Slippery When Wet

I'm back out in BFC, and it's been raining most of the time I've been back. The rain itself does not present a problem, but when it comes in contact with primitive, clayey roads, the roads become impossible to travel on. The consequence of this is that I cannot work. If I was back home, this would be a good thing, but out here it means sitting around with nothing to do but read for days on end. Don't get me wrong, I like reading, but I'd rather get this job done so I can go back to Oregon for Christmas and never have to come back out here.

Since today was the second day in a row with nothing to do, the guy I'm training (Ryan) and I drove to Ouray, which is about 1.5 hours away. We didn't have to gain much elevation before the rain turned to snow, and everything turned white except the deer. In Ouray, we checked out the ice scene (Ouray is famous for it's ice climbing and the annual Ice Climbing Festival held there every January), which is slow to develop this year due to warmer than average temperatures (hooray global warming). We also went on a few short hikes including Box Canyon, which I'd been to in the summer but not in the winter while it was snowing. The white snow cascading down through the black slot canyon was a beautiful sight that reminded me of an Ansel Adams print brought to life.



Of course, it was quite scenic outside of the canyon as well.