Weird and bad smell near beginning of Herman's Gulch trail

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two lunches
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Re: Weird and bad smell near beginning of Herman's Gulch trail

Post by two lunches »

AndrewLyonsGeibel wrote: Tue Oct 12, 2021 1:27 pm It’s clearly Bigfoot.
Image
“To walk in nature is to witness a thousand miracles.” – Mary Davis
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NM_Hiker
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Re: Weird and bad smell near beginning of Herman's Gulch trail

Post by NM_Hiker »

Smell coming from someone's skunk weed stash for end of humanity purposes?
MapScientist
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Re: Weird and bad smell near beginning of Herman's Gulch trail

Post by MapScientist »

cougar wrote: Mon Oct 11, 2021 5:55 pm When I find myself hiking Herrman
A certain odor comes to me
Wisping curds of limburger
Rotten cheese

And in my hour of darkness
It's right there in front of me
Wisping curds of limburger
Rotten cheese

Rotten cheese, Rotten cheese
Rotten cheese oh Rotten cheese
There will be a muenster
Rotten cheese
Ah, if Richard Cheese did the Beatles. Love it.

Anyways, I'm glad to see everyone brainstorming what it could be, there's some new ideas I've never considered. To clear up some others, it was not a rotting animal or burning brakes. Also I'm pretty sure few crematoriums or slaughterhouses exist around there. Jury is still out on Bigfoot. If anyone is headed through the tunnel and has 10 minutes to spare, stop by and smell for yourselves.
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Re: Weird and bad smell near beginning of Herman's Gulch trail

Post by Bigfoot »

AndrewLyonsGeibel wrote: Tue Oct 12, 2021 1:27 pm It’s clearly Bigfoot.
Hey, don't drag me into this. I took a bath a couple months ago down in Glenwood Canyon, although I guess it was kinda muddy at the time.
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Peak200
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Re: Weird and bad smell near beginning of Herman's Gulch trail

Post by Peak200 »

I would agree this is probably a very small
Amount of gas from a nat gas line. It doesn’t take
Much because they add a very strong mercaptan to the mix.
There is probably a nat gas line running down the valley
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highpilgrim
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Re: Weird and bad smell near beginning of Herman's Gulch trail

Post by highpilgrim »

MapScientist wrote: Tue Oct 12, 2021 3:29 pm Ah, if Richard Cheese did the Beatles. Love it.
Richard Derkase doesn’t do covers.
Call on God, but row away from the rocks.
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Walk away from the droning and leave the hive behind.
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Re: Weird and bad smell near beginning of Herman's Gulch trail

Post by Panamabmills »

MapScientist wrote: Sun Oct 10, 2021 2:23 pm While attempting Pettingel today from the Herman's Gulch trailhead, about 1/4 mile in this horrendous smell permeated the air for another 1/4 mile. Upon noticing it, my partner and I discussed what it could be and the best either of us could come up with was burning poop. Not that either of us know the smell, but that's what our brains told us could smell that bad.
Additional details:
-> the smell hit us at maximum intensity and stayed that way until quickly fading right after a creek crossing
-> we were there very early and there were no hippies around (because I know someone is going to ask)
-> the ground was covered in a dusting of snow
-> there were no visible fires anywhere

The reason I'm posting about this is because on a previous trip to the Citadel last year in July, I also noticed the exact same smell in the same place, but my partners and I never followed through on identifying it. So, 14ers community, have you been a victim of the Herman's Gulch smell, and can you identify its source?
My wife and I came across the smell you described on Sunday Oct 23, 2022 about .75 miles into the Herman Gulch Trail. It was so pungent for about 1/4 mile that I had to try and find out what it might be - which lead me to this thread. The only thing we could come up with was some sort of seasonal algae bloom because of how close to the river we were when we’d smell it. I really don’t know though and will do a little more digging to see if there are any other plausible explanations. Probably can’t rule out a gas leak…
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Re: Weird and bad smell near beginning of Herman's Gulch trail

Post by mtree »

This is not all that unusual in the wilderness. Its probably a combination of things. First, the odor is likely from either decaying organic matter (leaves, pine needles, microbes, etc.) or a bloom of cyanobacteria and mix of microbes which may happen on lakes, ponds, or wet decaying matter. These smells usually dissipate in the air and are only noticeable when stepping on or nearby. But the OP mentioned a fresh layer of snow on the ground. What may happen is an inversion in the air. Similar to the brown cloud in Denver. This inversion is due to the snow on the ground and temperature colder down low than the air above it. So the cold air at ground level is "heavier" than the warmer air above it and is now trapped and can't dissipate. Add to that the increase in temps in the soil or water which continues to activate the decay cycle and the melting snow on top. Voila! This increases the odors which mix in the low-lying air and that's what you're left smelling.

Air currents along the ground can move these smells for quite some distance so the actual source may not be obvious. This phenomenon is usually more prevalent in the morning, but could occur at any time if the conditions are ripe.
- I didn't say it was your fault. I said I was blaming you.
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Re: Weird and bad smell near beginning of Herman's Gulch trail

Post by nunns »

highpilgrim wrote: Mon Oct 11, 2021 5:47 pm
rijaca wrote: Mon Oct 11, 2021 1:04 pm Meth lab, doubtful (sounds like QAnon conspiracy).
The dingleberry that suggested that wouldn’t know a meth lab if it was in his unused RV out in his driveway. He’s no Walter White, except in his own mind.

But he does traffic in q-s**t so there’s that.
Leave it to my Missouri buddy HighPilgrim to personally attack someone on the forum for a perfectly innocuous comment.

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Re: Weird and bad smell near beginning of Herman's Gulch trail

Post by pleiades »

Panamabmills wrote: Wed Oct 26, 2022 7:56 am I really don’t know though and will do a little more digging to see if there are any other plausible explanations. Probably can’t rule out a gas leak…
Please call 811 before doing any digging :)
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