Connie in Ouray

... (drum roll) two and a half inches!  Dodged that no-October-snow bullet.  There's another storm setting up Saturday night through Wednesday, hoping for more snow.  In the meantime, Mike and I were out yesterday morning and found all these animal tracks - so exciting. Mouse or chipmunk? Turkeys! Foxes!

 Winter weather advisory from Monday 6 p.m. until Wednesday 12 p.m. - five to 11 inches above 9000 feet.  Our house is at 8600 feet.  As I mentioned before, if we don't get measurable snow in the next four days, it will be the first time in our four years that we haven't had any in October. The geology students from Fort Lewis College had a wonderful time traipsing around our woods last Friday for about three hours.  There were 12 or so students, the professor, Mike, Steve Cumella, and Cindy Carothers.  Steve and Cindy are both geologists we are lucky to have residing in Ouray.  They are rock fiends both in their careers and personally.  Mike said he wasn't expecting all the students to be engaged, but they were, so happy to be out and about and excited about finding rocks they could open with their little hammers.  For reference, it appears we have a lot of galena up there.   On their way out, Mike took them to see the big mine building...

 I got an update from Sandy Krafft about their house in St. Pete Beach, "We are very busy arranging repairs. All the new floors are being installed, but unfortunately we have to rip out the lower half of every wall.  We will have a team starting next week.  The pool area needs new screening, and the list goes on.  It's a tremendous amount of work and mess, but we are okay and realizing despite it all, we are better than many."  Isn't that just like her?  I also have learned that all of their landscaping is history. Marchelle and Aaron's septic system is moving along and should be up and running by next week.  There was a week setback when the company making the septic tank made a mistake, and they had to make another one.   We walked over this morning to see the status - Aaron, Marchelle, and Rainee are in California visiting family - and we had a good talk with Nathan.  He was there from before eight o'clock this morning until six o'clo...

 SO disappointing.  When I went downstairs last night around 10 to read, it was sort of snowing, but all we got over these past few days is frost on the pumpkin and a skiff of snow.   Mike and I drove over to Silverton for lunch yesterday just to see some snow - I know, we're ridiculous! - and it started showing up on the ground around 10,000 feet.  Silverton had maybe four inches, but it was snowing hard when we left, and it continued to snow until about Ironton Park.  There is still a slight chance of snow in October on the day before Halloween, but that's it.  It would be the first October in our four Octobers here that we didn't get measurable snow.  It is a La Nina year, which usually means drier for the southwest portion of Colorado. The Red Mountains are white! From Avalanche Brewery in Silverton Update on storm damage between us and Jason's A-frame:  Steve Lankenau has been working so hard to clean up the six trees that fell, two ever...

  Looking west across the canyon - I love low-lying clouds! Up Camp Bird Road:

 It is so wet!  It has been raining on and off all day, and the Cimarrons and San Juans have snow!  Latest forecast is Telluride expected to get almost a foot, one to two feet above 9000 feet - our house is at 8600 - and travel warnings for Red Mountain/Molas/Coal Passes, Lizard Head Pass, and many others as this is mostly a southwestern storm.  We are expecting freezing temps probably starting tomorrow night but definitely Sunday night, and I've brought my geraniums in for the winter.  Our deck is covered in yellow aspen leaves. View south from Ridgway physical therapy office Barb has let me know that Sandy and Larry's house is standing but damaged.  Larry has been wiping down the walls with bleach, and Sandy is lamenting the destruction of all their landscaping.  I've never been through a hurricane, but I imagine it's much like the tornadoes I experienced growing up in Kansas, just without storm surges. Marchelle and Aaron's septic system is moving a...

 I've been waiting and waiting for snow, and our first possibility is coming.  We are under a winter storm watch from Friday noon until Sunday noon.  I saw an outlier forecast for 21 inches on Sneffels.  There haven't been any accumulation numbers posted, except that and possibly 17 in Silverton.  I looked back the last couple of years, and our first measurable snowfalls:  October 12, 2021; October 24, 2022; October 28, 2023. I hope most of you got up to MFL and environs to see the fall foliage.  It has been a spectacular year. Lower pond last week Sunrise for the aspens Road to paradise Please keep Sandy and Larry in your thoughts as they deal with back-to-back hurricane damage at their St. Pete Beach home.   Just as they were getting ready to lay new flooring after Helene, Milton came in and caused more damage.  I'll update as I know more. With any luck, Marchelle and Aaron's septic system will be up and operational.  A local cont...