This morning dawned clear, sunny and mild along the Colorado Front Range. Knowing that a potent cold front was on its way, we introduced our visitors to several State Parks, hoping to complete our tour before the Arctic blast arrived.
A quick drive through Chatfield State Park was followed by a hike at Roxborough State Park; enjoying the wildlife and scenic rock formations at Roxborough, we could see a wall of clouds building to our north. Though it was too warm to hike in a heavy sweatshirt or jacket, we knew that the warm sunshine (64 degrees F by mid morning) would soon give way to wintry conditions.
As the clouds pushed southward, gusty winds produced dust storms across Metro Denver and we headed for the hills, climbing through Deer Creek Canyon and then angling southwestward on U.S. 285. We were headed for Staunton State Park, on the south side of the Mt. Evans massif and west of a high ridge that cuts across Conifer, Colorado. There, protected from high winds and the rapidly developing upslope, we enjoyed a loop hike through the montane forest, encountering red crossbills, Abert's squirrels and mule deer, among other common wildlife species. By the time we returned to our Littleton farm, fog and snow showers enveloped the urban corridor and the temperature had fallen 40 degrees in less than 2 hours (to 24 degrees F).
