Low flying stratus clouds recently settled over Boulder. They were part of a cold front which dropped the temperature at night blanketing the area with supercooled drizzle. When the clouds finally departed Mandy and I left for an early post-drizzle walk on the Tenderfoot Loop Trail. We were hoping to see the first snow of the season on the Continental Divide.
On the way up Flagstaff Road we noticed flocked trees above the Flatirons…
Dawn revealed flocking above the Boulder Flatirons
7 October 2012 @ 7:30am
Closer observation revealed that the flocking was a glaze of ice caused by freezing drizzle…
Flocked Pine Needles
This glaze encapsulated grasses…
Glazed Grasses
Branches…
Glazed Branches
And leaves…
Red Glazed Leaf
Glassy Leaf
As the sun reasserted its warmth the snagged cloud was liberated from ice back to water vapor so it could form rain again…
Mountain Mandy Sniffs A Snagged Cloud
On the way home we did catch some early snow on the Indian Peaks (as well as some liberated clouds). It’s a harbinger of frost to come…
First Snow Dusts the Indian Peaks
