Wintering in Wyoming status

Despite having a little dusting of snow last week, Winter in Wyoming seems to be a little delayed. While the east coast is dealing with Sandy and its Frankenstorm mess, we have had gradually warming, sunny days.  This would not be nearly as interesting a point if it weren't the end of October!  In fact, the forecast has the area in the mid-60s on Thursday.  That is, Thursday, November 1st....!  Here in dry Wyoming, that temperature is as warm and pleasant as a low humidity day of 80 degree weather in Houston.  T-shirt weather.  I'm not complaining, but it is skewing my experiment to determine if I can whether a Wyoming Winter somewhat.

So, the Fall days continue, and they are really beautiful.  The light is low-slung, golden, seemingly pre-polarized - and it coats everything like honey.  Many of the cottonwoods still have leaves clinging, though they have turned a darker, ochre-y shade of yellow.  Hunting season continues for just a few more days, and that big buck that has been hanging out in the side lot next to the house is still alive and well.  He doesn't even mind my dog sniffing around in his general vicinity.

It is also still a season of change.  We have a new ranch hand coming later this week, but in the interim, no help down at "the place".  This is not a terrible situation, since the late season activities are largely tapering off - but there are some calves in the corral that will need a few bales of hay in the morning and afternoon.  There is also the case of the residence down at the place.  It needs to be turned over for the new ranch hand - it's the benefit of a provided place to live on site, just up from the creek, out in the country.  I'll head down there later today to do what I can.  Based on the comfort level so far this morning, I may just need a short-sleeved t-shirt!

In the coming week I'll be making a few landmark moves - registering my new vehicle here in WY, obtaining a WY driver's licence and plates, incorporating my consulting effort, local banking, feeding calves, and trying to get up into the Cold Spring / Red Alkali Gulch scenic roads before they're too difficult or messy to complete.

Below are a few photos - I snapped these with my phone, so if you're a facebook friend, you've probably already seen them.

This was Thursday, October 24th - the first snow of the season!  It lasted for a few hours, but was too warm to really accumulate.  What it did succeed in what making outdoor work fairly soggy.

This is Djinni (pronounced Genie), looking east, in the late afternoon sun.

Looking east toward the Big Horns after a little rain activity earlier in the week.  You can't see the higher elevations because of the clouds, but the peaks collected a little snowfall from this accumulation.