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8 cue and climbed the mountain. Sixteen people died in two separate motels at Waltonia. The only warning reported was an unofficial one from a motel manager. Some people managed to escape, in cars, down the canyon; others climbed up the mountainside. Details of the situation in Waltonia are difficult to ascertain since neither the motel owners nor their families survived the flood. In the Cedarmont and 7 Pines area near Glen Comfort, no warnings were reported to have been received. At one of the four motels located in this area, a family had just taken a room. Because it was raining so hard, the proprietor invited the family inside for coffee and cookies, They accepted the invitation and left their belongings in the car, plan- ning to move into their room when the rain let up. This family was in the 8ig Thompson Canyon only because they could not find a motel room in Estes Park. As they consumed the treats provided by the proprietor of the motel, the river got louder and seemed to be getting closer. After a coke machine floated by and watEr began seeping under the door, the father in the family decided it was time to move to higher ground. The only steps to the upstairs portion of the motel were on the outside of the building. Since he could not get outside safely, he cut a hole in the sheetrock ceiling and the wood floor above. His family, and that of the proprietor, climbed out of the motel. They spent the rest of the night on the mountainside. The motel was not washed away, but the water rose four feet and the damage to the building exceeded 50% of its total worth. At 7 Pines Motel, six miles from Estes Park, two people from Ohio were camping. Earlier that day their tire needed fixing, and one of the campers had just returned from Loveland where he had it repaired. It was raining so hard that they moved their camping gear into the car and sat listening to the radio. When the car began floating away, they were