Connie in Ouray

 I hope so.  It's not even 11:00 in the morning, and it's 48 degrees on Mineral Farms Lane.  Our road is about half clear, half ice ruts.  The trail is mostly rutted, and there are open spots of no snow.  I've been thinking about bears, how they're normally coming out of hibernation mid-March, but with the warm weather, I'm looking for signs. The forecast for the next couple of weeks have chances of snow, Monday through Friday next week, and then a better chance the week after that.  Hope springs eternal. Too much bare ground!

 I came home from Utah with a cold that hit hard and fast, so I'll just do a totals update here for now.  While we were gone, we got 20 inches of snow - hate that I missed a big one! - and our total is now 90 inches for the season.  We are on the same track as previous years, except for that 2022-2023 winter where we had 15 feet of snow.  The temps are warm again, enough that we had a major roof avalanche two a.m. Saturday.  Long-term forecast iffy for accumulating snow.

 Mike and I are spending a few days in this area to watch Big 12 basketball, along with my sister and brother-in-law, but I knew you'd want to know what our snow totals are.  Alex and Dustin agreed to be my official measurers, and as of Saturday, we had 11 inches of new snow, bringing our yearly total to 81 inches.  It appears we might be getting more tonight, plus rain/snow mix into the week.  We'll be back soon, and I'll catch up then.

 Fool me once, shame on you...there is snow in the forecast through Saturday, but I'll believe it when I see it.  Fortunately, we are back to seasonal temperatures, but the snow that we have is melting so fast.  Ugh. At a Super Bowl party Sunday night, I was whining about the conditions on our trail - icy, hard packed, rutted, no fun - and how I wasn't going up with snowshoes until we got some more snow when friend April uttered magic words "yaktrax."  I'd forgotten all about mine because I haven't used them for a few years.  I slapped those on this morning and got all the way to the overlook without any trouble, except for all the exposed rocks and lack of a discernible trail.  However, on the way down, I realized my yaktrax weren't on only to find them before we even get to the turnoff for the True Grit mine.   I suppose it was my new snow boots with really good tread that helped me. Lookng towards the amphitheater - rocks, rocks, rock We took D...

 At 8:00 this morning, it was 45 degrees, going for a high of 53 or so.  It did not get below freezing last night.  We have another four or five days of this ridiculousness before it gets back to normal temperatures.  There is no snow in sight.  As I write this, Dempsey is sunning himself on the deck. Mike and I went up to Ironton last Friday to snowshoe/ski, and it was really beautiful as always.  Dempsey went with us, more about that in a bit.  The trail I was on had not been groomed nor had there been much traffic.  I try to stay out of the cross-country ski tracks, so I was going through four or five inches of snow.   Veenstras' trail has become an all-purpose trail.  Once Alex, Dustin, Marchelle, Aaron, Mike, and I had made the trail, on any given day, one will see these tracks:  snowshoe, snowboard, skis, boots, dogs, elk, deer, fox, rabbits.   I am so grateful for that trail. And on the topic of gratitude, our ...

The Miller/Waters Official Snow Measurer clocked in 4.5 inches of snow yesterday, putting us at 68.5 for the season.  We're about even with last year, but we're quickly going to fall behind as the chances of snow for the next few weeks are slim to none.  La Nina! Incoming! Whitehouse Mountain from the trail Mike and I went to Breckenridge Monday to see the snow sculptures.  Not that I'm trying to veer you away from Ouray, but if you ever get a chance to see these, it's worth the trip.  They are amazing.  Judging criteria is degree of difficulty, execution, artistic expression, and creativity.  First place:  APEX-Zero Gravity, Germany My favorite and People's Choice winner: In The History We Remember, South Korea I just saw that the UIAA Ice Climbing Youth World Championship is being held at Ouray Ice Park next weekend.   The notice says competitors from eight countries, ages from 13-19.  That'll fill up the town!