Only a couple days after Sky Pond, I was ready for more. I picked up a few pieces of gear from my learnings and was prepared to explore some more. This time I was heading out with my buddy Dylan into the Arapaho & Roosevelt National Forest area, specifically the Chicago Lakes trail. This would be my longest hike to date at around 11 miles.
The morning started off with quite a scare as fresh snow spun the truck around 180 degrees over a bridge on our way up. Once we got to the trailhead, we were greeted by a couple of guys ice fishing. I'd never seen that before. The trail ran along a road for a while past a reservoir and a few cabins, but it didn't take long to get into the wild. We were indeed the only people out there that day. We didn't see a soul, and we had nothing but fresh snow ahead of us.
The weather rolled in and out with nothing more than cold wind and dry snow, as long as we kept moving, we were able to stay warm. At the very end, there was quite a bit of elevation to tackle before reaching the upper lake, but the view was oh so worth it. At the top, there was the largest frozen waterfall I'd ever seen. By the time we made back to the truck, we were both hurting pretty bad; this hike was a good stretch for us.
Photography Date: 11-27-16
Writing Date: 3-1-18
