Glacier Creek Trail and Wild Basin

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.

Sprague Lake to Glacier Basin XC-Ski

The photos in this posting are from the previous day when we stopped at the Alluvial Fan at the base of the Fall River Road, a one-way road connecting to Trail Ridge.


1 April, Wednesday - When Ginny called this morning, C.J. asked for advice about her strained knee and didn't get any awesome new miracle treatments. So she is keeping her knee elevated, icing and taking ibuprofen. That means no hiking, snowshoeing or skiing today - well, for C.J., anyway. After breakfast I went in to town and bought some groceries at Safeway (and checked out their minimal supply of knee braces). I stopped in at the EP Visitors Center then wandered around the main tourist district of town. I think I've visited all the sports stores by now and bought only a Nat Geo map of this part of RMNP. After I prepared lunch for us, I packed up and drove out to Sprague Lake. There was enough snow including the new stuff in the last couple of days (and ongoing) to consider using my skis instead of snowshoes. The trail went W for a while and then cut south and east to circle Sprague L. (at a distance). After a short time spent climbing, the trail started down gently toward Glacier Basin CG. Before I reached there (and the probable walk back up the road), I found a branch trail that went back fairly directly to Sprague. There was definitely less snow the few hundred feet lower at GB so I carried my skis for a ways then put them on to ski the 0.5 mi to the lake. Once there, I walked the lakeside trail which had only an inch or two of snow on it back to the car. While it had snowed fairly hard most of the way to Glacier Basin, it had stopped and became almost sunny for the return trip. I drove up to Glacier Gorge just to check the snow depth - looks good, and there were ski tracks so it might be a reasonable ski route to Sprague from there. On the way back to the condo I passed two more herds of elk ("Ho, hum, another herd of elk") right near the Beaver Meadow entrance station. At the condo, it was snowing and the car thermometer read 25 deg. Still snowing now at 1800.

Hike to Chasm Falls

31 March, Tuesday – After a leisurely start we drove into the park through the Fall River entrance and parked at the West Alluvial Fan near the gated Old Fall River Road. There were only patches of snow on the paved road but we carried our snowshoes just in case. A bit more than a mile in we came to Endovalley picnic area and the beginning of the unpaved one-way-only Old Fall River Road (gated again). We walked first on gravel, then on packed snow and ice for 1.5 mi or so and reached Chasm Falls just beyond a set of switchbacks. C.J. and I carefully negotiated the short, icy trail to the bottom of the frozen falls, took some pictures and returned to the road. Since old tracks in the snow continued on, we went up the road another quarter-mile or so in progressively deeper snow until we turned around and headed back down. We stopped to get some pictures of a wall of icicles and while maneuvering for a better angle, C.J. slipped into a hole and twisted her knee. She was eventually able to walk out the remaining two miles to the car with the help of a length of Ace bandage and her ski poles.

Fortunately the weather had been improving with mostly sunny skies and just a bit of snow flurry activity; the temperature had gotten up to just above freezing. However, we had met no one at all on the trail so we were on our own to get back to the trailhead. Back at the car after our six-mile hike, C.J. felt well enough to walk a short nature trail up onto the alluvial fan, a remnant of a landslide from Lawn Lake high above the valley. Later we drove up to Many Curves, the gated seasonal end of the Trail Ridge Road (about 9700 ft). I was surprised to see trees on both sides of the road (instead of the tundra that would have been there if the elevation had been another 2000 ft higher) and enough snow to ski on (if it hadn’t been packed hard and icy). We returned to the condo through another herd of elk (two herds, actually – one was outside of the park entrance). C.J. is icing her knee and hoping that tomorrow won’t be an awesome day (unlikely, since the forecast is for 80% chance of precip, maybe 2-5 inches of snow in EP). Earlier C.J. had checked into other WorldMark resorts and now we are considering going south to Red River, NM, where there is good skiing and "340 days of sunshine a year". Apparently it's not as cold in the four corners area as the Kayenta reports had been showing so we might be able to do our original trip to Monument Valley and the Utah national parks.

Snowshoe Hike to Dream Lake

30 March, Monday – We figured on getting an early start to reconnoiter the area. It looked like there wasn’t much snowpack to ski on, but the locals told us not to judge it based on what we saw in EP. So we headed for the Beaver Meadows visitor center for RMNP and talked to the ranger about skiing and snowshoeing. We got lots of good info, maps and a frameable postcard then headed back to the condo to get some more appropriate clothes – it may have been warm yesterday
but it certainly wasn’t above freezing today.

(right, map from the signboard at Glacier Gorge trailhead)

On the way back we got side tracked by a sign at The Warming House, a sports shop, claiming a sale on rental snowshoes. Since we had only brought one pair with us, hoping to use our skis mostly, we needed to rent or buy another pair. The price was reasonable so we got a pair of the new-style lightweight aluminum ones for me. C.J. already had lightweight plastic snowshoes. Back at the condo we packed for cold and windy conditions and drove up to Bear Lake where the snow depth was close to four feet and the sky was partly sunny (but cold with the temp right around 16 deg). We talked with some other folks and decided to try to snowshoe up the trail to Nymph Lake and go on to Dream Lake if possible, maybe even as far as Emerald. The unmarked trail was well packed and snowshoes were hardly needed as far as Nymph. There people were turning back because they could not find the continuation of the trail. We got there at the right moment as two skiers with alpine equipment came down the trail on the west side of the lake. We started up the somewhat more challenging trail and I soon exchanged my “new” snowshoes which were equipped with serious crampons for C.J.’s plastic, slippery modified bearpaws. The climb wasn’t too bad but the weather was deteriorating with the wind gusting and blowing snow in our faces. We were glad we had stopped to get our balaclavas from our flying gear. By the time we reached Dream Lake, only 1.1 miles from the parking lot but 1000 feet higher, it felt like time to turn back. We returned to Nymph by a different route which had some interesting traverses. Along the way we found a sheltered spot with a bit of a view and had a short lunch break. The snow had really started to come down hard and we were glad to reach our car and head down to more mellow weather. In fact, before we had driven half way back to EP,the sun was out and we were able to enjoy watching and photographing herds of elk (We missed a shot of the coyote who crossed the road right in front of us). Back in EP we checked out another, larger sports shop near Estes Lake. Unfortunately they were not selling out their rental snowshoes and we had decided that C.J. really needed a pair of smaller, crampon-equipped snowshoes, too, if we were going to continue to hike the high country. Back at The Warming House, after a stop for groceries at Safeway, we found that the snowshoes in C.J.’s size had both been rented for the next three days. We’ll make do until then, or rent a pair if necessary. Returning to the condo we realized how tired we were from the hike at 10,000 feet in the cold wind even though we had not gone far at all. We were content to just laze around the rest of the day. C.J. continued working her pictures over with Photoshop and is getting really good at making them look their best. During the afternoon, though, C.J. came up with an idea about what we should do after EP since the weather looks to be too cold and wet for camping in the SW. She suggested that we cash in some points and spend a few days in West Yellowstone on the way home. West Yellowstone’s weather looks good for skiing and C.J. found out that there are units available all through April at the Worldmark condo. We’ll think about it for a day before committing to the plan.

Garden of the Gods and Rocky Mountain National Park

29March, Sunday – After our last LaQuinta breakfast we met Mark Forbes in the parking lot and drove out to the Garden of the Gods. We checked out the visitor center and then drove into the park and parked near the tallest of the redrock spires. The trails are now paved through the

center and vehicles are only allowed on the roads which circle the center. All of the commercial activity is gone from the park along with the faux cliff dwelling trading post (removed in 1996). All in all it is more natural than it was when I last visited fifty years ago on my way to Philmont. After leisurely strolling the central paths, photographing the formations and talking to some climbers, we went back into Colorado Springs for some ice cream at Josh and John’s. From there C.J. and I headed north on I-25 over the summit at Monument where there was more snow, through Denver, and on to Estes Park with a stop for gas and some groceries at a Costco C.J. spotted as we drove through Thornton. Later we tried to find a Bank of America in Loveland with no success. I had steered us that far north so that we could drive up Big Thompson Canyon which I remembered as being spectacular from my first Explorers Caravan trip back in the summer of 1966. Estes Park downtown did not look any different – very touristy – but the outskirts have really grown up. We had been enjoying warm travelling weather (the car thermometer showed 70 deg briefly) and, even at 7300 ft in Estes Park, it was still pretty warm and there was little snow left from the storm last Thursday. We found the Worldmark condo easily, checked in and moved all of our stuff out of the car. It was good to settle in for a stay of most of a week.

Spring USHPA Board of Directors Meeting

27 March, Friday – Surprisingly the day was sunny and the snow was quickly disappearing and the temps had risen somewhat. C.J. had only the Awards Committee meeting to attend/chair (Brad Hall was delayed by the blizzard). At the meeting, there was only one topic to discuss – the Rob Kells Memorial Award. Brad had sent his ideas via email and it was easy to fine-tune them to a finished product. Lisa was the only other attendee but Connie Work dropped in to say she would have been there but for another meeting scheduled at the same time. Rick Butler was also there and after the meeting we talked with him for quite a while. I asked him about the loose screen problem on my Toshiba and he took it apart enough to determine that the left hinge was broken (later I found that it was “only” missing its machine screw which was sheared off inside). We went across the street to Chilis for lunch with Paul Gazis – the food was much better than we had remembered it from years ago. Since there weren’t any other meetings we needed to attend we went back to the hotel. I caught a little more rest to make up for all that snowy driving, then went down to the fitness room for an hour. Around 1900 we went back to the Doubletree and carpooled to the USHPA office with Brad, Lisa and Mike Hailey for the open house. Paul Montville and his crew, including new personnel Erin and Beth, provided a great feed of barbecue and interesting beers. Martin had even arranged for Doubletree chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

28 March, Saturday – We got over to the meeting in time for the General Session which was scheduled to run all day. At first it went quite quickly as the Exec Dir and Pres. gave their reports and most of the comm. chairs got through theirs as well. Soon enough though the board ran into more controversial material (the Torrey Pines situation, for one, and the new competition rules, for another) and the pace slowed down as the discussion became more heated. Fortunately everyone that we went to lunch with at Chilis again were still speaking to each other. C.J. stayed for the rest of the meeting while I returned to the hotel, read for a while then went down for an hour in the fitness room. Later we showered, rested and got dressed for the awards banquet. It was at Nosh, a rather fashionable restaurant on Tejon Street, the location of most of the popular bars and restaurants in downtown Colo Sprgs. It was a bit crowded at first until the non-USHPA patrons were moved out around 2030. Dinner was very good starting with a platter of interesting appetizers like smoked salmon meatballs and lettuce-wrapped seasoned sweet potato. Paul did a good job as the emcee for the awards ceremony and a reasonable number of the awardees were present including Katherine Yardley, Joe Gregor, Bill Liscomb, Steve Prepost and Dick Heckman. Too bad that more of the awardees could not be there – some were turned back by the blizzard, of course, as were several of the directors.

Heading for the Spring USHPA Board Meeting

C.J. is still the co-chair of the Awards Committee so she must attend the board meeting in Colorado Springs. We went last year as well because Wally was receiving the PG Instructor of the Year award and Ginny invited us. Shortly afterwards President Lisa Tate asked C.J. to be the co-chair with Brad Hall. Last fall we flew back to Chattanooga for the BOD and now we are on our way again.

24 March, Tuesday - We didn't get a terribly early start but we had enough time to stop at Peter and Naomi's to drop off the fleece jacket Peter had won at the Bi-Wing Fling at Baldy last October. They weren't there (Later we heard that Peter had been interviewing for the PhD program at WSU.) but we got to meet their lap-raised chickens. On the way to fill up with (cheap - $1.909) gas at Costco in Yakima we drove through the canyon looking for the invisible bighorn sheep. We ran into snow as we crossed the Blue Mountains and made our semiannual stop at Sierra Trading Post in Meridian. After filling up with (even cheaper - $1.709) gas at the Boise Costco, and picking up a rotisserie chicken, we camped at the Airport Motel6 for the night.


25 March, Wednesday - We got a reasonably early start from Boise but should have pushed for earlier because we had an extra 80 miles to cover to get to Laramie - last year we had stopped at Twin Falls for the night. We didn't think much of it because the GPS was showing that we would get in around 1730 which seemed reasonable. Unfortunately, the GPS does not automatically adjust for time zones so the travel time would put us in at 1830 - and that's not even counting stops here and there for this and that. We stopped at a rest area just after we turned onto I-84 just beyond Burley, climbed over the high Sweetzer Summit in light snow and then dropped down into the Salt Lake Valley. The guide at the Utah Welcome Station reminded us of how to get to Costco in Ogden and we got gas ($1.679) and lunch there. Climbing out of the valley to the high plains we started encountering snow again. We made it to just beyond Rawlins with a couple of rest stops just as the snowplow operator locked the gates to I-80 to the east. Feeling brave and confident we headed north on US30 and 287 through Medicine Bow and on to Laramie. It was snowing and blowing and not too deep on the road, but we were glad to have some other traffic with us. We made reasonable time and got to the Best Value Inn shortly after 2015 following a stop at Safeway to pick up some salad makings to go with the leftover chicken (we were definitely on a low-budget trip this time). The motel was pretty nice and we even got upgraded to a room with a microwave and refrigerator. Not that a refrigerator was needed at all because the temperature outdoors was in the low twenties and the wind was howling.




26 March, Thursday - We slept-in a bit, had breakfast and went into town to get gas (and a discount gas card at Loaf and Jug ($1.649 - prob the lowest price we'll see this trip). The temperature on one bank sign showed 6 degrees and there was snow in the air, only some of it due to the strong wind. As we drove south out of town on US 287, the snow picked up and soon there was not much scenery to see. It was a slow trip over the high point and it got even slower as we headed down into Colorado toward Fort Collins. By the time we reached the city, the roads were snow-packed and icy, and we were happy to hit 30 mph once in a while. C.J. checked with the 511 system and found that 287 and I-25 had been closed to Laramie shortly after we made it through. I thought it would be better once we got on I-25 but it was, if anything, worse, and still worse as we crept bumper-to-bumper through Denver. We made a short stop to rest at a Wendy's just south of Denver - good thing because the next rest area was closed. Once beyond the suburbs the traffic eased and the road conditions improved. Still, it was blizzarding in Colorado Springs when we reached there some nine hours after leaving Rawlins, only 150 miles away. At least we had booked a nice room at the LaQuinta Inn just a quarter-mile from the Doubletree where the BOD would be meeting (if everyone shows up - last we heard I-70 was closed, and the COS airport was closed also).