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Altitude
Gains in altitude can affect anyone, especially when living above 7000 feet. It may take a few weeks to a few months for a new resident to adjust to Lake City's altitude of 8671 ft.
Sometimes, the effects of altitude change can make you ill. Symptoms can include: headaches, breathlessness, fatigue, nausea or vomiting, inability to sleep, swelling of the face, hands, or feet.
Some ways to reduce your symptoms: avoid strenuous activity for the first day or two, drink extra fluids, and avoid alcohol. Check with your doctor before going to high altitude if you have a heart or lung condition. If your symptoms worsen, consult a physician immediately.
Minor symptoms should subside over time. In long-term residents, the body makes more oxygen-carrying red blood cells to compensate for the lower oxygen levels in the air.
Sun Protection
It is essential to wear eye protection, a hat, and sunscreen when outdoors. The sun is many times more intense here than at sea level. In the winter, when there is a reflective layer of snow on the ground, the sun can be devastating to your skin and eyes, resulting in blisters or sun blindness, which really hurts!
Less extreme cases of burning can occur when you wear your goggles or sunglasses but forget the sunscreen: you look like a red raccoon for days afterwards. Some of us know this firsthand. The red sunburn masks your embarrassment, but that's not much comfort.
Protect yourself, and don't forget to protect children and pets from the sun as well. Sometimes, we have seen children at the Lake City Ski Hill without sunglasses or goggles, while Mom or Dad is fully protected. Don't be a bad parent. Sunglasses and sunscreen for kids are a must. If your dog will be outside in the snow at this altitude a lot, there are sunglasses for dogs as well (one brand is called "Doggles," which you can find online).
Weather & the Seasons
Lake Citians enjoy over 300 days of sunshine every year, and a cool, dry climate. Summer daytime highs are typically in the mid 70s to lower 80s. Lows in the summer are in the low 40s or upper 30s. Temperatures at higher elevations are usually lower than in town, although cold air does sink into the valleys at night.
Thunderstorms are typical daily occurrences during the summer, especially during July and August. We refer to this as the "monsoon" or rainy season. Stay off ridges and away from open ground to avoid lightning strikes. Longer hikes in the mountains are best started very early in the morning so that you can be down off the mountain when the lightning starts.
Fall usually arrives all of a sudden, when you'll notice that the air has shifted to cold and the sky is more intense. The rains have stopped, and the aspens and cottonwoods turn to gold. It's a great time to hike, bike, or otherwise get outside, and if you burn wood, you'd better put some up now.
Winter generally arrives with the first snow that sticks, sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It may snow dozens of times during the season, anywhere from a bit of graupel (little round pellets of snow) to a couple of feet deep. Usually the snow is lightweight and can be shoveled or swept fairly easily. Many times, it sparkles like billions of tiny diamonds. The coldest times tend to be roughly between mid-December and the end of January, during which times the temperatures at night dip well below zero, anywhere from 10 to 40 F below zero, with daytime temperatures ranging from 10 to 25 degrees F above zero.
What to Wear
In some ways, Lake City residents may be more concerned about their clothes than others, but not for vain reasons! Adjusting your wardrobe to the Lake City climate could be an issue of life or death, or 99% of the time, simply a matter of your comfort. Either way, you will want to dress appropriately for the conditions.
A good basic rule to remember: always plan for fast-changing conditions. Some very smart folks around here carry winter-worthy clothes with them on outings and in their cars year round. This is especially relevant when taking excursions to the wilderness and when traveling out of town during the off-seasons when there is sparse traffic on the highways. Remember the lucky college students who went off the road on top of Slumgullion Pass in February: they were wearing sandals and had no coats when the
sheriff, by chance, drove by and saved them from getting frozen.
Several stores in Lake City sell quality winter clothing; try the Sportsman Outdoors and Fly Shop, or the General Store. These items are also available from many catalogs or web merchants if you can't find them here.
Some wardrobe guidelines:
- Dress in layers that can be added or removed as needed.
- Don't wear cotton if you're working or playing outside. Synthetic fleeces and wool hold body heat even when wet or damp. Wet cotton can quickly lead to hypothermia in the outdoors. The easy way to remember this: "cotton kills."
- Keep a down parka or jacket with you on outings. Check the warmth ratings on it before purchase. A good winter coat will have a 600 or 650 fill of down, or more.
- Keep good insulated shoes or winter boots with you on outings and/or in your car. Winter boots are often temperature-rated by the vendor; some are rated to -40 F or colder.
- In the winter, consider wearing a pair of traction add-ons that slip over shoes or boots if you will be walking around outside. Items such as Yak-trax, Kahtoulas, or other cleats slip over your shoes or boots and give better traction on ice and snow.
- Socks are your new friends. No cotton! Try merino wool blends. They cost $10 to $20 per pair, but they are one of the most important things to own, and they should last many seasons. Cold feet = a cold you, even if you are wearing a warm coat and hat.
- A winter hat protects your noodle from rapid heat loss. There are many types of winter hats, including ones that fit under your helmet, have wind-blocking fleece, open on top for ventilation, cover just your ears, cover your head and face, or do any number of fabulous things.
- A summer hat should have a wide brim that shades your face and neck, plus a drawstring for the inevitable windy day. How many hats have been claimed by the winds of Engineer Pass? The world may never know.
- Always wear sunglasses or goggles with full UV protection (see "sun protection" listing above).
Avalanche Conditions
If you are heading out into the back country for snowshoeing, snowmobiling, or skiing, check the conditions at the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, where you'll find an interactive conditions map and detailed reports.
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