The final weeks of summer will continue to see moderate daytime temperatures in the 70s and overnight lows in the 40s. In other words, continued perfect weather in Colorado’s high mountain desert. Watch for light rain showers toward the end of the week. More below to start the week:
1. Bears on the hunt
Colorado Parks and Wildlife has issued a reminder to keep a lid on the outdoor trash cans and not allow the state’s black bear population easy access to food sources. “As fall weather settles across Colorado, black bears enter hyperphagia – a natural phase of increased activity and intense eating to prepare their bodies to survive the winter. Bears will be traveling up to 20 hours per day in search of food and chance encounters are likely to increase,” reports CPW public information officer Joey Livingston. Valley residents are reporting seeing bear activity in Sanford, Antonito and the Del Norte area over the past week. If you see a bear causing trouble in the area, call CPW to report it.
2. Night rescues on the Blanca massif
Alamosa Volunteer Search and Rescue now has the ability to conduct rescue missions at night. The all-volunteer organization used to have a hard rule against searching at night. Now, with the acquisition of two pairs of military-grade night vision goggles, things have changed. AVSAR is training and conducting missions with the high-grade goggles and in early August Alamosa Citizen reporter Owen Woods joined a night training to learn how it all works. Here’s the full story: Learning to see in the dark.
3. Remembering Coach
Peggy Vigil, daughter of the late Joe Vigil, returned to her hometown of Alamosa for Adams State Cross Country’s remembrance of the U.S. Track & Field Hall-of-Fame coach who passed away in July. The Grizzlies, ahead of the start of their 2025 season, paid tribute to the coach who made running a thing in Alamosa and the San Luis Valley during his time both at Alamosa High and then Adams State. Alamosa Citizen photographer Javier Rodriguez captured these images from Saturday’s remembrance.
4. Los Testamentos exhibition
In Saguache this week is a new exhibition: Los Testamento by Katheryn Nelson, an artist who documented colcha embroiderers and weavers from the San Luis Valley. Los Testamentos brings together 70 black-and-white silver gelatin prints Nelson made to document artists in the communities of Capulin, Center, La Garita, Saguache and San Luis. The photographs are presented alongside colcha embroideries and weavings that Nelson collected during her time working to record the lives of these artists. The exhibition will be on display Sept. 12 through Dec. 7 at The Range, an artist space at 307 4th St. in Saguache. The photographs and artworks provide extraordinary images of everyday life in the San Luis Valley from nearly 50 years ago.
5. Now Streaming on The Valley Pod
Jamie Keairns, office head for the Colorado state public defender; Judge John Stenger; and District Attorney Anne Kelly join The Valley Pod to talk about Warrant Clearance Day. Listen in.
6. City spending for 2026
Alamosa will present its proposed 2026 municipal spending plan during a public season on Thursday, Sept. 11. The meeting begins at 6 p.m. at City Hall and will allow community members to ask questions about the planned spending.
7. College Football
Adams State dropped its season home opener to UT-Permian Basin, 41-7, on Saturday night at Rex Field. The Grizzlies have a week off to regroup before beginning Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play with a home game against Western Colorado on Saturday, Sept. 20.
