Expedition 5280: 4/20/08

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Spring Outing: El Dorado Canyon

This train went across the tracks above us while we were hiking. I was aware there were once train tracks leading to an old hotel (now in ruins), but I was unaware that there were opperational tracks today!

Rattlesnake Gultch trail has its name fora reason! Many perfect places along the trail for snakes to sun.

Stephen and Lindsay with a view of the Boulder area behind the. Looks like a fake backdrop!

Lots of fun to be be had up at the train tracks! People have used the tar/mud mixture by the tracks to create their own works of art. Lindsay found "Jesus" and refurbished it!

A long tunnel behind us.

Delicious?!!! Ugh!

Steve suggested us tummy shot: Just a week shy of four months!

After our hike, Lindsay and I returned to our youthful ways playing on the rocks in the cold creek.

At one point I had to remember that I am preggo and had better be a little safer.

Steve can always find a place to chill with our famous face.

Beginning of the trail: Stephen and Lindsay

A Recent Rare Phenomenon

Last night we were at a local coffee shop with some friends. While sitting by the widow, we noticed that it had unexpectedly begun snowing. A few minutes later we all looked up to notice bright flashes, similar to that from a camera flash reflecting in the window. Since you never see lightning (or hear thunder) during a snow storm we all looked around for the abnoxiously bright flash from someones camera. It was nowhere to be found. Next thing we hear the boom of thunder and immediately car alarms start sounding. At this point we all look outside to see what looks like hail....but its not. It is simply pea sized snowballs that are falling like rocks from the sky. Needless to say, this was the first time any of us had experienced anything like this. The snowballs were not hard but soft...just like snow. The lightning and thunder continued for a while longer, as most everyone who was in the coffee shop either was glued to the windows or went outside for closer inspection. Bethany, who was sitting with our group, said that she had heard something like this happening before and said it was called a "thundersnow storm". Well, it is a true and rare event that is even more rare in a "land locked" state like Colorado. Here is the local newspaper headline from the Rocky Mountain News: "We were enjoying the lights, sights and sounds of a thundersnow that rolled through downtown around 9:30 p.m. And, we didn't make up that word thundersnow, either. It's a real, but rare phenomenon (and very rare in landlocked Colorado), according to a quickie Google search. In the simplest of terms, cold air meets warm air. As those two air masses interact, it causes friction, or a convection (up- and-down movement of air), which if violent enough, can cause lightning and thunder".

If you are still interested, check out the Wikipedia article for it : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thundersnow