Weather drowns Telluride

©2014 Lydia Hinshaw

View from our campsite Saturday afternoon 

Looking in the same direction Sunday morning

 SALIDA, CO -- As soon as I wrote about our great campsite in Telluride, the weather changed.  We got four lovely days there, which was fortunate and much enjoyed.

 We had planned to stay longer, but we woke up Sunday to the picture below, and more than an inch of water outside the Magic Bus' doors.  Occasionally we would get a glimpse of one of the high peaks around us, and there was no question about the fresh white stuff up there.

 We donned raingear and walked into town, sitting for an hour in a coffee shop waiting for things to get better.  No luck.  It rained harder, and the forecast looked like more of the same for the next two days.

 So we walked back to the campground, packed up a very wet picnic shelter, and left in search of something better.

 In Montrose, we found a badly needed supermarket, and gasoline for an astonishing 3.36 per gallon.  A few miles east, we decided to take a look at the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, a National Park we had never visited before.  The rain had quit and the views were quite nice.

 The weather was good enough that we decided to stay in the Park Service campground, where we could have a fire for the first time in a week.  It rained a few more times overnight, but we wound up with a net decrease of the wet-level of our beleaguered shelter.

 We had another fire with breakfast, and set out for Gunnison, arriving in time for one of our unsynchronized meals:  Prince Charming was dying for breakfast again, and I was ready for lunch.  We found a cafe that could accommodate us both.

 The day had been rain-free before brunch, but while we were eating, the temperature dropped and the rain started again.

  Between Gunnison and Salida, we crossed 11,312-foot Monarch Pass, where there were snowflakes mixed in with the rain, and white dusting in the woods beside the road.

 It is prudent at this point to eliminate high-altitude overnights from our itinerary.  Leadville and Silverton will have to wait until next year.

 The forecast for Tuesday here in Salida is good.  We have checked into a motel to wait and see.