I made it over to the sinkhole in the afternoon. The rain started spitting again when I got there, but I figured the tree canopy would keep me dry enough. The trail around the sinkhole was flooded just enough to keep me from walking that way, but the stairs were ok.
After making the first turn, I saw what looked like a dumptruck-load of sand dumped down the side of the sinkhole. As I got closer, I could see that it was mud, and it was still flowing down the side. I figured it had to have happened recently. All the rain softened the ground, and a large portion just slid. One large tree was snapped off a few feet above the ground, and the massive body of the tree was also slowly sliding head-first toward the bottom.
At the bottom (or close to it), I could see how much water had gathered so far. I'm probably wrong, but my estimate is that this water is about 8 feet deep. There was another extremely large tree that was simply swept off its roots and was upside-down in the water.
I spoke with one of the rangers on my way out. The mudslide had just happened the day before and they were all very interested in how much more was going to give way. We're all hoping it doesn't go as far as bringing down the staircase.
Hurricane Isaac was on its way and if it dumped a ton more rain on us, things could get dicey.
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