Steamboat Pilot & Today

Another beautiful Colorado orchid. Submitted by: Marcy Gruber

Submitted by: Amy Groeschel

Forty-three people competed in the first of the Bald Eagle Lake Open Water Swim Series on Monday. The mile winners were Steamboat Springs residents Samantha Terranova, center left, in at 19 minutes and 56 seconds, and Scott Weir, center right, at 20:15. The half-mile winners were Seana Harker, of Longmont, in at 11:36, and Steamboat’s Tyler Terranova, right, at 12:27. The series continues every Monday through July. Races begin at 6 p.m. Single-race cost is $25 for advance registration or $30 on the day of. Swimmers also can register for four races for $90. Shannon Lukens/Courtesy

Registered Radiological Technologists Molly Nykamp, right, and Kathy Liberman, left, look over a digital X-ray in the Yampa Valley Medical Center’s Diagnostic Imaging Department. Photo by John F. Russell

Erin Taylor, a registered nurse, logs in vitals along with Amanda George, a certified nurse assistant, at the Yampa Valley Medical Center’s intensive care unit Monday afternoon. Consumer Reports has ranked the hospital the safest in the state, and among the best in the nation. Photo by John F. Russell

About 65 astronomy enthusiasts of all ages joined Colorado Mountain College astronomy professor Jimmy Westlake and Stagecoach State Park seasonal interpreter Andrew Henry on Friday night for the inaugural “Stagecoach Star Party” at Stagecoach State Park. Visitors got to view the moon, Mars and Saturn through a variety of different telescopes. Jimmy Westlake/Courtesy

Professor Alex Latchininsky, of the University of Wyoming, confirmed Monday that the early arrival of mild weather in Northern Colorado and Southern Wyoming this year provided the potential to give juvenile grasshoppers a fast start. Photo by John F. Russell

As if the dry conditions were not challenging enough, ranchers and homeowners in Steamboat Springs soon could face another nemesis. Fields in the area already are filled with small grasshoppers, and officials are worried that the populations will continue to grow as dry conditions persist. Photo by John F. Russell

As if the dry conditions were not challenging enough, ranchers and homeowners in Steamboat Springs soon could face another nemesis. Fields in the area already are filled with small grasshoppers, and officials are worried that the populations will continue to grow as dry conditions persist. Photo by John F. Russell

Routt County Search and Rescue volunteers and North Routt Fire Protection District firefighters secure Zachary Cole before pulling him up an elaborate rope rescue system Sunday. Darrel Levingston

Routt County Search and Rescue members set up a rope rescue system near King Solomon Falls on Sunday afternoon. The 1,100-foot rope rescue was described by a Search and Rescue incident commander as the toughest rescue he's been part of. Darrel Levingston