Is this a Polar Vortex?

Hmmmmm….probably not. We know the rest of the country has been hit with some colder-than-normal weather—and our thoughts have been with you all!-- but here in our parts it’s winter as usual. We’ve gotten large amounts of snow the past several weeks and for that we’re grateful. More snow is important for the skiing community and important for us by way of water levels. No snow in the winter means an inevitable drought in the Fall, so we’re delighted to be well on our way to having a beautiful Spring ahead of us here in the mountains. And that’s great news for our guests, too! We’re already anticipating the incredible wildflowers the first several weeks of June. (And not to mention we offer a 10% discount those first 2 weeks….and we still have a few cabins left…oh wait we did mention it…well just sayin’…ahem!)

This time of year we head out to check on the herd pretty often. They are out kickin’ up their heels in the river valley with all their buddies and lots of room to run. Everyone’s looking great, but we check them one by one. We just like to say hello and quite frankly—so do they!

 

Full bellies around here!

(Hay in your hair is all the rage. Walker is workin’ it!)

On the ranch, things are starting to get a little uhhh… “hairy”. Lookin’ good Jerry! Oh no wait—that’s the ranch van. With a beard. (Jerry was obviously driving this last.) Sorry for the confusion.  **NOTE: Jerry is still lookin’ good! **

Don’t let that snow fool ya—even though it’s cold out here, there’s still a warm welcome waiting if any of our guests are ever in the area to ski. We’d LOVE to see you all and you’re always welcome to stop in and say howdy. This place sure looks different under its white comforter all tucked in, but it’s just as beautiful!

Here are just a few photos!

We snuck over one morning when it was –30 .That’s not wind chill folks—that’s actual temperature. But we wanted to SHOW you what –30 looks like. (Once again—that’s how much we love you. Because we—the camera and I—braved those temps to get you some pictures!)

Right about now the fingers started aching.

Must….get…pictures….

The petting farm animals looked good and stood soaking up the rising sun. I slipped ‘em a few carrots and then briskly walked to grab a couple more photos before my hands stopped working…

Doesn’t the Colorado River look so warm and steamy? Makes you want to take a dip, huh? Ya?

And then the toes could no longer be felt….but look at that view!

*And with that, we made a beeline for the house.*

You’re welcome!

Then there’s the beauty we can catch on some warmer days (aka above zero). Do you see the little “sun dog” to the right in this photo? We see these rainless rainbows pretty often.

But THIS? Is something very rare.

Iridescent clouds are a diffraction phenomenon caused by small water droplets or small ice crystals individually scattering light. They appear similar to what an oil spill in a puddle looks like, but in the sky. But since the sun has to be in the right position, there is only a small window of time these are visible throughout the year. Add that the clouds have to be a certain thinness during that time and the right distance from the sun, and you can see why you could go your whole life and never see one of these for yourself. We were pretty amazed ourselves! The colors are even more brilliant in person, but hopefully you can get an idea of how incredible it is. No photoshop here!

Here are a few more pictures from around the area! The theme is “snow” in case you weren’t sure…

Anyone know what this capture is looking down on? I’ll give you a hint. It’s our Breakfast Ride crossing! Can you guess it now?? (Hmm…maybe we’re not good at guessing games...)

Winter guests!!

And this is what it looks like up in Rocky Mountain National Park. Clearly being nominated as the plow person here means you have job security throughout the winter (and hopefully a three day food supply in case you run out of gas—whew!) Kinda makes you rethink the words “snow day” huh?

    So you intuitive folks (It’s alright if you didn’t notice—we still love you. And you have nice hair.)  may have discovered we just recently added a “pin it” button in the corner of our blog photos. We’re anxious to announce that Bar Lazy J has joined the ranks on Pinterest! We’ll be sharing great pictures, posting a guest board where you can share ideas and photos with us and sharing some of our other favorite things from around the web as well! Please come follow us there and help us spread the good news about Bar Lazy J by re-pinning some of our photos! Add it to your bucket list if you’ve never joined us or add us to your favorite places if you have! Looking forward to connecting with you all there!

Stay warm everyone! And when you catch a chill, let this warm you up:

We’re halfway to our 2014 season!