We just got back from an RV trip to Red Feather Lakes, including a day trip along the Laramie River Road. Interestingly, Larimer County has lifted its fire ban and the campground hosts at the USFS West Lake CG were selling firewood.
Then we took the Snowy Range Road to an RV park in Encampment, WY, and returned to Denver through North and Middle Parks and over Berthoud Pass. A few aspen were starting to turn in the Medicine Bows, but they were hard to see due to all the fog and smoke. Most mountainsides were covered with dead pines (and spruce in Wyoming) throughout Roosevelt, Routt, and Medicine Bow National Forests.
Stopped at a big USFS campground outside Encampment called Hog Park Reservoir that had not a single person staying in it--sort of a strange sight before Labor Day. Unfortunately, it had no trees due to the beetle kill. Nice big lake with a boat ramp though.
Interestingly. our automated weather station shows that we have had 15.5 inches of total precipitation this year in SW Lakewood. That's about 2 inches above our normal yearly total. So, the drought is widespread, but there are some unusual wetter than normal spots too.
