated explosive mark its location, notify authorities and above all, leave it alone.

“The typical hiker won’t stumble upon them because we’re shooting at terrain that’s quite steep,” she said. “But if you see something that looks bright and colorful, and obviously should not be there, don’t touch it.”

Even for Thompson, with her extensive knowledge of the backcountry, it was a learning experience.

“I think about how many times I’ve been on the trails that are right near those signs (warning of explosives), and what are the odds of it being right next to the trail?” she said. “Now I know you just call CDOT.”n

Signs warning of undetonated explosives are placed throughout Colorado road-

ways./ Photo by Stephen Eginoire. Inset: photo of recently found bomb near Coal Bank Pass, north of Durango./ Photo by MK Thompson.