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!

Deer Creek Canyon

After an eventful Saturday of riding around Lake Chatfield on my road bike, I decided to return to the area on Sunday to do some mountain biking. I was excited to finally not be mountain biking after an epic trek the day before.

The trail was much tougher, physically and technically, than I was expecting. I had to walk my bike up and down several sections because it was just too steep.

Once on top of the plateau, I was able to see Lake Chatfield, the Hogback, and downtown Denver. The temperature was around 50 degrees which was a little cool, but not bad.

Since I finally had fresh legs to bike, I enjoyed three hours of cruising on the wooded trail.

As I was zipping down the hill, I had to abruptly slow down to avoid some deer chillin' in the trail. These deer were not very skiddish and let me pass on my bike rather close.

The little ones were very cute to watch. They kept worriedly staring back at me while their mother just kept feeding. Relax, little buddy. I brought my own jerkey.

As I was descending, I experienced my first hardcore bike wreck. I think I was going too slow and grabbed too much front brake. The result was me toppling over the handlebars and onto the ground. The bike continued its momentum and landed on top of me. I disgustedly pushed the bike off of me and avoided eye contact with the rider pedaling uphill. No problems other than some bruises and scratches, which means I should be going faster since I am clearly invincible. :)

Mt. Massive

On Saturday, I got my new camera (waterproof, shockproof, and most important sand/dust proof) I decided to cross another 14er off my list and take on Mt. Massive. Massive is the second highest mountain in Colorado. It also has the largest area above 14,000 feet than any other peak in the lower 48. It is located just west of Leadville, CO.



After 10 miles of slowly driving down a very rough, dirt road (always fun!), I reached the trailhead. The hike began with 4 miles of hiking through dense snow-covered forest. Thankfully, I brought my Yaktraxs with me. (I would endorse these things for free. They are awesome!)

After emerging from the woods, I was able to see Mt. Elbert back to the south.

The weather was really very nice. I was expecting to be freezing, but it wasn't cold until I reached the wind flowing through the saddle on Massive. The hike was not technical at all, but 7.5 hours hiking 13.5 miles with 4500 feet of elevation gain sure doesn't make this an easy hike.

The view off to the east was amazing. It was interesting to see the town of Leadville from 14,000 feet.
I was amazed at the view looking from the saddle. I had no idea there would be so much snow. Mt. Massive was a clear dividing line between climates. (Just compare this picture with the one above)

Snow was falling in the distance. The storm didn't look particularly large, plus it looked as if it was tailing to the south, so I continued to the top of Mt. Massive.

The scenery was indescribable. I sat in wonder for 10 minutes.

After having a religious experience, I was approached by another hiker with his dog. If the other hiker would have been an attractive woman, I would have thought I had died and gone to heaven. "Mountains, woman, dog." Now that is a trifecta. haha

I wasn't 100% sure which peak was the true summit of Mt. Massive so I hit them all. I was above 14,000 feet for probably 30 minutes, so I was feeling a little goofy. This mountain was pretty big.
Mt. Elbert, the highest point in Colorado from Mt. Massive.

Elbert from a little lower.

Mt. Massive Status: Conquered

More proof of my B.A. status:

http://picasaweb.google.com/N.Marshall.80/8MtMassive#

Quick Catch-up

I haven't written anything for awhile, but have still been busy enjoying Colorado. I have been using my camera phone to document my adventures, so the pics aren't the greatest.

Went up to Estes Park 2 weeks ago and hiked within the Wild Basin. I didn't see anything too wild, but did hike up to Lions Lake to see some cool scenery. It was quite the trek, but rewarding nevertheless.

After the hike, I drove over to Moraine Park to see all of the elk running around. They are always fun to listen to and watch. Hundreds are roaming around the meadow.

That Sunday, I drove out to the South Platte River to do some mountain biking, although my legs were pretty worn out after Saturday's hike. Fun trail.

There were alot of burnt areas, which allowed riders to see Mt. Evans in the distance.

During the week, I rode from my place over to Green Mtn for a quick afterwork ride before it got to dark. I was surprised to see a full size bull elk less than a quarter mile from my apartment. And I thought seeing prairie dogs that close to my place was cool!

After enjoying my hike in Wild Basin the week before, I decided to return to it the next week. The weather was much different however. It was much cooler and very, very windy. I am pretty stubborn when I get a place in mind to go to, so I decided to hike despite the less than stellar conditions. My first destination was Sandbeach Lake, which sits just south of Mt. Meeker in Rocky Mountain National Park. The area was very scenic, but the wind was absolutely howling across the lake. I took cover behind a large rock to eat some lunch.

After bushwacking across a wooded hillside, I climbed to the top of Mt. Orton, which sits in the center of Wild Basin. It provided spectacular views of the Continental Divide and the southeast side of Long's Peak. When I reached the top of the peak, my hat blew off my head and instantly flew 50 yards away. I retrieved it, but had trouble standing up due to the wind. It was approaching hurricane force.

You know it is cold when the wind speed exceeds the temperature by a factor of 2. Brrr!

Pagoda Mtn, Long's Peak, Mt. Meeker

Well, my goal was to climb Chief's Head Peak, the 3rd highest in RMNP, but the wind was pretty miserable. Plus, I knew the view from it would be incredible and I didn't want to capture it with just a camera phone, so I headed back down. I grabbed some dinner in Estes Park (Village Pizza!) and went to visit the elk in Moraine Park again.

On Sunday, I rode my bike out by Deer Creek just outside of Denver. I picked an easier trail since I took such a long hike the day before. The scenery was neat, but I was most amazed by the number of deer I saw. I bet I saw more than 25 deer and not all at once either, but in groups of 4-5. They were everywhere!

I know I spend alot of time in the mountains, which probably seems boring to read, but I am still loving it.

Durango Mountain Biking

I was eager to finally get on my mountain bike after two days of "work."

I woke up early and headed out to Purgatory to go on the same trail as my first mountain bike ride. Here is a picture of me and pa riding for the first time back in the mid 90's.

Does the scenery look familiar?

The ride was fairly chilly, roughly 40 degrees. The ground was frozen so the mud was not a problem until it started thawing out as I rode back to my car.

It was a nice ending to my fantastic time in Durango. What a beautiful area!

After biking for an hour or so, I started my journey across Colorado. First up was one more final tour of Silverton.

Next up was driving through Ouray via Red Mountain pass. Very scenic.

Several hours later, I drove over McClure Pass.

More scenery south of Carbondale.

I really wanted to drive through Aspen to say I have been in that area. (I didn't see Mary Swanson though... or was it Samsonite?...Haha, I was way off.) I wasn't overwhelmed by the area, although I didn't drive down the famous Maroon Creek Road because of time constraints. I'll try it on my next trip. The aspens in Aspen didn't disappoint though.

Next up was the drive east of Aspen and over Independence Pass. The road was so narrow in places it didn't have lane lines.

The ol' Ford got me to the top.

The views from Independence Pass was the icing on the cake of an incredible trip.