I remember the night of March 17th 2003 distinctly. I had just finished tanning (although you would never know because I'm so white) with my friend Carie. She told me that a big old snowstorm was about to hit the Denver area. Sort of like George Cloney's "The Perfect Storm" where everything was lined up just right where multiple different fronts were about to collide over our area and hold there for days. At the time it was fairly warm out so I was sceptical. But none the less I went to the store that night and stocked up on food, just in case. I was glad that I did.
Nobody gets in or out
The next day when I woke up I dragged myself out of bed and went to let the dogs out. Much to both the dogs and my dismay, when I reached the door it was filled half way to the top with snow. I spent the next 5 minutes digging out an area that the dogs could go outside through. One half of the deck is covered, so I was able to get a hole dug to it, and then the dogs were able to go out and play under the covered portion of the deck. By this first day of the storm there was already several feet of snow outside. Needless to say, I called into work. There was absolutely no way to get out. My boss even got stuck trying to get to my house to drop off things for me to work on, and he drives a Yukon.
The Next Morning
The next morning was basically the same procedure. Get up, dig a hole, let the dogs out. But this time we were dealing with about 4 feet of thick heavy snow. I let the dogs out and proceeded to go back into the kitchen to make myself some breakfast. When last I looked the dogs were playing under the overhang again. Just about when I got into the kitchen I heard a crash.
The Deck Cover Collapses
I headed back to the door and saw that the cover to the deck had collapsed under the weight of the snow. When it came down there must have been literally tons of force behind it. I opened the door and began calling for the dogs. There was no answer and I couldn't see any tracks leading away from the covered area of the deck. I was fearing the worst. I went upstairs and woke up my roommate John and asked him to come out and help me try to dig out the deck. I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I went back down and both dogs were waiting by the door to get in. It was amazing because I had never seen them leave the covered area on the deck, not even to go to the bathroom.
Next Couple of Days
For the next couple of days John and I would sleep in, get up, play around on the computers, take a nap, read, do nothing. It was really boring after a while and you start to go mad after not being able to leave your house for a couple of days. Finally John and I had it.
Getting Out
We had heard that Rampart Range Road about half a mile from the house had been plowed and that the Loaf and Jug gas station on it was open. We decided to take the dogs and go investigate the rumors. Just getting from the porch to the street where there had been some snowmobile traffic took a good 5 minutes. I'm 6 foot 1 and a half, and the snow was well above my waistline. Once we made it to the road it got a little easier because we were able to follow in other tracks, but it never got to the point were we were just walking like normal.
We Make it to Loaf N Jug
John, the Dogs, and I finally made it to the Loaf N Jug convenience store. It was a very unique experience to be inside shopping for food and drinks, while the dogs just ran around outside off leash. They were playing chase in the parking lot and running around the gas islands. Meanwhile, John and I loaded up on health food, like Cheetos and Tony's pizzas. John didn't like it when I took some of our limited cash supply and bought some of the little mexican candies that they sell there. These candies are more of a challenge to eat than a pleasure, but that makes them fun.... doesn't it? Picture a Jolly Rancher caked in chili pepper and salt, and you have a good idea of what you're up against.
The Long Walk Back
It was pretty exhausting getting back to the house. The picture to the left here is a little deceptive, but those are really about 4 foot snow drifts on either side of the walkway. And after the plows came those drifts were probably 6-7 feet high in a lot of areas. It was a lot of work walking through snow this deep, but it had felt really good for John and I to get out and walk around a little.
Beginning to dig out
The next day John and I began the long process of digging ourselves out. This is part of my trash bucket project, where I would pack a trash can with snow and then build a fort that protected us from the neighbors.
Fun in the snow
It took hours upon hours for us to get dug out. We had some fun though. Here is a picture of me at the entrance to a snow cave I made. Eventually we made it out to the street. It was just a matter of time, we had heard, until the snow plows were out cleaning our road.
All things come to an end
The storm had been fun and adventurous, but when the plows finally came out and cleared the streets, we had to go back to our jobs and begin to catch up on all the things that we had missed. The storm was later declared the storm of the century (even though a new one had just started). They said it was the worst blizzard in Colorado history, even worse than the one back in the 80s.
A quiet moment of reflection
As the storm passed, I reflected on the events which had transpired. I was glad that the dogs were ok and that I had gone shopping just before the storm, but I was upset I had not started any neighborhood wide snowball fights... Oh well, maybe next year!
