29th anniversary weekend
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It was 29 years ago this weekend that we first visited our cabin.
This weekend, Jen and Dan joined us, but had to leave Saturaday night, since
Dr. Jen worked on Sunday at Denver Health Hospital Urgent Care Pediatric Clinic. But we had fun on Saturday, and the scenery was beautiful.
On Sunday, Bill and I hiked over to Rock Creek, where we found the Snotel site weather station. From this location, every day of the year, temperature, precipitation, and snowfall information is sent to the USGS by a solar-powered transmitter. The snowfall info is sent as 'snow water equivalent', that is, the weight of the snow as measured by the three 'snow pillows'. As snow falls, it pushes antifreeze out of the pillows, and the change is detected in the equipment inside the shed (which looks very much like an outhouse). The solar charger is the little rectangle on top of the antenna. My backside is visible in the picture of the snow pillows. I walked on one of them (there were 8 fence posts, but no fence surrounding them), and I wonder if the information was broadcast.
Next, we hiked over to Rock Creek, where we came upon the Triple Creek Ranch bungalows - two isolated ranch houses overlooking a meadow, ponds, and the southern Gore Range.
Joan picked us up on the highway, and we had drove to the Swartzes for lunch (the Hunters joined us). Teri was getting ready for the final performance of 'Eleemosynary', a spectacularly successful play in which she played a starring role. I saw my friends Cory and Christy.
