Red Mountain was recently closed due to heavy snow and avalanche runs. CDOT crews rotated through the night...carving passages, plowing snow and risking life and limb to the fickle whims of Mother Nature. They also fire off rounds of mortar shells in attempts to trigger potentially deadly buildups of snow that plague Highway 550 South all winter long.
After 4 days of dismal, sunless, come-and-go blizzards, the view out our Imax windows suggests skies are clearing. The mountains got hit pretty hard, with as much as 48 inches of new snow in places between Lovely Ouray and Silverton Mountain.
Though temps beyond our windows currently hover just above zero this morning, the forecast calls for two days of glorious sunshine...before more snow moves in on New Years Day. Time to break out the snowshoes!
Photos from our perch above Lovely Ouray...
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| Bobbie intersects fresh mountain lion tracks on one of her solo hikes |
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| Our "bobsled run" driveway |
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| A black and white blowout...normally brilliantly endowed with reds, yellows, umbers, highlighted with arrays of orange and tangerine |
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| Deck view...snowing hard now |
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| What looks like dirt on the driveway is actually snowflakes |
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| The storm temporarily abates. Time to play catch up. |
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| Knee deep in front of our garage |
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| Time to fire up the snowplow |
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| Clearing skies above the Blowout |
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| ...and town |
Don't worry about us, we have lots of antifreeze :)
Peace out,
mark and bobbie
It looks too cold to sustain life there. I am glad that you've stocked up on libations!
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately for my liver, Libations are the only way I can deal with my Seasonal Affective Disorder. Oh well. I'm counting on it to be dryer and warmer by the time we head south to Arid-zona or I'll have to find an A. A. chapter down there...
DeleteNo sense in having that snow plow if you can't use it! Beer would take up a large part of our retirement budget if we had to live in that kind of weather ;-)
ReplyDeleteYeah...I might have to switch to something cheaper, like Coors Light (sigh).
DeleteLooks GORGEOUS. Whens the next adventure into this winter wonderland going to happen? It will be Spring before you know it so let's not spend too much time on that driveway and napping away the day:)
ReplyDeleteLove the "black & whites", old Ansel should have lived a little longer so he wouldn't have had to lug all that equipment around to get his pictures to pay the rent. :)
Will be watching the web cams on main street New Year's Eve , so try to stay upright......
& Happy New Year to one & All
Doug & Al
D & A
Headed out on snowshoes today! :)
Deletemark
Antifreeze is good. IPA stands for I Prefer Arizona! -scamp
ReplyDeleteIPADW....during winter :)
Deletemark
Lovely views! and wow, that cat print was impressive. Try mixing a dry red wine with hot cinnamon water, half and half mix, makes for excellent sipping on snowy days inside with a fireplace after all the shoveling and plowing is done :)
ReplyDeleteSounds good!!!
Deletemark
Big old paw print
ReplyDeleteEven when you don't see them, rest assured they see you!!! :)
DeleteI'm going to stop whining about having to cover our Bougainvilleas when it gets down to 32 degrees!!! O do love the chains on all 4 wheels of your truck.......
ReplyDeleteNeed those chains, too! Glad we can help out with the "whining." :)
DeleteI have the same problem here and it helps when your weather is shitty. :)
I didn’t know mountain lions roam near Ouray. Bobble could have followed the tracks and maybe gotten a picture. I love the quiet stillness that comes with having that much snow. Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteActually, the mountain lion was following her. Don't know if he got her photo, tho...
ReplyDelete