It rains overnight and off and on again Monday morning. The skies clear somewhat by noon. My friend Wayne comes up to visit in the afternoon, and we head into the park for a drive and for him to get some information about accessing a couple peaks he’s hoping to climb for SOTA activations. As usual, I have a good time with him and am sad he can’t stay longer. Soon after he leaves, the rain comes again. I’m glad I didn’t try to head over Trail Ridge today – it would have been wet, windy and tough.
On Tuesday, I get trip updates to family and friends sent from the library and wander around the shops looking for a housewarming gift for my parents new place. No luck. In the morning, the cloud deck sits around 9,000 feet. We wouldn’t have been able to see anything up in the mountains if we’d gone today. In the afternoon, after a few rain showers, the clouds start to clear, but the wind kicks it up to 20-25 mph. The NWS forecast says the wind is supposed to calm overnight, but I have my doubts.
The trouble with sitting at the base of a big climb for a couple days is that you have time to psyche yourself out. I did that with Powder River Pass last year. I try not to do it this year, but I just don’t believe the forecast that says it is going to be clear with 5-10 mph winds on top tomorrow!


