Snowed Out!

It all started on the Sunday before the Season when the massive arctic storm front blew in and blanked most of the Northern 48 states in snow and extreme cold. Then came Thursday when I could finally get away from school to go out west in Colorado's unit 14 for my first hunt in the state. The drive was long from Fort Collins to Laramie then to Walden then into the unit. There was already easily a foot of snow on the ground where we spent the night in a motel. Then it snowed lightly through the night to leave the snow total still around a foot. The snow was coming down hard when we went out Friday morning it was nothing less than harsh with the wind and snow. We went out hiking around Friday morning came across some tracks, but as conditions deteriorated we went back to set up camp. Once we had the tent set up we hunkered down for a little while then I decided to go back out into the weather and try to get an elk. Snow shoes this time made my hike a much easier trek. Though once I decided to go off the road even with large snow shoes I was sinking in the loose fresh powder. All afternoon I marched all over the snowy beautiful landscape. Then after seeing no more sign than the tracks that morning. We hung out ate diner inside the tent. Then went to bed really early for me which was around 7 PM. Although the wind was so harsh all night the I woke up nearly every thirty minutes to an hour. The gust caused our tent the Bibler Bombshelter to bend and flex all night. Then when we awoke we opened the tent to see that yet another foot of snow. We decided with two feet of snow on the ground and this storm not letting up my truck may not be able to safely handle much more snow so we began the sad process of packing up camp and getting ready to go home. The drive out was amazing as the scenery was breathtaking but the road was difficult to drive on and stay on. After about an hour we reached Walden. Then we drove to Laramie which was relatively easy with just heavy snow but the roads were relatively clear. Then on the drive down from Laramie to Fort Collins conditions deteriorated quickly giving me my first taste of driving through a white out. With the windshield freezing over in some areas a had to lean over to view through a clear part of my windshield. Once home there was the job of unpacking all of the snowed in gear from the truck. This trip just left me with more experience and reason why not to go hunt during Colorado's 4th rifle season.