Frozen Waterfalls and Frozen Lakes: What Else Would You See During Winter?

Cheerful. Our first full day in Rocky Mountain National Park found Megan and I up early and on our way to a trail. You know, almost every single day that I travel starts early, and I'm usually on my way to a trail or am driving long distances. By now, you should just assume I was up early. It'll be a real story if I actually sleep in. Anyway, we were headed up to Bear Lake, and from there we planned to hike to Alberta Falls and to the chain of lakes beyond. I had visited Alberta Falls last June, and knew it to be a fairly easy hike, but also crowded with lots of tourists. In mid January, however, I found the opposite to be true. Have I ever mentioned how much I love winter travel, solely for the fact that there are next to zero people out? Of course, that may also speak to how crazy I am for going hiking in the dead of winter...as well as the people I drag along with me! Megan and I set off in our hiking boots after deciding not to rent snowshoes for the day; the trail was packed enough that as long as we didn't wander off, we didn't sink into knee-deep snow.

The day was overcast, and the trail quietly led us through the evergreen forest, softly leading us up the valley toward Alberta Falls. In the stillness of the forest, especially with the lack of people, I kept expecting to hear the falls before we saw them, and was therefore caught by surprise when we slid out of the woods and onto the expanse of bare rock where the falls should have been visible. Then I remembered that it was the middle of winter. Alberta Falls was a frozen chunk of water buried beneath inches of white powdery water.

Sure, it was neat to see the whole area frozen solid and covered in snow, but I was a bit disappointed that we couldn't see more of the falls under all of the snow. I guess I should have been prepared for frozen waterfalls during winter in the mountains. Megan and I didn't linger long at the falls, instead turning up the path toward the lakes I had hiked to the previous summer. This time I intentionally made the decision to hike to Mills Lake, unlike the time I just decided to see where the trail went (story here.) We crunched on through the snow, marveling at the green trees drooping under the glittering weight of winter. I couldn't get over how different the trail looked from the summer time, but I suppose there was also a small amount of time that had passed, perhaps messing with my memory of the route. We took our time, careful not to slip on ice or step off trail and into the banks of snow on either side of us. Rounding a corner, we found ourselves on an exposed edge along the side of a mountain that the trail just so happened to take us across. The trail was ice. Oh, and it was windy as hell. We'd been relatively protected from the wind while we were in the trees, but once we became exposed, we were at the mercy of the bitter wind blowing down the valley. We went slowly, and on the other side we slipped gratefully back into the shelter of the trees.

Unfortunately for me, once I get chilled, it takes a heater and maybe a hot drink to warm me back up, and I spent the rest of the hike trying to keep my fingers from going totally numb. In what felt like no time, we were once again exposed to the wind, this time on the banks of Mills Lake. It was gorgeous, seeing the crack patterns in the ice on the lake, watching the wind blow tendrils of snow around the dark surface in a fast tempo dance. I think it took us all of 30 seconds at the edge of the lake before we turned tail and found a somewhat sheltered place out of the wind. We ate a snack and attempted to warm up, discussing whether or not we should go on up the valley. We tried, and when I started sinking into the snowdrifts that lay across our path, we gave up. It wasn't worth getting both wet and cold. We took our pictures and memories, and headed back down the trail.

 And you know what happened just after we left the lake? The sun poked her face out of the clouds threw sparkles out of every snowflake. The entire forest glittered. The air shimmered with the snow kicked up by the wind and our footsteps. It was magical, and reminded me of why I love winter travel so much. You never get to experience something like that in the middle of summer. Bugs, maybe, but not shimmery, glittery snow that makes everything brighter. We headed back past Alberta Falls and towards my car, overall happy with the hike and more than excited about the next day, when we finally got to snowshoe!