Connie in Ouray

 We have nine new inches of snow, which fell Friday night through Saturday afternoon.  It's cold, 11 degrees as I write this, but we've escaped the worst part of the polar vortex.  I can't wait to go up the trail tomorrow!

 As I was driving to town this morning and saw all of the climbers, I realized how much I've missed seeing them.  They are a chill group of people, not like our standard tourists.  The Ice Festival this weekend is on partially, and the venders have set up.  We are also under a winter weather advisory for snow starting 5 a.m. today and going until 5 a.m. Sunday.  It could be a couple of inches, it could be a foot, it could be today, it could be tomorrow.  It's going to be cold, but we are on the far western edge of the polar vortex set to hit the rest of the U.S.    I walked up the trail yesterday with Dempsey.  I could have snowshoed most of it, but it was packed down enough for boots.  There were lots of vizsla dog tracks and deer tracks, but I haven't seen anymore mountain lion tracks.  It must have wandered off.   We are currently at 43 inches for the season.

No more snow, no regular Ice Fest, no snow in sight.  Grrr. 

 We're up to 43 inches for the season.  It's 15 degrees and sunny now. And Dempsey and the girls on the pond.  He hasn't wandered onto the pond winter OR summer since he fell through the ice almost five years ago. Dempsey and the girls!

 We're up to a whopping 29 inches for the season.  The lack of snow and warm temperatures are causing so many problems for Ouray and surrounding communities.  The skioring competition this weekend seems set to go, and they were building the track when I came through this afternoon.  However, with such warm days, I'm sure it's going to be difficult to maintain.  The ice that had formed at the Ice Park all melted, and they're trying to rebuild it in time for the Ice Festival January 22-25, but there isn't a lot of relief in sight.  Sorry to be all woe is me, but it's getting dire. Mike and I took care of those two trees on the trail.  One took two cuts and the other we were able to lift off. Ironton Park got six inches of snow Friday, so Mike and I went up yesterday.  He cross-country skies, and I take Dempsey snowshoeing in a different direction.  I'm always on the lookout for moose, and I see their prints everywhere.  I rarely see anyone...

 I hope Christmas or Hanukkah or any of the other December holidays landed gently for everyone.  I know it can be a difficult time of year. I'm still coughing, but I managed to make it to the True Grit mine this morning.  There is very little snow, and what remains is crunchy and hard.  There is one tree blown over the trail, which Mike and I will take care of soon, and I saw this interesting paw print in the snow.  Knowing that there is at least one mountain lion roaming the area, I automatically jumped to that, but it could be a dog print.  We'll go up later today to try and identify.   woe is me! Tuesday night was windy, and we all woke up - Greg is visiting - around midnight to what we thought was a roof avalanche.  Instead, we had part of a tree fall about 15 feet from our bedroom.  It was the top part of a live evergreen tree that had branched out at the top into two big parts.   the scar in the middle of this picture We ...