Meet the Snow Guardian: Colorado’s Most Interesting Hermit

Deep in the Colorado wilderness lives a man in his 80s that has been called many things including a hermit, an eccentric, and a scientist. Keep scrolling to learn about Billy Barr, or as he refers to himself in all lowercase letters, billy barr, The Snow Guardian.

Colorado's Snow Guardian billy barr

Get our free mobile app

The man known as billy barr is an interesting fellow, to say the least. Born in 1939, billy decided that he wanted to live the life of a hermit deep in the Colorado wilderness.

billy's home is located just outside of the present-day ghost town of Gothic, which is just up the road from the popular ski town of Crested Butte. However, billy is rarely found yucking it up with the locals.

billy began his life as a hermit in an 8-foot by 10-foot shack that he built himself with no electricity or running water. However, he has since upgraded to a cabin with solar power.

A typical day in billy's cabin might see him tending to his garden, reading a book, drinking tea, or watching cricket. However, one thing is constant about billy's day-to-day life and that is his meticulous work measuring and documenting snowfall.

Every day, billy heads out to his yard where he keeps homemade equipment for measuring snow, and during the majority of months at his cabin, he documents it in a journal.

billy has been doing this for close to 40 years, and his journal has even piqued the interest of scientists who have used his findings to study things like climate change.

Keep scrolling to see what goes on in a day in the life of billy barr, Colorado's Snow Guardian: