Big dig out begins in Gilpin County after being buried in snow
Cheryl Taylor and her daughter spent their Friday afternoon playing under the sun in the snow, but Thursday was a different story.
"Yesterday it didn't stop. For hours," said Taylor.
Gilpin County got some of the most snow in the state. Taylor says her Blackhawk home wasn't spared.
"We probably got about 4 feet-plus before it started settling with all the sun," said Taylor.
Growing up in Colorado, Taylor is used to big spring storms.
"The last one like this was probably 2003, the really big one that we had," said Taylor.
So, she spent Thursday getting ahead of the shoveling.
"We shoveled repeatedly my husband and I. And we cleaned off the cars early just to keep up on it," Taylor said.
Some of her neighbors chose a different path by choosing to wait until all was said and done to get their cars and homes dug out.
The city where Taylor lives is in much better shape than neighborhoods in the surrounding hills. Residents got a lot more snow and have long private driveways to plow. Some may not be able to dig themselves out for quite some time.
Taylor says she didn't have anything better to do Thursday so why not start early so she didn't get stuck. Even though she had nowhere to go.
"All the highways were closed yesterday I-70 and 119. And they declared an emergency in Gilpin yesterday to keep everybody off the roads because there were just stranded cars everywhere," said Taylor.
Clear Creek County also issued an emergency disaster declaration on Thursday. Friday drivers near Blackhawk found the roads relatively passable thanks largely to county, CDOT and city plows who worked to clear and haul away the snow.
Taylor says she is thankful that her city and her life is almost back to normal.
"The city of Blackhawk does an amazing job plowing," Taylor said.
