Winter in the Rocky Mountains

On Friday morning, I awoke to a winter wonderland. We only got 1 or so inches, but it did make the area look neat. It melted away by afternoon.

On Saturday, I drove up to Estes Park to do some Christmas shopping and do some hiking. I was expecting some snow to still remain, but it was actually quite a bit more than I was expecting.

I hiked up the Glacier Gorge trail system to Black Lake. It was a bit windy and in the low 40's, but I never got too cold. It was very cool to see areas I had seen numerous times in the summer, but this time it was frozen and snow covered.

My first destination was Alberta Falls. The falls had a shell of ice covering the falling water. It was very interesting to see. Most of the river was snow covered, however, snow covered the ice so you could not see down through it. The falling water, as seen in the video, can be seen through the ice.

Snow covered 90% of the trail, but the trail was compacted enough for the hike to not be too strenuous.
The next attraction was Mills Lake, which provided outstanding views of Longs Peak, Keyboard of the Winds, Pagoda Mtn, and Chief's Head Peak.


As I walked around the lake, I could hear occasional cracking of the ice. Along the shoreline, the ice crumpled up like frozen waves.

I was planning on stopping just at Mills Lake, but I was feeling pretty good and continued on to Black Lake. As I neared it, I noticed snow being illuminated by the sun blowing over the Continental Divide. It was pretty magical.

The wind was blowing at Black Lake and the sun's warmth had disappeared over the peaks. I grabbed some pics, drank some water, and headed down quickly. I felt pretty tough for being out in these conditions, until.....

....I noticed a black speck moving up a frozen waterfall. Yeah, that is an ice climber...and yes...he or she is insane. The wind would have to be absolutely howling up there with wind blowing snow on their faces. Ummm, no thanks.

Longs Peak was well illuminated along with Keyboard of the Winds (the pointy spires to the right.)

Since "Salutations" wasn't going to happen......yeah, I have skills.

Sunday I went hiking out in Evergreen. No pics from that trip though. :)
Monday, I'm off to North Carolina for railroad inspection on the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad. Yehaw!