Interesting article, very much worth reading!

For those of us who are from out of the area, drive long distances for perhaps a once-a-year backpack, tend to take long trips, and generally have no phone reception except in towns, preliminary research for general conditions is important, but the actual weather forecast is not much help. Once we're out there, we're stuck with #8, cloud observations. Canceling a trip after an 800-miie drive just ain't gonna happen, although I've changed location twice due to forest fires The best we can do is to assume that there will be almost daily, if not daily, thunderstorms in the Rockies and be prepared. One good tactic is to start each day at the crack of dawn and plan to be down off the heights by 2 pm, descending sooner if conditions warrant. It also helps to know where thunderstorms generally come from in an area so you know where to watch.