Back to Breckenridge and the Burro Trail with the Lovable Labs!

I started this post several weeks ago in Breckenridge.
But I've had many distractions,
and I never got it posted.

And little else posted!

I'm hoping things settle down,
and I can get back in a routine of posting 
and of visiting all the blogs I'm missing.

So here's a blast from the no-so-long-ago past!

Woop!  Woop!
We're back in Breckenridge,
visiting in the Land of Big Snow.
This sight greeted me this morning
when I looked out my bedroom window.

And this heading down the stairs.

With a little playing,

I managed to get some detail.

Oh so black Rufus is a challenge to photograph,

but he is such a sweet and handsome guy!

Right now, Breckenridge is covered in heaps of snow.
This is the deck next door.

And this is just down the street:

The buds waited patiently
for me to do some chores.

And then we were off!

It was drop dead glorious in Breckenridge today.

Mounds of snow cover everything.

On a brilliant sunny day 

at 10,000 feet (3,048 meters),

the air is clear and the light is intense.

The contrast between sunlight and shade

can take your breath away.

Snow glows.  

This is one of the trailheads to the Burro Trail.

All three of us couldn't wait to get into the forest.

I think I was happier than the labs to get their leashes off.

It is a challenge to take photographs

with 165 pounds of labs

grasped in one hand, 

while I try to hold, focus my camera, and shoot

with the other.

Freedom and beauty for all of us!

Along the maze of paths that crisscross the Burro Trail,
we three intersected a forest service road
and watched the skiers and snowboarders glide by.

A day like this makes my heart sing!

And I know that Gracie and Rufus feel the same way!

                 

Wait for me, guys!

Me and my shadow ~

The two buds are happiest together!

Just around the corner, home waits;

but it won't be long before we're back in the woods again

on another perfect day.

Epic snow has fallen in Breckenridge this winter. 

I thought there was a lot of snow

when Gracie, Rufus, and I romped in the woods.

Five or six more feet of snow 

has buried Breckenridge even deeper!

Breckenridge's Official Snow Stake

has recorded 297 inches of snow this season

(as of 5:02 a.m. today).

297 inches!        754.38 centimeters!

24.75 feet!           75.43 decimeters!

8.25 yards!            7.54 meters!

44 inches or 1.11 meters has fallen in the last seven days!

With more on the way!

Good thing my sister-in-law bought a snowblower last fall!

Colorado Cloud Atlas: Riding the Orthographic Lift!

Are you a sky watcher?
I sure am!

Day or night, the sky provides a free show ~
always changing and never the same.

Sometimes the sky in Colorado 
can look downright scary!

I jumped out of the car
and snapped this photo
one recent Friday evening.

Evening Sky, 

Aurora, Colorado 

1/3/2014

Pretty scary-looking cloud formation!
Then I shot overhead and to the right.

Was I worried?
NOT!!!!! 

Not long after I moved to the eastern slopes of the Rockies,
I learned that this type of cloud formation
is a harbinger of good things!
Snow-eating, warm Chinook winds!

I was fascinated with the snow-eating winds
when I first heard about them as a child.
I tried to imagine a Chinook arch
stretching across the sky.

This was long before the days 
of Google Search, Wikipedia, 
and instant knowledge gratification.

In my imagination, 
I saw a black, rainbow-shaped arch
hanging above the Rockies.
I distinctly remember attempting to draw one,
and my drawing looked something like this.

It was decades later,
when I was living in Calgary,   
that I got to see the Real Deal.
And was I surprised!
Definitely not a rainbow,
black or otherwise.

Chinook Arch

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Source:  Wikipedia 

At sunrise or sunset,

a Chinook arch can produce stunning colors.

Chinook Arch

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Source:  Wikipedia

And that is precisely what I was seeing

that recent Friday in January:

the western edge of a Chinook arch at sunset.

Chinook Arch

Aurora, Colorado, U.S.A.

The map below shows a driving route 

between Aurora and Calgary.

The route parallels the eastern front 

of the Rocky Mountains,

one of the places in the world

where Chinook-type winds occur.

The US/Canadian border

is the solid horizontal line

directly under the letters "ouver"
in the upper left of the map.

Driving from Aurora to Calgary

Source:  Google Maps

Pacific Northwest

Source:  go northwest

As a child, I wondered:
What made a wind eat snow
and paint black rainbows in the sky?

And, of course, I found out!
It's just the neatest thing!
Take a ride with me on 
The Orthographic Lift!!!!!

The arch occurs 

when Chinook winds form

at the juncture of mountains and plains.

Meteorologists refer to Chinook winds

as foehn or föhn winds.

When warm moist air

is forced up and over a mountain range, 

it drops most of its moisture

on the windward side of the range,

as the air rises, expands, and cools.
Precipitation occurs as rain, snow, or fog. 

The forcing of air 
up the side of a mountain range
by raising terrain
is orthographic lift.

How a Chinook or Foehn Wind is Produced

Source:  Wikipedia

As the now dry air flows 

down the leeward side of the mountain range,

it is compressed 

by increasing atmospheric pressure, 

and it warms up.
It is this downward flow of warming dry air
that forms the Chinook wind.

Chinook Wind

Source:  Wikipedia

Don't let those words 
Adiabatic Heating 
scare you,
like they used to scare the heck out of me
in hydrology class!

They just mean that
an air mass (a gas) 
warms up in temperature 
and shrinks in volume
because the atmospheric pressure 
on the air mass increases
as the air mass flows down the mountain.

Voilà!  Snow-eating wind!!!!!

The opposite,
Adiabatic Cooling happens during 
orthographic lifting.
When an air mass 
moves up a mountain range,
atmospheric pressure decreases,
so the air mass (a gas) expands
and its temperature drops.

Chinook Arch

Source:  fineartamerica ~ Duyunova

During the winter,  

Chinook winds 

can increase temperature dramatically,

from -20°C (-4°F) 

to as high as 10-20°C (50-68°F).

Source:  Wikipedia

The distinctive look of the Chinook cloud formation
is caused by air turbulence.
The fast-flowing wind
moving down the mountain slopes
causes waves in the atmosphere,
like river water hitting a rock mid-stream.
The high crest of the wave forms
a band of stationary stratus clouds
parallel to the mountains,
the Chinook arch!
Source:  crownofthecontinent
Source:  Wikipedia

Chinook Arch
Aurora, Colorado, U.S.A.

In the Pacific Northwest,

the same flowing air mass 

can drench the coast in rain,

hammer the windward Rockies with snow,

and dramatically warm the leeward Rockies.

Source:  Wikipedia

Chinook Arch Over Calgary

Source:  Wikipedia

Many people mistakenly think that Chinook

means snow-eater

because a warm Chinook wind

can melt a foot (30 centimeters) of snow in a day.

But Chinook is taken

from the name of the indigenous people

who lived along the lower Columbia River,

where the term was first used

to describe a warming wind

moving from the Pacific Ocean

into the Pacific Northwest.

The word Chinook, 

used to describe the warm winds, 

was carried into Alberta, Canada by fur traders.

Source:  Wikipedia

Location of the Chinook People

Lower and Middle Columbia River Basin

Source:  Wikipedia

Chinook Arch Over Aurora

How lucky we are to live in a world

that is endlessly fascinating!

Monday Morning Music Break ~ A Little Sunshine on a Sad Day

The sun is shining brilliantly in Colorado this morning,
despite the deep disappointment in
Broncos Land.

Even though we Broncos Fans
did everything we could to support our team,
it was not to be!

    

I'm thinking, What happened?

            
      Yikes!!!!!



But I am also thinking,
the Broncos gave us a wonderful season
right up through February 1, 2014.

I'm going to let the disappointment go.

Thank you Broncos all
for the pleasure and fun 
you gave us this season!

Peyton Manning is a class act all the way,
and he will always be an inspiration to me!

Source:  Wikipedia

Here's a song full of sunshine
that never fails to lift my spirits.
Enjoy!

Source:  You Tube ~ Beatlesrockthe60s

January 2014 Scavenger Hunt: Colorado

I hope that everyone's New Year 
has gotten off to a great start!

Here are my photographs
for January's Scavenger Hunt. 

January's List

1.  J is for ?

Jigsaw puzzles, of course!
They're one of my favorite things to do on a cold January day!

2.  1:00 p.m.

One o'clock found me walking each day in the woods
along the Burro Trail on a long weekend in January ~
accompanied by Rufus (B) and Gracie (Y).
On this day we were watching skiers and snowboarders
sliding down a service road at 1:00 p.m.



3.  Measurement

There's nothing better on a cold January day
than a pot of baked beans made with molasses.

(Okay!  Shhshh!  Don't tell!  This pot was baked in January 2013!)

4.  Color

There is only one color that I could chose for January!
Broncos ORANGE !!!!!

GO BRONCOS!!!!!

5.  A Corner

Two Buds, Gracie (Y) and Rufus (B),

in their favorite corner of the kitchen.

6.  Hats

A Lovely Summer Day in Newfoundland,
Hats Required!
My Sister Barb and the Ever-Patient Terry

We're barely into our hike to the Tablelands,
and Barb and the E-P (and Me!)
are already soaked!
July, 2011

7.  A Stamp

Canadian Stamps, 1960

8.  Looking Down

Oh the snarls we three get into ~ 
Trying to hold 165 pounds of lovable labs with one hand
and shoot a " Looking Down" picture with the other!
(Leashes and Camera Strap)

9.  Crowd

Early in January I heard a racket out in the field.

When I pulled back the curtains,

I saw a crowd of Canadians 

hunkered down to feed

on a cold, snowy day.

Misery loves company came to mind!

The tiny, dry snowflakes fluttered down,

almost invisible except against the bodies of the geese. 

I was hunkered down too,

under an afghan in front of the fire

sipping hot coffee and enjoying a good book.

10.  Natural

The Natural Beauty of a Winter Morning

 Snowy Branches as the Sun Comes Up

 Shades of Snow Just After Sunrise

11.  Fruit

Apples Ready for a Pie

12.  Roof

Rooftops on a Winter Morning

February's List:
F is for ?,  3 p.m.,  Grain,  Lamp,  Clock,  Honey, 
Fountain,  Round,  Shadow,  Group,  Repurpose,  Clouds

Thanks to Jill and her Made with Love blog for setting up the hunt.

Blog:  http://suzzie43.blogspot.com/

Hunt:  http://suzzie43.blogspot.com/p/scaerngera.html

P.S. ~ I really did paint my nails
          in Broncos colors for the Super Bowl!

Go  Broncos !!!!!