Lake Helene Snowshoe Hike (Feb 24, 2015)

Susan and I have been talking about a bigger snowshoe hike for the past month or so, and we kept coming back to the idea of hiking up to Lake Helene in Rocky Mountain National Park, especially after a couple of our friends skied up there recently. We've hiked this area before, but not in the winter.

We'd gotten quite a bit of fresh snow recently and heard trail conditions were excellent.

So when Tuesday dawned and promised another bluebird day, we got our snowshoes out and headed up to Bear Lake to begin our hike.

The drive in to Rocky and up Bear Lake Road was beautiful and dramatic, as always.

Make your browser full screen and then click any image to see a larger version of it. 

Entering Rocky at the Beaver Meadows entrance

Along Bear Lake Road

We didn't get going all that early, hitting the trail at just before 11am.

Susan at the Bear Lake ranger hut

The hike starts at 9,475' at Bear Lake, then heads up the Flattop Mountain Trail and then joins the Fern Lake Trail. The "published" distance is about 6.4 miles round trip, with a gain of about 1,300'.

We were well-equipped this time, learning our lesson from our recent winter hike to Deer Mountain.

The scenery along the snow-covered trail was simply beautiful and we were so happy to be outside!

Along the horse trail above Bear Lake; Hallett in background

Longs Peak and Glacier Gorge

Mike on the trail

Looking back to the southeast

When we got to the large open area below Flattop Mountain we could see ski tracks all over the place. This is a popular area for skiers and boarders to hike up and do runs.

Panorama with Mike at the "ski area" below Flattop

From here, we "took the high road" climbing up higher than the summer trail. It was harder, but I think more scenic.

Looking up at other snowshoers on the "high road"

The trail had other tracks on it, but wasn't hard packed, and it was made a little more difficult by having to traverse a pretty steep slope.

Susan on the trail traversing the steep mountain slope

Along the trail

As scenic as this route was, it turned out to be a minor error, as we ended up well above Two Rivers Lake and Lake Helene with no obvious or easy way to hike down. On the other hand, being above Lake Helene provided views of Notchtop Mountain and Joe Mills Mountain which we'd never seen before from this angle.

One of our first views of Notchtop Mountain (right)

As much as Lake Helene was our destination, the real draw for me was the imposing Notchtop Mountain.

Susan presents... Notchtop Mountain!

Favorite shot of the day of Notchtop.
Note the hikers on the trail at bottom center.

We'd been hiking pretty slowly and it was starting to get late, and also windy, so we chose a direct line down to Two Rivers Lake so we could hike back on the Fern Lake summer trail.

Mike breaking trail on the way down to Two Rivers Lake (center left, below)

Susan heading down to Two Rivers Lake; Notchtop at right

Detail of Notchtop Mountain

At Two Rivers Lake we tried to sit for a few minutes to rest and have a snack, but it was just too windy to be comfortable, so we moved on down the trail.

Looking across frozen Two Rivers Lake to Notchtop

Before long we rejoined the trail we came up on, and continued on down to Bear Lake and finished up the hike.

Back on the trail

Fun shadows along the way

Susan kicking it on the trail

Icicles on trees 

We ended up clocking a total of 6.9 miles with about 1,600 feet of gain. Here's the hike profile and map generated by Gaia GPS on the iPhone.

Our last view of Hallett before heading to the car

Deer Mountain Winter Hike (Feb 8, 2015)

Susan and I had been talking for awhile about going up to Deer Mountain in the winter, so when this Sunday morning began with clear skies, we decided to grab our gear and head for the trailhead.

We didn't expect a lot of snow on the trail, and figured what there was would be well-packed by other hikers.

As we began the hike at 10:30am, we found the first part of the trail was patchy with snow and ice, and soon we both had our MicroSpikes on.

Horseshoe Park with Chapin, Chiquita and Ypsilon summits

The trail was pretty much what we expected until we got to the top of the all the switchbacks on the northwest side of the mountain. Then the "social" trail veered off the normal summer trail and for some reason took us more to the north. We decided to correct and had to bushwhack through the snow to head back to the normal summer trail leading to the summit.

Susan on the trail

The going got a lot harder, as there was 12-18" of snow on the unblazed trail, and we were not only post-holing a lot, but finding it hard to spot the actual unmarked trail.

As the snow got deeper we began to talk about whether we should just turn around. As we stopped to discuss, another couple about our age caught up with us by following our tracks, and they seemed to be confident of being able to reach the summit.

Susan decided that if they could do it, so could we, so we took a bearing on the summit and headed mostly towards it, tromping through the deep snow and weaving around trees and rocks.

Us, apparently happy with our decision to go on to the summit :-)

We leap-frogged with the other couple for maybe a quarter mile until they decided they'd had enough and they turned around to head down. We decided to keep going, as we were only about a thousand feet from the summit.

But with no trail, almost 2 feet of snow, steep terrain, and no snowshoes (or gaiters), we were post-holing on almost every step and were getting a lot of snow in our boots.

Finally, we reached the summit just before 2pm, and had it completely to ourselves!

Pano from the summit

We took off our boots and socks to try to dry them out a little, but the damage was done, and we'd be hiking down with wet feet. Not a big deal, as it was a very warm day, but a good lesson about always having gaiters -- and maybe snowshoes -- when we do a winter summit hike!

Mike on the "trail"

The hike down was somewhat easier, as we could avoid post-holing a little by walking in our tracks, and we got back down to the trailhead about 4:15pm.

Susan on the trail on the way down

Along the trail

Here's a hike map and elevation/speed profile.

The red line shows how much we slowed down as we approached the summit!

All the snow and post-holing, especially near the summit took a lot out of us, but we were very happy we summitted. As you may know, Deer Mountain is very special to us, as we got married on the summit in 2005. We have a new goal of hiking Deer Mountain in every month of the year, and this wonderful February winter hike takes care of one of those months!

We've now done the hike in February, April, May, June, July, and August. We'd better get busy on those other months! :-)

Morning panorama from Deer Mountain summit (Aug 2011)

Bluebird Morning (April 14)

When we woke up early Monday morning, we looked outside to see that most of the previous day's snow-bearing clouds were gone, leaving behind blue skies and pristine snow. 

When we saw this view of Twin Sisters out our front door we knew we had to go out!

With almost no discussion, we decided to forego our usual morning coffee and just grab our gear and head into Rocky Mountain National Park. We were undeterred by the 0F reading on the thermometer and rolled out of the garage at just past 7:00am. 

Driving in towards Deer Ridge Junction

We drove up to Deer Ridge Junction to take in the panoramic views of Longs Peak and the Continental Divide, then over to the viewpoints above Horseshoe Park to see the spindrift on Chapin, Chiquita and Ypsilon peaks.

Longs Peak and the Continental Divide

Mike and "Tina" in some blowing snow at Deer Ridge Junction

On the way down to Horseshoe Park viewpoint

Chapin, Chiquita, and Ypsilon peaks

From there we drove on to Many Parks Curve, where Trail Ridge Road is seasonally closed. On our way up, we noticed skier tracks on the mountain above Little Valley and we stopped to take a picture of them. Susan wondered aloud, "I wonder if my friend Nancy and her husband skied there?" She learned later that day that they indeed had hiked up 1.5 hours for a single ski run! 

Ski tracks left by friends

Longs Peak, viewed from Many Parks Curve

Susan captured this stunning telephoto shot of Ypsilon Mountain with a raptor in flight. 

Raptor in flight with Ypsilon Peak

We then headed back to Bear Lake Road, stopping along the way to see a Red Crossbill near the road. 

Look closely at the beak on the Red Crossbill

At Bear Lake we found a 75" base of snow and walked in to the first viewpoint of Hallett Peak.

 

Bear Lake Ranger Station

Obligatory shot of Hallett and Flattop from Bear Lake

Telephoto of trees on the mountain with the walls of Hallett in the background

Then we drove back and stopped at Sprague Lake, where a wild turkey greeted as us we pulled into the parking lot. As we headed in to the lake, we saw what looked like a small wedding party at the fishing pier on the lake, and from a distance we could see the couple posing for photos. 

Wild Turkey near Sprague Lake

Small wedding party at Sprague Lake

As we walked in clockwise around the lake, we met the wedding's officiant on the way out, under-dressed and obviously cold. As we got to the pier, we offered to take a few pictures of the family and then walked around the lake. 

Nice background for for a wedding!

Snow-covered trail along Sprague Lake

We watched a pair of geese make their way across the frozen ice. Amazing they can stay warm!

Canada Geese on mostly frozen Sprague Lake

After we got back to the car we decided to drive out via Horseshoe Park and Sheep Lakes to see if there were any Bighorn Sheep out and about. There weren't any, but we did stop at a Great Horned Owl's nest we knew of and found an adult hunkered down in the nest. 

After we moved on and got back into cell coverage, Susan got a call from a local birder telling us about some migrant birds at Lake Estes, so we decided to extend our little trip. 

But before we got back to town, we came around a curve on Fall River Road to find a herd of an even dozen of mostly female Bighorn Sheep, with a couple of not-quite-a-year-old lambs. 

Bighorn Sheep on the road

We pulled off and spent quite a bit of time watching and photographing them as they dug into the snow on the hillside, looking for food.

 

After this treat, we headed on over to Lake Estes, where we saw some of the usual birds there, plus a Loggerhead Shrike, Northern Flicker, American Avocet, Killdeer, Opsrey, and both Mountain and Western Bluebirds.  

Loggerhead Shrike

Killdeer

Osprey

When we looked at the time, we found is was after 1pm and realized how hungry we were! So we headed home for a very late breakfast and some coffee. Amazing how much we could see in just a few hours in our "backyard." And after having traveled so much in the past year, it was really nice to return to our familiar places. 

Mountain Bluebird

Mt Olympus, overlooking Lake Estes