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Today I attempted to hike another section of the CDT, however I was thwarted by a weather-related road closing. Like Rocky Mountain NP, this area has mountains above 9,000 feet and in addition, much of it is open range land. Therefore, blowing and drifting snow in early June is a reality. I mentioned cattle gates in an earlier post, but I failed to mention that the roads here are designed to be closed at a moment’s notice. Even the interstates. This is not something that we experience too often in the east. They have gates permanently installed, and signs erected in advance that can be switched to indicate a road closing ahead. They also have AM radio broadcasts in place to warn travelers in advance.
So instead of hiking the CDT, I found a forest service road and got out and walked that a bit down and back. Again taking the camera along for any photo opportunity that might arise, and I was not disappointed.
Monument for the Overland Trail, the definition of BooFoo and an ODC (Old Dead Coyote)
Cows are pretty, so are Daisies and the Wyoming State Flower, Indian’s Paintbrush
I found that this fence was about fifteen feet short . . .
The weather has played a major factor in my opportunities to get out and play here recently. Between the rain, snow, cold and high winds, I have had little chance to really get in a good ride or hike. Folks here are still walking around in winter coats. Today the temperature was in the low 50’s, however winds were 25 mph and gusting. The elevation here is not all that high, so that is only a minimal factor. I have had about a week’s worth of overnight lows in the lower 30’s. Frost on the Durango yesterday morning. Just really cold weather for this time of year. As I head further north, and to a higher altitude, I can only imagine that it is not going to get all that much warmer any time soon. Here’s hoping for a warm front pushing through sometime soon!