I highly recommend crossing the Rocky Mountains between snow storms, not in them!
A big storm was predicted for later in the day and, when we left Craig, Colorado on April 26, 2023, snow was falling all around us. We hoped to drive out of it and, sure enough, we drove east into blue sky. Even so, at Steamboat Springs we checked the weather again. No freezing temperatures were predicted at lower elevations.
As long as we saw blue sky ahead, we continued east, ready to turn back at any time. Up we went over Rabbit Ears Pass which stays at 10,000-feet in elevation for several miles. Then we took narrow Route 14 through Walden and over 10,276-foot Cameron Pass.
Then we descended and left the spectacular snow-covered scenery behind. The storm caught up with us in the flatlands, a heavy rain and not the snow we had feared.