Snow pack melt watch 2008

[thecatsandi]

Originally Posted by InsideOut

WoooHooo!!!! I think spring is finally here to stay!

It was at or above 70 all weekend...now we're talkin'! Now if this silly thing called "work" would get out of the way...we could make some real progress ~

Shari

Spring in Western MT. Winter one day, summer the next. Averages out to spring. Currently we are averaging 20 degrees below normal. snow almost daily.

[Boondocker]

Sill melting or still piling up? Cant wait to hit the high country 15 days 22 hours 41 minutes.....

[Gene]

Low 70's in Grand Junction where I am now, 60's elsewhere, but still down below freezing at night up higher. Rivers running high. 30% chance of rain or snow in Crawford tonight, 20% chance of thunderstorms today. Forecast is for fairly warm for the next week and a lot of windy days.

We never know what is next. We get periods of weeks with warm weather and then, boom, it could snow. Spring comes a month earlier on the Western Slope than on the Front Range, so if you hear of snow in Denver, it could be 60 or 70˚ out here.

Gene

[Boondocker]

I was following the link to campsite status below and noticed the picture for one campground was neat.

USDA Forest Service - Comment Form

see anything?

[nymphfishin]

Rodney
We drove up hiway 149 west of Creede yesterday.
South face of Bristol Head Peak 12,706 was almost clear of snow. North slopes have a LOT of snow left.
Stream flows will likely be higher than normal, longer than normal this summer though.
Also saw four groups of Big Horn sheep, 22 in all, these were just right off the hiway.
Don

[Boondocker]

Originally Posted by nymphfishin

Rodney
We drove up hiway 149 west of Creede yesterday.
South face of Bristol Head Peak 12,706 was almost clear of snow. North slopes have a LOT of snow left.
Stream flows will likely be higher than normal, longer than normal this summer though.
Also saw four groups of Big Horn sheep, 22 in all, these were just right off the hiway.
Don

Thanks Don, I am much relieved about the snow. I am truly excited about visiting Colorado. I bet the new wide angle lens will get a work out. Thanks for the pics, I was thinking about asking someone to post some

[Gene]

We've had 1 1/2" of snow this morning, more higher up. Supposed to be back in the '60's in a few days. I think the prediction on peak runoff is it will occur in about 3 weeks. It's been very dry here for weeks and the temps have been mostly in the 50's and 60's, so runoff hasn't been a danger although it looked like the Gunnison R. was bank full on Tuesday afternoon. If we get a lot of wet snow or rain and higher temps, like northern Maine and New Brunswick have had, watch out!

Gene

[eubank]

I drove past Blue Mesa a few days ago, and there's still a great deal of storage left: The lake was quite low, and the Gunnison above the lake was not running very high. But there was still a bunch of snow left in the higher mountains.

That said, when we turned off onto Hwy 114 over east of Gunnison to head down to Saguache, I was suprised to see evidence of high water flow over the meadows there, now since subsided.


Lynn

Originally Posted by CrawfordGene

We've had 1 1/2" of snow this morning, more higher up. Supposed to be back in the '60's in a few days. I think the prediction on peak runoff is it will occur in about 3 weeks. It's been very dry here for weeks and the temps have been mostly in the 50's and 60's, so runoff hasn't been a danger although it looked like the Gunnison R. was bank full on Tuesday afternoon. If we get a lot of wet snow or rain and higher temps, like northern Maine and New Brunswick have had, watch out!

Gene

[Boondocker]

Originally Posted by nymphfishin

Rodney
We drove up hiway 149 west of Creede yesterday............. saw four groups of Big Horn sheep, 22 in all, these were just right off the hiway.
Don

Hey Don, is it common to see the big horn in the area? Whats the best bet in terms of finding them?

[nymphfishin]

Originally Posted by Gen Disarray

Hey Don, is it common to see the big horn in the area? Whats the best bet in terms of finding them?

Yes, it is common, they seems to stay in the same local area for each herd.
There is a herd between Wagon Wheel Gap and Pool Table Mtn FS road. Hiway 149 west of South Fork.
Another herd near the viewing area on Wolf Creek Pass, near Treasure Falls.
Another herd 12-14 miles west of Creede.
Further north several herds in Arkansas river canyon east of Salida. It's called BigHorn Canyon for a reason. They have come down to the river while I was fishing just 30-40 feet away, Watch the railroad bed there they seems to like it.
Herds on Mt. Evans near Idaho springs also include Mtn Goats near summit, that a great photo ops place also. See my avatar. You Cannot pull a trailer up to the summit there though.

Rocky Mtn NP has herds also, but lots and lots and lots of people.

The ewes have seperated from the rams now, getting ready to lamb soon.
The rams seem to stay in similar age groups. 1/4 to 2/3 curls, together and 3/4 - full curls, in other groups.

Some days they are beside the hiways, some days you need good binoculars.
and watch the cliffs, benches, they move around while they are grazing and lay down on overlooks afterwards. They are fairly easy to spot with their white rumps, like deer and elk.

Added bonus Spring Hill Passon 149 has several Moose in the area.
Don