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
