Jason Godwin's Weather (and Other Stuff) Blog

Picking back up where we left off, it was very cold the morning we were in Crested Butte. The car thermometer said 24 F, and I would have to guess it was at least that cold. It certainly rivaled the 16 F morning I experienced camping at Devil's Den State Park in northwest Arkansas in 2018. The problem this time though was that in the Arkansas experience, we were anticipating the extreme cold, and everyone was well-prepared. This time, it was colder than expected, and it was for one night of the trip, making it difficult to justify packing for extreme cold for one night. I basically prepared by wearing as many layers as I could, but absent thermal layers, wool socks, and extra blankets, it was still quite cold. But after a quick breakfast, we warmed up the car, and headed out. The main attraction this day was Kebler Pass between Crested Butte and Paonia. Kebler Pass is an unimproved road that goes through the West Elk Mountains, peaking at an elevation of 10,007 ft (3,050 m). While ...

I am finally getting around to continuing where my series about the Colorado roadtrip left off. It's been a busy and hectic couple of months, but I finally have the time to write another entry. We left off at Trinidad Lake State Park. After getting a couple of items at the Wal-Mart in Trinidad, we headed north on Interstate 25 to Walsenburg. We got off the interstate at Walsenburg, refueled, and headed north on State Highway 69. This was a beautiful drive! Get ready for some slow speed limits as it was a narrow and winding road, but had beautiful views of the Wet Mountains to the east and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the west. The road reaches a summit at 8,579 ft when it crosses Promontory Divide on the border of Custer and Huerfano Counties. We then drove through Westcliffe which was a very quaint and picturesque community. I would have perhaps liked more time to stroll around the town (which I am told is a good base of operations for hiking in the Sangre de Cristo Range), b...