A sizzling 4th...

The mountains are finally thawing and, dare I say it, warm weather may be on its way. Still getting into the 30's at night but its been a little  more than a week with no snow flakes which is a good sign given that tomorrow is the 4th of July. Mr. Trump may have spent millions of taxpayer dollars on his  July 4th extravaganza but I'll take the high altitude fireworks show that the little town of Leadville puts on framed with a beautiful mountain backdrop of snow-capped peaks. Mt. Massive and Elbert usually look a little brown by July but not this year. Still lots and lots of snow to melt. The Arkansas River, which has its headwaters in these parts, is meandering all over the valley floor and sections of river are still closed or only for expert paddlers. As was expected with the high, and fast flowing, waters has come some loss of life, with another stand-up-paddler drowning at the Buena Vista waterpark just this week. These Rocky Mountains demand respect no matter how much we pave them or try to tame them. Winter or Summer makes no difference.

I had the opportunity to hike a new avalanche shoot south of Fremont Pass and took some footage that shows some of the raw power that famed Colorado powder can generate. Trees scattered like toothpicks burying tons of snow that may last the summer - that's the aftermath of these Winter slides. It feels a little spooky wandering up the path of destruction, but its really something to see. The worry of course is what will happen next Winter now that these new paths have no standing trees left to hold the snowpack. Back in January, February, and March these new chutes were closing highways across Colorado and CDOT (Colorado Department of Highways Filled to Capacity) was begging people to stay out of the mountains. Heck, even ski areas were closing at times because of too much snow and the risk of in-bounds avalanches. That hardly ever happens in Colorado.

But all that is past us and we can luxuriate in the warmth of the summer sun (for the mountains that means temps in the 70's). And in case you get too warm, you can jump in Twin Lakes where I was SUP'ing the other day. The water temps there are in the high 40's and low 50's. Who needs air conditioning?

Have a wonderful, and safe, 4th of July!