Nerdy. I discovered that I get a little bit of an elf complex when given snowshoes and am told that they allow you to walk on top of deep snow. I mean, Legolas might reside in Middle Earth, but the mountains in the heart of Rocky Mountain National Park are pretty damn close to the Pass of Caradhras when they're snow covered. I mean, you've got the deep snow, drifts taller than a person, howling wind that forces you to take cover, and, of course, avalanche danger. All that's missing is the voice of Saruman bringing down the mountain around your ears.
But seriously though, Rocky Mountain National Park in the middle of January far exceeded my expectations. I knew we'd have snow, and cold, and possibly a blizzard, but I didn't realize how much I would love the mountains in the winter. I'm generally a heat-seeking person, but when it comes to snow related activities you can sign me right up. Speaking of which, does anybody know of a good ski mountain in east Texas?
Moving on, Megan and I took a trip to Colorado for my birthday, and as sort of a last trip from Nebraska before I moved away permanently. We went skiing together last year, and wanted to try something new but still be able to play in the snow, so naturally we decided to snowshoe! On this particular day we decided to hike the popular trail to Emerald Lake, off of the Bear Lake parking lot and trailhead. I have hiked this trail many times, but never when it was snow covered, and I've certainly never left the marked trail to the chain of lakes. During winter, that rule goes out the window; you can pretty much walk wherever you please, including right across the lakes themselves!
Now, I'm always hesitant to leave the trail due to the very real risk of getting lost, which I have personal experience with in the same park (that story here), however in the winter, there are plenty of routes you can take to the lake, and if you come across a long expanse of treeless ice you're likely walking on one of the three lakes that the trail runs parallel to. I made Megan and I stick to the trail as I remembered it as much as possible on the way to Emerald Lake, and especially tried to stay off of the lake ice, but in the end gave up and chose the path of least resistance. Walking on snow is awesome and fun and I can't wait to snowshoe again, but it's also hard work. And I thought hiking was exercise! You have to do this sort of shuffle-walking to keep your snowshoes from crossing, and don't even think about backing up without trekking poles! You'll end up on your butt before you even know what happened. Keeping your toes pointed upwards, sort of like you would when riding a horse, helps to keep your snowshoes from dipping into soft powder on your trail and landing you on your face. Not that watching someone do that isn't hilarious (am I a bad person?) but if you happen to be walking along the side of a mountain you definitely don't want to fall.
Another bit of advice: don't be the first one on the trail. Yes, it's pretty and quiet and solitude is great and all, but trail breaking sucks. You're walking on top of the snow as much as your weight on the snowshoes allows, but you're still trying to push through fresh powder and not on hard packed trail. If you've ever walked on a sandy beach, you know the feeling. But imagine it at 20 degrees plus windchill.
Even with the drawback of trail breaking, Megan and I had a fantastic time. It took us quite a while to reach Emerald Lake, mostly because I made us avoid walking on the lake ice on the way up, and we also stopped to take a ton of pictures. The air seriously glittered with all of the snow kicked up by the wind. We got to the top of the valley and the end of our trail, and didn't linger in the biting wind longer than the time it took us to take a few pictures of each other at our destination. After hunkering down and grabbing a quick snack, we made stellar time on the way back to the car. I quit caring about not walking on the ice, sucked it up and went as quickly as possible in route to my car. And heat. It was a gorgeous hike, and I need to figure out how to see the mountains in winter again!
What I'm listening to: The Bridge of Khazad Dum by Howard Shore
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