Snowshoeing in RMNP
Loch Vale and Mills Lake, from Glacier Gorge parking lot
7 miles RT, ~1,000' of elevation gain
24 January 2015
I wanted to take Scott and Kerry snowshoeing this winter, so we made it happen. I have been to this area before and it had great views, so I wanted to go again, taking them with me.
Our chosen day had some challenging weather. It was just below freezing, but the winds were whipping fiercly and it was overcast. The parking lot was nearly full just before 10 AM, and the initial weather was not encouraging. I later joked that the crux of the route was clearing the parking lot.
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| The trees helped up survive the wind |
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| Looky cheery after the frozen start |
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| This drainage is normally not accessible during the summertime, but it forms the winter trail |
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| Heading up the drainage |
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| The classic view |
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| 3-shot panorama |
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| It was very windy |
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| When I saw the lighting change, I had to stop and whip out my camera to get this shot |
We only stayed at the Loch for about 5 minutes because of how cold and windy it was. We headed down. When we got back to the trees, it became much more bearable. We went down the drainage and turned off for the Mills Lake trail. It's only about 1/2 mile to Mills Lake from the turnoff. It's not that far uphill either.
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| The wind was really whipping |
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| I love the log jam frozen in time |
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| Mills Lake |
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| Long's Peak, Keyboard of the winds, and Pagoda Mountain |
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| More wind! It was so strong it was hard to make forward progress |
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| Scott and Kerry |
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| Time to head back to the car |
The journey back down went as fast as we could manage. We didn't even really stop for a break, we just plugged away. Being hungry and cold kind of does that to you.
We stopped at Ed's Cantina in Estes Park and stuffed ourselves with Tex mex food. Then we drove to Left Hand Brewery in Longmont and sampled some beers. It was a good day.
