I just came back from the pass myself. I was in my Audi so I also decided not to try it. I may have gone up if I were in my Durango, I drove up to the gate where the snow pile was and saw a few similar piles of snow on the road ahead, but it was mostly clear. We had snow on both Wed. and Thursday at the higher altitudes. If we don't get another snow between now and the 20th. I still think we'll be o.k. (2 weeks can make a lot of difference with temps like we've had today), but I think we might want to consider a plan b just in case. I'm camping today at 9200', but will take a little time to check out the Guanella Pass tomorrow. It's still over 11,000' at the summit, but offers areas that are lower and is a paved road. I'll update everyone in the next day or 2 on this.
Charlie
Quote:
Originally Posted by CrawfordGene  We stopped at the Shrine Pass road today and about 100 yards up there was a pile of snow about 1 foot or more high. We didn't look any further. There sure is a lot of snow up there at 11,000' and I think even if it melts by June 20, the ground will be soggy as mud season will have gotten a late start.
While we were dodging tornados in Kansas yesterday (beat one by 10 minutes) we heard it was snowing at Copper Mountain, though when we went through this morning, I-70 was dry and where it fell on the grass it melted right away. It was 28˚ this morning at Copper and 46˚ late this morning at Vail Pass.
I know the Shrine Pass Rd should be dry and the wildflowers should be coming out on June 20, but this year has been quite different from recent ones. Nobody can be sure what's going to happen by June 20, but this last winter is more like the ones in the '80's than more recently. I'm not sure it's over.
Gene |