Summer weather arrives

It looks like it will be a beautiful week leading into the Fourth of July this Saturday. Temps in the 80s with few clouds and just a light chance of showers. The last two days have been silky feeling with sunshine and warmth and near-perfect days. The Ideas Festival starts Monday and should pump up the volume in town along with the second week of the Music Festival. There is a sense of optimism in the air. But then, when the air is just perfect, it is hard to be a pessimist.

Sun returns for Aspen FAC.

Excuse me sir, but could you please stop choking your monkey?

Okay, this is isn't really fair. He's a nice guy. I asked if I could take his picture. He said, "Sure, but give me a minute" and he finished building his balloon monkey by putting its head on. Guy is an artist. It would take me a week to build a balloon monkey. He has a nice shady spot across from the playground on the mall. The kids like him. And since he made the monkey, he can do whatever he wants with it.

Jazz Aspen Snowmass JAS Academy band playing a tune Friday called "Antics." Perfect kind of jazz for a mellow and wet early afternoon. Not your average downtown scenario.

Rainy Friday on the Hyman Ave mall with its happy flowers.

Cooler today in Aspen, on opening day for music festival. Now it is summer.

Expensive field of green with long-weekend jets taking off behind the view.

Morning rush. Hot blue-sky day unfolding along the RF River.

Summer shows up in the valley with a hot streamside day. Hooray.

It really was a beautiful day. The first of summer, really. It arrived on cue with warm winds, sunshine and a general sense of Rocky Mountain bliss. Long overdue, that feeling.

Commuting with legends

Was toiling up Highway 82 Friday, coming around the dump curve, and there were suddenly scattered taillights and slowing cars just ahead. Couldn’t tell what was up, but the VW van easily slowed down. A little faceless sedan suddenly zoomed up in the mirror and cranked into the left lane only to be instantly confronted by another car also darting into the left lane. Ah yes, just another little life-threatening moment on Killer 82 to start the day. More brake lights now dead ahead. What? Two cars had slowed nearly to a stop. A black one was on the shoulder. A gold one was in the right-hand-lane, crawling up the highway. What? The gold car then swerved halfway onto the shoulder, then all the way over, cutting aggressively in front of the black car. Inside the lead car, a photographer strained forward, his lens against the windshield focused on two cyclists riding steadily uphill toward Aspen, on a highway shoulder rarely used by recreational bikers. With the commotion, it has to be…Lance and Levi, out for a training ride on a beautiful June morning. Up ahead on the shoulder, two black leather figures were climbing off a sleek motorcycle. One held a large video camera and was prepping to capture the legend’s ascent. It looked like a paparazzi battle, with teams of drivers and cameramen determined to capture the scenic sideshow of Lance in Aspen. And so the Lance Effect continues to grow, sending out ripples from Aspen to the cycling world.

Finally, sunny and in the 70s in downtown lanyard zone.

Aspen opens for the summer party season with a sunny warm day.

Jazz band working a groove on a cool Aspen Thursday.

If you’re coming for the weekend (and don't you think you should be?), bring fleece and a rain jacket! The forecast for Friday is for mostly cloudy skies with a high near 73, which should be pleasant enough. Highs on Saturday should hit 70, but there is a 40 percent chance of rain. Sunday should be less cloudy, with a high of 72. The nights at the music tent for the jazz will be cool, with a low of 43 Friday night and gusty winds on Saturday night. Fleece blankets will be highly prized in the tent during the shows.

Fryingpan River rolling coolly through town, awash in rain and spring energy...I will follow.

Chilly eve in Aspen,where summer has still yet to show. Maybe manana.

These boys are ready to go Jeepin'

More soon from the Aspen/Basalt Pet Patrol...

The little Aspen dogs of summer have arrived.

It is beginning to look a lot like summer, with the little spoiled dogs returning, like the salmon of Capistrano.

Rain-swollen Colorado River in Glenwood Springs Tuesday morn.

Early monsoons

It has been a wet-afternoon week in the valley, with sunshine opening the day, followed by a few hours of the big white puffies, and then gray and wet afternoons. The result is that the valley is a luminous green. There is still dirty snow on the high peaks and the cool weather has slowed the river run off. It remains relatively quiet in town, which seems to be enjoying its spring off-season, thanks very much.

Off-seasonous

It happens. You leave town. It feels good. You return. It feels okay. It is still off-season and quiet in town, so returning and then immediately thinking of getting away again is common. But trails are being ridden and hiked, peaks are being skied, and rivers are being run. The snowpack is now below average for this time of year and the snowmelt is expected to run early and quick. It was a pretty good winter for skiing, all in all. December was great. It came thick and steady for two weeks and there were the lightest holiday crowds on the hill in years. Trails had great coverage and flat bumps due to so little traffic. Corkscrew Gully one day was just perfectly amazing. Anyway, just pleasant memories now that burble up while making fresh plans and we will re-visit them in more detail in the days to come.