CUMBRES PASS COLORADO

[mountainborn]

Highway 17 runs from Chama New Mexico to Antonito Colorado. At an elevation of 10,022 feet, the nearby snow depth gauge at the railroad trestle reads 90.1" of snow. Thats down from over 94" a few days ago. :o The depth gauge can be read online. Man, oh, man ! Can that possibly be right ? And, will the snow be off by the middle of May ?
Here is the link to the online guage:
http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/snotel/snotel.pl?sitenum=431&state=co

[TnT]

that's wild. I remember a number of years ago, when I was living in Utah, that the ski resorts (where they had the winter olympics several years ago) wouldn't open until they got a 100 inch base.

I just looked, and they've had 304" of snow this season. As a kid growing up in Maine, we never got that much.

It's nice to be here now, where we don't have to deal with any of that. Or, only a little.

[SJClimber]

Yo MB, Just go a little farther north and west to Wolf Creek and you'll see an average season snow depth of >300". Still 90+" is a lot for a train. That pass catches a lot of warm air from NM and south so one day there will be mountains of snow and a few days later, everything has shrunk. Beautiful for a summer camping trip and train ride..

[mountainborn]

Hey buddy, good to hear from ya' ! Betty & I will be hosting the nearby Trujillo Meadows campground this coming Summer. The snow melt off will determine when we can move up there, thats why the intrest in the Cumbres Pass gauge. It is four miles from the campground. If you find it convenient, stop in !
I have a fly rod that I don't know how to use, maybe you could coach me a bit ? :oops: The Trujillo Lake, right beside the campground, is a Gold Medal stream site. :lol:

[SJClimber]

Yep, know that area. That lake is west of the big turn on the railroad. As I recall, it is open to the NW with the camping area to the south of the lake. At 10,000 feet, it should be a nice place for the summer. I bet it will open up late May, but things can warm there fast. That is a little out of the way on our trip to CO, but we might go to Santa Fe, up to you folks and over to Ridgway. Might be fun. Keep us posted..