Judging by the weather outside, it appears that winter is finally over and spring is actually here. The weather is now warm enough to not require a jacket, and on an average day, it feels like it’s about 50 degrees. Of course, this warmer weather gets me excited for the upcoming spring and summer events in the Platte Valley. Last year, I had a blast covering the Woodchoppers Jamboree, Cowboy Gathering, Mountain Man Rendezvous, Microbrew Competition and other huge events that draw people in from all over the country. Outside of the events, there was also plenty of great fishing, hiking and boating to be had. It was also great to have both the Snowy Range Scenic Byway and Battle Mountain Highway open for scenic travel. Yep, my first summer here last year was a great time to be in the Platte Valley, and because of this, I couldn’t help but think of Saratoga as a perfect paradise where I could live forever.
That is, until “Old Man Winter” had to rear its ugly head.
Last summer, I would hear such comments as, “Wait until you see a winter here!” from folks who had lived in the Platte Valley for most of their lives. Acting the tough guy role, I would tell them, “Oh, I can handle it, it can’t be too bad,” “Oh, don’t worry, I’ve lived through snow”, or something else along those lines. Some of you may recall in a past column of mine, from around November or so, I bragged about how well I was handling a real Wyoming winter for the first time. I talked about how I had not become ill even once, and could go early-morning running in 14-degree weather without catching a cold later. I recall going far enough to say I became a “true cowboy” or “true Wyomingite”, simply because I thought I could handle the winter weather here. I thought if I stayed bundled up well enough, I could stay outside for as long as possible and survive anything these long winters had to offer.
Well, after spending an entire winter here, which I’d say lasted from about October to March, I realized I was dead wrong. After seeing how long these winters last, how often it gets below 0 degrees, how many times it can snow per week, and how long the ice and snow sticks around before melting, I went a little crazy. I eventually did become ill a few times, and suffered through a few colds, a sore throat, coughing, the chills and even bouts of vomiting. Believe me, I tried to stay bundled up, complete with a sweater, jacket, trench coat, two scarves, two pairs of gloves and a “double-protection” wool hat made from one hat inside of the other, but was still unsuccessful. I also wasn’t a big fan of the road closures and not being able to drive anywhere during snowstorms, or even where there was still too much snow on the ground. With Highways 130 and 70 closed, and even I-80 closed occasionally, there were times I felt stuck in Saratoga with no other place to go. Sometimes I considered selling my tiny Kia (a.k.a., the putt-putt-mobile), and getting a four-wheel-drive SUV just to brave the icy and snowy roads a little better.
When it started snowing in April, I knew something was definitely not right with the four-season calendar here. I’m also shocked to hear from folks who say it has snowed here in June or July during past years. Really? Snow in what is supposed to be the summertime? That’s still too hard for this California boy to comprehend. I grew up experiencing summers with warm sunshine all season long, and now I’m hearing it can actually snow here during that time? I’ve also heard that this past winter was a “mild one” when compared to previous winters, which is funny, considering I thought we were undergoing an abnormally rough winter season for 2013-14.
Don’t get me wrong, Wyoming to me is a great place to be during the spring and summer, but I don’t know if I could handle another blistering cold winter here all over again, especially if the most recent winter was a “mild one” according to locals. Once the season hit, I realized I wasn’t the “true Wyomingite cowboy” I once claimed to be.
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