An Omen of Early Autumn - Colorado? - UPDATE 09/03/18

[Thom02099]

This weekend we went up CO 14 west of Fort Collins and stayed at Chambers Lake (USFS CG). Nearby is Larimer CR 103 AKA the Laramie River Road. Since it was a cool/rainy weekend, we decided to explore a bit, as it's been probably 20+ years since I've been on that road. If you have any knowledge of the area, it's quite remote, with access to the Rawah Wilderness Area, and some really huge ranches. Beautiful scenery.

What struck me though was, that on the weekend of August 17-19, there were Aspen already changing. And more than just a few here and there. Enough that they caught my attention as we were driving the valley. Elevation for that area ranges from ~9200 feet to 8,000 feet along the road, with mountains in the 10,000-12,000 feet range. Most of the gold we saw was along the roadway, though there were also some visible at higher elevations.

Heading back up to RMNP in 2 weeks, will be interesting to see if there's any colour change up there yet.

[memtb]

ACZL wrote:
FWIW, Saw just a short while ago that a few inches of snow is predicted in upper elevations of West Yellowstone

Loving it...can’t get here fast enough! Ready to “stop” yard work and start enjoying the Wyoming fall and winter!

[ACZL]

FWIW, Saw just a short while ago that a few inches of snow is predicted in upper elevations of West Yellowstone

[memtb]

ORbiker wrote:
We went camping in Central Oregon (near La Pine) and woke up to no water because the hose was frozen. Fall might be early or just a cold snap before Indian Summer.

I’m fearing a “miserable” hot/dry fall....would prefer cool with a little moisture!

[ORbiker]

We went camping in Central Oregon (near La Pine) and woke up to no water because the hose was frozen. Fall might be early or just a cold snap before Indian Summer.

[fanrgs]

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.

[memtb]

Another sign? Maybe it’s all of the dense smoke, or maybe a sign of an early fall...but, within the last two days, dozens of Robins have come to feed in our yard.
Also....46F this morning, here at the house!

[Thom02099]

gkainz wrote:
I've hunted Rawah Wilderness some years ago ... I need to get back up there again soon. I heard the beetle kill decimated the forests up there?

Yes. There are far more dead trees than live ones, in the Rawahs and the NeverSummers. At Chambers Lake there were a substantial number of dead trees in the campground, haven't been removed yet. All of the trees over at Ranger Lakes CG have been removed, but there's a lot of new growth going on.

[Thunder_Mountai]

ksbowman wrote:
Thunder, That was my first thought when I first read this thread. Lots of areas have been extremely dry especially in the SW corner of the state.

Our Davis Instruments weather station is showing less than 3.5" of moisture year to date in Buena Vista. By this time of year we should be seeing three times that.

It's so dry even the thistle (tumbleweed) is struggling to survive. People are loosing well established trees and landscaping due to the drought. Thank goodness I've got an augmented well that allows me to irrigate a limited number of square feet of our two acres. There is no way I could afford it if I was on a municipal water system.

[Lauren]

Hey, ThunderMtn, I am in BV at Valley RV site 54. Some 8060 feet at our site. Have drive Independence Pass to 12000 and saw SOME changes (this was a week ago) and have driven a lot of places around here. Don't see much change yet.

I planned us to be in Ouray second week in Sept for 8 days.....we have done that timing before and Red Mountain Pass is in its glory. Unfortunately, Cottonwood Pass is closed as it is beautiful. And been very windy here.

Love CO.

[gkainz]

I've hunted Rawah Wilderness some years ago ... I need to get back up there again soon. I heard the beetle kill decimated the forests up there?

[JAC1982]

I'm OK with an earlier fall. We have a party at our house on Labor Day weekend and it was hot as Hades last year, so hopefully it'll be more pleasant this year since we try to keep it outside 🙂 Plus, can turn down the sprinklers so the water bill will go down! Does limit our chances of fitting in one more camping trip this fall though.

[ksbowman]

Thunder, That was my first thought when I first read this thread. Lots of areas have been extremely dry especially in the SW corner of the state.

[Thunder_Mountai]

Thom02099 wrote:
This weekend we went up CO 14 west of Fort Collins and stayed at Chambers Lake (USFS CG). Nearby is Larimer CR 103 AKA the Laramie River Road. Since it was a cool/rainy weekend, we decided to explore a bit, as it's been probably 20+ years since I've been on that road. If you have any knowledge of the area, it's quite remote, with access to the Rawah Wilderness Area, and some really huge ranches. Beautiful scenery.

What struck me though was, that on the weekend of August 17-19, there were Aspen already changing. And more than just a few here and there. Enough that they caught my attention as we were driving the valley. Elevation for that area ranges from ~9200 feet to 8,000 feet along the road, with mountains in the 10,000-12,000 feet range. Most of the gold we saw was along the roadway, though there were also some visible at higher elevations.

Heading back up to RMNP in 2 weeks, will be interesting to see if there's any colour change up there yet.

On Denver's Channel 4, they were showing aspen turning on Kenosha Pass. They said the early colors are from drought stress. We are at 8200', and there are some aspen that already turning. We lost one aspen in the yard due to the drought even though it was watered. Got another that isn't looking real good.

[dodge_guy]

Its been doing this for years. The seasons are shifting! I used to pick up leaves in early-mid October. now I`m doing it mid Nov. stays a bit warmer till then too. and Spring comes later, We used to have our kids B-days in mid June and it would be in the upper 80`s and 90`s. Now we are lucky to see that in early July!

[Thom02099]

memtb wrote:

memtb wrote:
I’m sure that this is “very” temporary (and very unusual)....we never got to 70 F today! Normally, for this date....90’s to 100+ F.

Update: At approximately 19:00 hrs MDST (7 pm).....57 F and “drizzling” rain! Maybe it will wash some of the smoke out of the atmosphere!

This past entire weekend at Chambers Lake, it was cold and rainy. The temp didn't get above 60 the entire weekend. It was 41 on Sunday morning at 7:30. First weekend in the past 4 years that we've had a completely rainy weekend camping. No smoke in the air for the weekend. That changed on return home to Loveland. Extremely smokey on Monday 08.20.18.