2 April, Thursday - C.J.'s knee is not much improved after two nights, but she got up and baked a batch of scones for breakfast. She can walk alright but is not ready to try skiing or snowshoeing, so I was on my own to make use of the new snow.
I reached Sprague Lake and set off along the Glacier Creek trail towards Glacier Gorge TH (about 3.1 mi) around 1100. After the first half mile, the snow was untracked, but breaking trail in the light snow was a pleasure. I was following the trail markers, the openness of the trail corridor and the covered tracks of yesterday's hikers, and still managed to miss at least one turn and had to beat through the woods for a few minutes to cut the trail again. As the trail gained elevation, the gusty wind picked up and blew the new snow around. On a few places the snow on the trail had been eroded enough that some rocks were showing. A pile of what looked like fairly fresh scat with possible fur in it caught my attention, but the tracks were indistinct and I couldn't identify the animal which had left it. Shortly after crossing a wooden bridge and traversing a steep wind-packed slope I reached the junction with the Glacier Gorge trail (around 1250). Since it was 0.3 mi down to the trailhead, I decided to head back to Sprague rather than pack my skis down and back up. The trip back was fun with no steep places but plenty of good glide. I met two other skiers and a snowshoer who were on the way up. 
Another snowshoer had come as far as the bridge and turned back, leaving the trail widened and more packed down but not hardened. I was back at the parking lot by 1345 and home shortly after 2 p.m. for lunch. Later we got a call from Phebe at The Warming House and went over to pick up C.J.'s snowshoes. Then we went to Safeway where we got some groceries and a knee brace. Afterwards we toured around driving past the historic Stanley Hotel and then out to the Lumpy Ridge TH where the 0.6 mi trail leads to the Twin Owls, a rock formation I had climbed on back in 1965. With the sun still high in the sky at 1610, we decided to see what the Wild Basin area looked like so we drove down SR 7 and as far in as we could drive on the park road. It looked like there was not enough snow for good skiing even along the gated road at an elevation of 8500 ft. On the way back we stopped at the trailhead for Longs Peak (9450 msl) - it would provide good snowshoeing if you didn't mind the step climb. The tent-only campground apparently stays open all year and we noticed a few tent pads had been shoveled off - but only a few. Brr! We took Mary's Lake Road back to the condo rather than drive all the way into EP. There really is a Mary's Lake. After dinner C.J. commented that her knee was not getting any better and that we probably should be getting home to have a doctor look at it. Unfortunately a big storm is coming in on Friday night and Saturday so travel on Saturday might be a bit sketchy. I'm going to check into maybe ducking around the storm to the south rather than going the most direct way - back to Laramie and west to Ogden and on to Twin Falls. We'll see what the weather forecast looks like tomorrow.
I reached Sprague Lake and set off along the Glacier Creek trail towards Glacier Gorge TH (about 3.1 mi) around 1100. After the first half mile, the snow was untracked, but breaking trail in the light snow was a pleasure. I was following the trail markers, the openness of the trail corridor and the covered tracks of yesterday's hikers, and still managed to miss at least one turn and had to beat through the woods for a few minutes to cut the trail again. As the trail gained elevation, the gusty wind picked up and blew the new snow around. On a few places the snow on the trail had been eroded enough that some rocks were showing. A pile of what looked like fairly fresh scat with possible fur in it caught my attention, but the tracks were indistinct and I couldn't identify the animal which had left it. Shortly after crossing a wooden bridge and traversing a steep wind-packed slope I reached the junction with the Glacier Gorge trail (around 1250). Since it was 0.3 mi down to the trailhead, I decided to head back to Sprague rather than pack my skis down and back up. The trip back was fun with no steep places but plenty of good glide. I met two other skiers and a snowshoer who were on the way up. 
Another snowshoer had come as far as the bridge and turned back, leaving the trail widened and more packed down but not hardened. I was back at the parking lot by 1345 and home shortly after 2 p.m. for lunch. Later we got a call from Phebe at The Warming House and went over to pick up C.J.'s snowshoes. Then we went to Safeway where we got some groceries and a knee brace. Afterwards we toured around driving past the historic Stanley Hotel and then out to the Lumpy Ridge TH where the 0.6 mi trail leads to the Twin Owls, a rock formation I had climbed on back in 1965. With the sun still high in the sky at 1610, we decided to see what the Wild Basin area looked like so we drove down SR 7 and as far in as we could drive on the park road. It looked like there was not enough snow for good skiing even along the gated road at an elevation of 8500 ft. On the way back we stopped at the trailhead for Longs Peak (9450 msl) - it would provide good snowshoeing if you didn't mind the step climb. The tent-only campground apparently stays open all year and we noticed a few tent pads had been shoveled off - but only a few. Brr! We took Mary's Lake Road back to the condo rather than drive all the way into EP. There really is a Mary's Lake. After dinner C.J. commented that her knee was not getting any better and that we probably should be getting home to have a doctor look at it. Unfortunately a big storm is coming in on Friday night and Saturday so travel on Saturday might be a bit sketchy. I'm going to check into maybe ducking around the storm to the south rather than going the most direct way - back to Laramie and west to Ogden and on to Twin Falls. We'll see what the weather forecast looks like tomorrow.
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