Stories in this list received the most page views on SummitDaily.com from Sept. 21-27. 

1. Colorado transportation officials warn of ‘extreme congestion’ on I-70 and mountain roads this weekend due to leaf peeping

With fall colors reaching their peak, Colorado transportation officials are warning that traffic congestion could also peak this weekend.

The Colorado Department of Transportation in a news release Thursday said drivers should expect another busy weekend of travel along the Interstate 70 mountain corridor, with heavy leaf-peeping traffic likely both eastbound and westbound.

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Drivers should also expect “extreme congestion” along U.S. Highway 285, especially between Fairplay and Denver, due to people heading to Kenosha Pass — a popular spot for viewing the fall foliage.

Based on data from this weekend last year, traffic volumes were among the highest of the fall season, according to CDOT. Due to the congestion, the transportation department said it had to meter traffic at the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnels for 11.5 hours, from 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. this weekend last year.

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Westbound travelers last year also saw significant delays from about 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. between Evergreen and Georgetown, an unusual pattern for this time of year, according to CDOT. The delays were reportedly driven largely by the number of day-trippers who wanted to see the leaves changing in the High Country.

Last weekend, traffic on I-70 peaked at 6 p.m. on Friday, although speeds at Floyd Hill were below 10 mph from noon to 7 p.m. due to the congestion, the news release states. Peak traffic Saturday occurred between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. and Sunday traffic peaked around 11 a.m., according to CDOT.

Drivers this weekend should expect heavy traffic heading westbound late morning through early afternoon and then eastbound from late morning well into the evening. To avoid the worst congestion, it is recommended to leave early or late in the day. Travelers should also be cautious when seeking alternate roads because local roads such as Guanella Pass cannot accommodate interstate-level traffic, according to transportation officials.

Local authorities are also reminding drivers to park only in designated areas, including on county roads and mountain passes, so as to not block emergency vehicles.

— Ryan Spencer

2. Immigration enforcement operation detains 6 people near Dillon, Silverthorne, according to Voces Unidas

The U.S. Marshals Service confirmed it had agents in Summit County assisting U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement with an operation involving multiple federal agencies that began on Thursday morning.

“(U.S. deputy marshals) are assisting immigration enforcement operations teams,” an employee of the Denver office, who declined to disclose their name, told Summit Daily News around 10 a.m. Photos and videos in shared on social media Thursday showed unmarked vehicles and people wearing masks detaining people in the Dillon Valley area.

The U.S. Marshals Service employee said U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement was the lead agency in the operation and declined to provide further details since the operation was “ongoing.” U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement, commonly called ICE, is the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Voces Unidas CEO Alex Sanchez said at least five people were detained while on the way to a job site near Dillon on Thursday morning and were stopped while driving near Super 8 hotel and the Shell gas station. Sanchez said his organization spoke with several witnesses and a family member of someone who was detained to vet the information. Sanchez also said at least one person was detained in a separate interaction around 7 a.m. at the Dillon Valley East Apartments. Summit Daily News was unable to independently confirm these detainments.

— Summit Daily staff

3. ‘There’s a human cost’: Colorado mountain towns see student absences, community tension in wake of growing ICE operations

Colorado mountain towns are grappling with the impacts of a wave of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations.

Federal agents have detained dozens of individuals on the Western Slope this summer — although ICE has declined to provide information on exactly how many have been detained or the names of those it has taken into custody.

Meanwhile, rumors have swirled on social media, and community members have described an atmosphere of fear that has infiltrated workplaces and schools. Construction businesses have reported fewer workers showing up, and some school districts in the mountains have documented impacts to attendance as a result of ICE operations.

“There’s a human cost, as well as an economic cost, and it’s not just Latinos and Latinas who are impacted,” said Alex Sánchez, president and CEO for the Western Slope-based immigrant advocacy group Voces Unidas. 

President Donald Trump’s administration has said that the immigration operations have targeted those with criminal records and only go after “the worst of the worst.” But the limited amount of ICE data that is publicly available paints a different picture.

In the mountains, the increasing number of federal immigration operations has led to tensions with the public. At times, ICE operations have seen pushback, with community members coordinating on social media to get the word out about active operations and sometimes showing up to shout at the federal agents. Others online have cheered on the immigration enforcement operations.

In Frisco, a crowd of at least 30 people gathered outside a popular Mexican restaurant to express their displeasure with federal agents while they executed a search warrant at the business earlier this month. Some of the onlookers stood in front of the agents’ vehicles as they tried to leave, others honked their horns and one person shouted, “These are hardworking people. Get out!”

Summit Daily News confirmed two workers were detained during the incident. The investigation forced the restaurant — which has been serving customers for more than two decades — to close unexpectedly.

Then this week, a Routt County Commissioner said she was “boxed in” by federal agents in vehicles who followed her to the post office in Oak Creek after she took a video of their operations.

— Ryan Spencer, Robert Tann and Andrea Teres-Martinez

4. Two unique new businesses open in Keystone, Summit County’s newest town

The founders of Keystone Nutrition & Energy, Garrett and Emma Hazley, are the type of couple who can’t sit still. The pair and their slew of dogs are always on the move, and they wanted to make something to provide an energy source for busy people like them that is not coffee or an energy drink. 

Garrett Hazley described Keystone Nutrition & Energy as a health club largely targeted to people looking to refuel before any activities in the mountains. As someone who works in the ski industry, he said he knows how coffee- or energy drink-reliant people can be in Summit County. The couple wanted to introduce an alternative. 

“We’re all caffeine-addicted, caffeine-driven people in the mountains, and it’s never healthy,” he said. “You’re always crashing. You always feel like crap.”

Keystone Nutrition & Energy uses plant caffeine derived from black and green tea in its “loaded teas,” which can also include things like aloe for hydration and vitamins. Additionally, they have protein shakes. 

Emma Hazley said her love of health clubs began in Steamboat Springs, and she modeled her own after the Sundance Health Zone in Steamboat. She and Garrett Hazley said the team there helped them curate their health club. Garrett Hazley said in the short time they’ve been in the industry, they’ve learned how generous it is and how clubs across the state look to lift each other up and pass on what is working for them to others in the industry. He said these types of health clubs began popping up in Denver a while ago, and now there’s dozens. Because the clubs hadn’t quite hit Summit County yet, the Hazleys decided to be among the first to get the ball rolling. 

— Kit Geary

5. Snow is in the forecast for Colorado’s mountains, with the Continental Divide expected to see the most

A winter weather advisory has been issued for Colorado’s central and northern mountains from midnight on Monday through 6 p.m. on Tuesday. The advisory covers Summit County and mountain passes like Vail Pass and Hoosier Pass, along with the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnels. 

Around 3-8 inches could accumulate during that time on high mountain passes, with some of the highest peaks along the Front Range seeing possibly a foot or more, according to the National Weather Service. Little to no snow accumulation is expected in mountain valleys. 

The weather service is warning of slippery and slushy road conditions over high mountain passes, with hazardous conditions expected to impact commutes on Tuesday morning and into the evening. 

Meteorologist Joel Gratz wrote in a Sept. 22 blog on OpenSnow.com that while “any northern and central mountain could see a dusting to a few inches of snow near and above 10,000 feet, the continental divide from about I-70 northward to Wyoming could see more significant snow.”

“It is impossible to know exactly where the most intense band of snow will set up on Tuesday, but some area along the divide, from near I-70 north to Cameron Pass, could push 10 inches of snow,” Gratz said, adding that the big caveat is that a lot of the precipitation will fall during the daytime on Tuesday. 

— Summit Daily staff