Autumn arrives on frosty sled

A few snowflakes fell this morning and the top of Aspen Mountain looks like it got another dusting. Scattered rain and snow showers are in the forecast this afternoon, Tuesday night, Wednesday, and Wednesday night and there is a slight chance for snow showers on Thursday.

"New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible,” states the National Weather Service about Wednesday. Love that phrase, “new snow accumulation.” Haven’t seen that one in a while.

But it is cold and gray, for sure, on this first day of autumn. And a hat and ski jacket seemed like appropriate clothing this morning. At 12:40 p.m., it was 39 degrees in downtown Aspen. However, the NWS did lift the freeze warning as temps are supposed to slowly warm over the next few days.

Fall begins today at 3:19 p.m. and to mark the event, the Historical Society is presenting a talk, at 3:19 p.m., with River Rat Goddess Katie Lee, the queen of the once Glen Canyon, and the author of “Glen Canyon Betrayed.”

As Tom Egan, the communications director for the Aspen Historical Society, put it recently in an e-mail story pitch, “if you don't know, Katie is either 89 or 90 (born in 1919) and was the 3rd woman ever to run the Grand Canyon (in 1953) after Powell's expeditions.

“She has written 3 books (at least), is a songwriter and singer (with numerous albums from the '50s) and was an actress who was girlfriend to Burl Ives back when he was one of the leading men in Hollywood.

“She chucked most of that Hollywood life in the mid-50s to become a river running guide in Glen Canyon before Lake Powell and was devastated when it was damned. She is now an ‘activist’ living in Jerome, Arizona, who's goal in life is to see Lake Powell drained and returned to its former glory as Glen Canyon.

“I interviewed her about 10 years ago and she was the liveliest, sharpest, most energetic older woman I think I'd ever met, in the same category as Klaus.”