Out There by John Devitt One of the great joys of hiking in the mountains is to be able to do it in glorious sunshine and clear air, and it seems to become more glorious and even more clear as we get higher and higher on the trail. At any time of the year, however, this scene can turn into a cold and wet one in much less than an hour. Colorado, in particular, is located astride the Continental Divide, and our high mean altitude and usually dry climate combines to produce particularly rapid temperature changes.
Plans can change in a big hurry.
We can begin by thinking about the year's weather patterns. As spring begins to turn into summer we can begin to believe that a sudden temperature drop will not cause a major safety problem. We may get uncomfortable but we are less likely to stumble into a life-threatening situation. As the real summer is upon us our major concern will be thunderstorms and lightning. We will discuss the latter below.