We were planning another weekend hike when Jesse's daughter wanted to come along, so we picked a trail close to home with not too much effort but a huge payoff. We headed out to Eldorado Canyon State Park to take the Rattlesnake Gulch Trail up to the Continental Divide Overlook and to see the ruins of the Old Crags Hotel. It was a short yet fun adventure.
Photography Date: 3-12-17
Writing Date: 3-18-18
Jesse's good friend Logan was in town for some business and wanted to add in a bit of adventure, so we made plans to head up into Rocky Mountain National Park. We decided to hike into Fern Lake which was perfect for me as I failed to see it on the last hike, though we would be coming in from another trailhead. The morning started off with a bit of excitement; I was pulled over right in front of Jesse's place right as I got there. The police were called about a little pickup being up to no good, but it was a case of mistaken identity, and I was let go.
We made our way up the trail in the early blue hour before sunrise. Nothing but our laughter could be heard as we told jokes and shared stories and goofed around. Maybe we would have seen more wildlife if we were quieter, but oh well. The trail seemed to just go up for miles more than we planned for, up up up, until we finally made it to Fern Lake. To be honest, it wasn't much to look at. We knew the lake would be frozen, but the snow had blown over it covering it completely. It just seemed like a snow-covered field. That was ok; sometimes it is about the journey and not the destination.
Photography Date: 2-18-17
Writing Date: 3-14-18
After talking for a while, my friend Jeff and I finally decided to get out and explore. We landed on the Fern Lake trail, but rather than coming in from Moraine Park; we would take the trail from Bear Lake. Rocky Mountain Park had gotten a lot of snow recently so that snowshoes would be required. I didn't own a set and had never used them before, but Jeff had some spare and would show me the ropes. At the time I had a problem with my hip, it would flare up after a long hike and get pretty sore. The kind of sore that made you want to sit still. I didn't think it was going to be a problem, because it was something that flared up towards the end of the day, but there was something about how I had to walk with the snowshoes that agitated it from the being.
We started our hike with the sun rising over our shoulders as the dim light trickled down through the trees. The trail was surprisingly busy that early morning, but I later learned it was a pretty popular starting trail that cut off to many different routes later on. We soon broke free from the rest and began blazing our trail through fresh snow. We did a test and discovered we were on top of over six feet of snow in one area. The snowshoes made keeping on top of the snow reasonably secure, but my hip didn't like the new movements to accommodate for the shoes.
The whole morning we were protected from the wind since we were deep in the trees, but once we came into this massive clearing, we realized how fast it was blowing. It pierced through layers like you were wearing a t-shirt. I quickly put my coat back on as we headed out to explore. Because the wind was able to blow down the mountain so fast and the snow was so dry, when it would finally grab hold of something, it would build these beautiful structures and shapes. We spent some time exploring this area before my hip pain finally beat me, and I could take no more. Something about pushing yourself to the limits while on a hike is that you still need to make it back, this is not something I thought well out.
We ended up turning around and make our way back to the truck. We got nearly half way to our destination before I pooped out, the feeling of defeat was overwhelming. I also felt pretty bad for Jeff too, as ai know he wanted to do more exploring than I was able. After limping back to the truck, we drove around the park a bit to check out a few areas we hadn't seen yet in the snow. Besides my hip hurting, the day turned out pretty good, and Jeff was a great sport.
Photography Date: 1-7-17
Writing Date: 3-9-18
Trying to get one more adventure in before the end of the year, Jesse and I decided to head back up to Mills lake to see what it looks like in the winter. We visited this lake once before in the summer and were very inexperienced, but this time we had a better idea of what we were doing. On our way to the trailhead, we had to stop at Moraine Park to take in the morning light. To our surprise, right behind us ended up being a heard of Elk.
We made it to the trailhead and began our hike. It's always tricky for me to plan for the clothes I should wear on the hike, the weather is so cold, but the energy you exert to hike gets you so warm. It seems that layers are always the key. We made our way to the lake and to say the least it was quite surreal. At this point, I had seen frozen lakes, but those were lakes I had only ever seen frozen. This was the first lake that I had seen as water and now ice.
We explored the area a bit and decided to push on to Jewel Lake right behind Mills and then try to get back to Black Lake. The advantage of winter hiking is that you can travel right across the lake and save the time hiking around. The trek was pretty easy to Jewel, but getting back to Black lake would be more difficult. The snow packed trail quickly began to run out and we started to post hole deeper and deeper. At one point I jumped of the trail and nearly made it up to my waist in snow. We needed snowshoes to get any farther so we decided to turn around.
On our way back, we ran into an old man wearing nothing more than running pants and a long sleeve jersey unzipped halfway down his chest. He looked to be in his mid 60's and was just out from some trail running. I was impressed. He informed us of a winter shortcut back to the trailhead that has you descend the mountain over a frozen creek. This shortcut was only open during the winter as the snow and ice protected the ground from high foot traffic. The old man continued on his jog further into the park, and we parted ways back towards the truck. By the time we made it back to the trailhead, we had crossed paths with the old man again, but he had covered quite a bit more ground than we did. Makes you think about how you treat your body and how I would like to be that healthy when I'm older.
Photography Date: 12-30-16
Writing Date: 3-6-18
The Willamette Valley got hit pretty hard with a cold front. There was ice everywhere and destruction followed. Downed trees and power lines cause quite the havoc in Eugene; some people didn't have power for a week. One of the issues was the ice thawing during the day and refreezing at night. Here are a few pictures from around the house.
Photography Date: 12-16-16
Writing Date: 3-6-18
