Eastern plains communities dig out from drifting snow

Posted: Feb 7, 2012 5:33 PM by Andy Koen
Updated: Feb 7, 2012 5:45 PM

CALHAN - When you live this far out in the country, sometimes you just have to work harder. The strong winter storm that blew through the Pikes Peak region last Friday circled back around and hit Calhan again overnight.

Schools were closed again Tuesday and it took until mid-afternoon before state workers were able to park the plows. In the meantime, homeowners like Bob Selle spent the morning just trying to clear a way off their property. The gusting winds formed a nine foot high drift in his front yard.

"It took me three tries, three times and probably two to three hours each time with a 13 horse power snow blower," but Selle says he finally cleared his driveway.

Some of his neighbors needed heavier equipment like tractors and skid loaders to cut a path through their properties.

At 6,815 feet, Calhan has an elevation equal to the summit of Monument Hill. When it snows out here, it tends to stick around for a while.

Selle says the last time he saw drifts this high was in 2007 when back to back blizzards socked in the Eastern Plains.

"I don't think people fully realize that while it may be nice in Colorado Springs, here we still have quite a bit of snow."

With thousands of square miles of territory, it can take a few days to get all of the roads cleared. El Paso County Commissioner Sallie Clark says keeping up with snow removal is a constant struggle.

"But folks I think expect in a certain way that they pay for the rural atmosphere by not getting the services there as quickly."

In fact, those expectations are written into law. The Code of the West is a guide book of sorts for people who live in rural areas of El Paso County. Most of what the code says folks who live out here already know: sometimes you just have to work harder when you live this far out in the country.