Colorado Fires
We have a trip planned in a couple weeks heading to CO for the fall colors. How bad are the fires and smoke in the Lake City, Leadville and Grand Lake areas.
Forum Discussion
Wow, Busskipper is really on it! I-70 had just reopened 20 minutes before his post. I was still getting my first cup of caffeine ready.
Smoke is bad in Leadville and Grand Lake areas right now. There is a smoky haze down in Lake City, but not as bad. A number of times in the last couple of weeks, I've headed up high to try to get out of the smoke. From up there, I've been able to see where the smoke has been. While the smoke density has thinned a bit around here as they've gotten the fire up Glenwood Canyon a bit more under control, as new fires have gotten going, smoke has spread over much of the state. Yesterday, we were mountain biking on the top of Grand Mesa. Normally we can see the San Juans, Montrose, and Delta. None of those were visible yesterday. In fact looking south, I don't know if we could see much more than a couple of miles.
I would also note that we have seen the beginning of aspens changing. Not a lot, but still some trees are calling it a summer. It may be early due to the drought.
Of course all this can change pretty quickly. There are thunderstorms in the forecast for this week. Unless lightning starts more fires or the winds blow the existing ones into infernos again, the rain should help calm the fires and clear the air. We had a bit of rain several days ago and it was amazingly nice to be able to sleep with the windows open with the campfire smell.
Smoke is bad in Leadville and Grand Lake areas right now. There is a smoky haze down in Lake City, but not as bad. A number of times in the last couple of weeks, I've headed up high to try to get out of the smoke. From up there, I've been able to see where the smoke has been. While the smoke density has thinned a bit around here as they've gotten the fire up Glenwood Canyon a bit more under control, as new fires have gotten going, smoke has spread over much of the state. Yesterday, we were mountain biking on the top of Grand Mesa. Normally we can see the San Juans, Montrose, and Delta. None of those were visible yesterday. In fact looking south, I don't know if we could see much more than a couple of miles.
I would also note that we have seen the beginning of aspens changing. Not a lot, but still some trees are calling it a summer. It may be early due to the drought.
Of course all this can change pretty quickly. There are thunderstorms in the forecast for this week. Unless lightning starts more fires or the winds blow the existing ones into infernos again, the rain should help calm the fires and clear the air. We had a bit of rain several days ago and it was amazingly nice to be able to sleep with the windows open with the campfire smell.
