First off, thanks for the great feedback on the previous blog…It was our most popular post yet! Some of the compliments made us blush…thanks again!
Month number three in Nathrop, Colorado…
We only played in the snow a few times, but did lots of hiking and geocaching. The weather fluctuated from very cold to quite comfortable…the cold tested us. Arleen spent the last week of the month helping her mom in Montana. Since she’s been gone, I have been a lazy bum and have missed my girl tremendously!
And since my girl is gone, that means the blog “Editor-in-Chief” did not give this update a thorough scrubbing so please forgive errors! And because she won’t see this before I hit “send”, here is an RV joke that she would possibly veto:
A loaded mini van pulled into the only remaining campsite. Four children leaped from the vehicle and began feverishly unloading gear and setting up the tent. The boys rushed to gather firewood, while the girls and their mother set up the camp stove and cooking utensils.
A nearby camper marveled to the family’s father, “That sir, is some display of teamwork!”
The father replied, “I have a system: no one goes to the bathroom until the camp is set up!
That system would never work for us!
Now, to the blog…
- Weather
Average January max temp: 40.6F Average low temp: 11.4F Average snow: 4.9 inches
Here is what we experienced in January 2013…
Snow: 1.5 inches
Lowest temperatures: -16F on the 13th and -14F on the 3rd
About half the month was colder than normal and half the month was warmer than normal. Unfortunately, it was quite dry. Colorado is in its second year of drought and January did not help. Hopefully the mountains get some BIG snow before winter ends!
- Staying warm
We had two cold snaps that lasted five days apiece. It was cold enough and lasted long enough to cause some problems.
Expected -18F on the 14th, but cloud cover saved us!
Just a couple of days after I hit send on the previous blog, I caved and got my hands on a 100lb propane bottle (thanks for your help, Jack!). I had no confidence that our freezing 30lb bottles would have worked during that first cold snap. The upgrade was a wise decision. We went 16 days before needing a fill (as apposed to 3 or 4) and the bigger bottle never froze up.
We finally had a problem with condensation. Excessive condensation hits nearly all winter campers at some point. Other than moving to a warmer location, the only solution is ventilation. We keep our kitchen window and bathroom vent open a crack. De-humidifiers and other tricks may help a little, but there is always a tipping point. Our tipping point was consecutive mornings below about -5F. Our closet walls got really damp as did the clothes in the closets. We had to lay all of the clothes on the bed and hang them in the bathroom for a couple of days to dry. Since we discovered this problem, we keep the closets open all day. On warm days, we open all three of our ceiling vents. Plus, instead of letting the trailer cool to 50 degrees while we sleep, we have bumped up the temperature 5 or 6 degrees. So far these solutions have worked, but a longer and colder period would push us back over the tipping point.
Significant frost and ice build-up
Temperatures less than -12F or -13F impact our water. The hose froze a couple of times, but thawed by noon each time. Additionally, the hot water pipe to the bathroom froze a couple of times, but each time, it also thawed by noon. Now when it gets below zero, we run the hot water each time we get up. Thankfully there hasn’t been any damage. Our under-belly, enclosed and heated fresh water tank has yet to freeze. So even when our hose froze, we just switched to our tank and didn’t miss a beat!
And our strangest problem…the front door nearly froze shut! To overcome this, we had to use the hairdryer on the door each night to get rid of ice build-up.
It’s official…we have learned our cold weather limit! We want it to stay above -15F and cold snaps to to be shorter than 5 days. Any worse is too much work and not worth the risk!
- Hikes, Snowshoeing, Geocaching
We set a goal to hike 150 miles in January. By the 25th, we averaged 6.1 miles a day and hit our goal! When the month ended, we averaged 5.8 miles per day to total 180 miles, our second highest total. We did it all by hiking, geocaching, and walking our dog. Our next goal will be 200 miles. We’ll get a shot this summer as we roam Utah’s spectacular National Parks!
Sadly, we did not snowshoe this month due to snow conditions.
Hiking around St Elmo CO
Hiking and geocaching with Brian on the Midland Trail near Buena Vista.
From left: Mt Antero 14,269ft…Mt Princeton 14,197ft…Mt Yale 14,196ft…Mt Columbia 14,073ft
Hike on another section of the Midland Hill Trail
Hike near Trout Creek Pass and Chubb Park
Tons of animal tracks
Red Rocks near Denver
Hecla Junction along the Arkansas River on a chilly winter day
Hike number 1 along Wash Out Road
Hike number 2 along Wash Out Road and County Road 250
Mt Shavano in the background Where’s the geocache?!?
Hike in the Mushroom Gulch area Geocache number 100! (Note the critter tracks)
Geocache number 99 was tough because of the snow
Another hike on the Midland Trail on a glorious winter day
Hike along CR 184 to the old mining town of Turret
Outstanding panoramic view of the Sawatch Range
Hike with Lars and Karina on the Colorado Trail out of Chalk Creek Canyon
A hike near Ruby Mountain in the Browns Canyon Wilderness Area
A pretty hike near Leadville. Found 5 out of 6 geocaches and had a great Mexican food lunch!
- Geocache total: Started January with 66 and found 47 more to total 113
- Skiing and Snowboarding
The mountains got a little snow the first and last weeks of January so we only went to Monarch twice. We had a great time with my brother-in-law and nephew. It’s really cool seeing tiny guys and gals zipping all over the slopes with smiles on their faces!
Gary and Jordan shredding Monarch
Gary’s WIPEOUT!
We also had a good time with our friends Dave and Kristin.
Dave and Kristin at Monarch
We have about five weeks left in Nathrop. Temperatures will warm a little in February and we should see more snow. We hope to play in the white stuff and maybe even fly-fish on a warm sunny day. You can bet that we will make the most out of our last month here!
- Parting shots…
(21,670)
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