Two Days, Two Weathers…

It was a surprisingly warm Thursday, so I drove up to the mountains to spend some time in the woods. Before starting my hike, I stopped at the Buffalo Overlook to see if the bison were around. And they were :)

 

But before looking for the buffalo, I walked over to the bridge to enjoy the view of the distant mountain ridges. This is one of my favorite views, although usually you only get to see it for about 30 seconds while driving 70 miles per hour on I-70.

Then I turned toward the field and found a large herd wandering around.

You can almost always see buffalo here, but it’s not often that they come right up to the fence. It’s always a pleasure to see these magnificent animals so close, so I was delighted that they gave me the chance to watch and photograph them.

But I had something else in mind that day, so I left the bison behind and drove another mile before turning into the Genesee Park parking lot, where I began my hike.

It was my first time hiking the Beaver Brook Trail, so I didn’t really know what to expect. The weather, however, was perfect - around 70°F despite the elevation. Sunny and calm. I simply followed the trail and enjoyed the surroundings.

There were plenty of birds around, although only a few were kind enough to let me see them clearly. Like this woodpecker, dangling upside down from a branch while searching for a snack.

The trail soon descended, and before long I found myself down in the canyon walking alongside the creek.

I met a couple of gray forest squirrels and noticed many wild rose bushes along the trail. It was a wonderful place to be, and the weather was still perfect for hiking.

Soon I was about 800 feet below my starting point, and the creek was running much stronger here. I was surprised to see icicles hanging from some low branches. It might have been warm during the day, but it must have dipped below freezing overnight, creating these beautiful icy decorations.

After spotting a few more birds, I reached the turning point and began climbing back up. The trail there was rougher than I expected, and honestly much steeper too. But there was no other option except to keep going.

The slopes were made of tough granite - jagged and rather unfriendly looking.

The trail kept climbing higher and higher. This section doesn’t look steep in the photo, but there’s a reason they built steps there. Even with the steps, climbing those 15 feet felt like quite a challenge ;) But it was the only way back to the trailhead.

Later the trail became less steep, though it still wasn’t quite as easy as I had imagined. Not too bad either, though.

Just over five miles in about two and a half hours, not bad at all. Still, I hadn’t expected to go 1,100 feet down and then climb another 1,100 feet back up. To be honest, the trail wasn’t quite as impressive or scenic as I had hoped. Still, it would probably make a nice early morning hike in the summer before the sun gets too high. Maybe I’ll try it again someday, perhaps in the opposite direction. By then I was ready to head home, and wait for the weather to change.

The next morning was cold, but the snow that had been forecast still hadn’t appeared. Not bad at all, right? Then around 8 a.m., the snow finally started to fall… and it looked beautiful.

An hour later it still looked nice, but now the snow was covering trees, rooftops, and streets. It already seemed like more than the promised inch ;)

By 10 a.m., the oak branches were heavily coated. It still looked lovely, but the snow wasn’t slowing down.

During my lunch break I went outside, and walking under the falling snow felt magical. It suddenly felt like real winter, if you ignored the fact that it was already March 6th and we hadn’t had snow for forty days.

Cars were buried under about four inches of snow, even though the forecast had only promised one. But who really trusts the weatherman anyway?

I kept walking, simply enjoying the scene. It was beautiful.

Cars parked along the street sat under thick blankets of snow, looking almost picturesque.

I walked through a small park before heading home, though I couldn’t help worrying a little about the next day. The roads would probably be slippery once everything started melting.

Later that afternoon I drove downtown, and while waiting at the side of the street I noticed how raindrops covered the windshield. It looked beautiful in its own way. There was also much less snow there, which was a bit surprising.

The snow continued falling all day and only stopped at night. In the end, we received about eight inches where I was, while downtown got only a couple. Castle Rock, farther south of Denver, ended up with more than twelve inches. 

And honestly, we needed it. As I mentioned earlier, we hadn’t had any significant precipitation for more than forty days.

What a crazy swing of weather - one day 70°F, and the next day nearly a foot of snow. 

Photos taken on March 05-06, 2026.