Early morning just as the sun came over the mountains.   At this moment it was -8 degrees Fahrenheit (it was -12 degrees when I woke).  Now that is cold!  Certainly the coldest place I have been.  I know all you who are north of Minneapolis are thinking "I remember when it was 30 below zero and that's without the wind-chill!"   No thanks.  Fortunately for me there was no wind that morning.  I was told that the record low in the San Luis Valley is 40 below zero.

Want a little history?  For over a million years, the Rio Grand river ran through the San Luis Valley creating sand all along it's path.  At one point the river dried up, the winds started blowing the sand towards the northeast until it reached the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and began to pile up.  Except for the oft  winds coming down the mountains from the northeast, the sand would have actually been blown up over the mountains.