Dream and Emerald Lake

December 04, 2016 in National Park, Photography, Retrospective, Hike

After seeing me go on a few more adventures hikes, Brittany expressed interest in coming along for one. I looked through the map and found a great hike to Emerald Lake that passed by Dream lake that was only a little over 3 miles and around 600 feet of elevation. Brittany had a decent amount of gear from other adventures and didn't require much to get her ready for the trip ahead. I also had been slowly getting better gear as well learning from every time I went out.

The hike was pretty uneventful, which was nice. We got there rather early, so we nearly had the trail to ourselves. We slowly made our way through the forest to our destination. Once we got to Emerald Lake, we had to go up this little hill before we could head down to the lake. What we did not realize is that the slope was deflecting all the wind up and over us and that wind was brutal.

Brittany had a little thermometer with a wind chill calculator keychain on her backpack, the temperature was 13 degrees, and we guessed the wind was around 20mph, that put the wind chill down to about -5 degrees. That's the coldest weather either of us had experienced. Brittany stayed back, and I went down to take some pictures, I lasted about 10 minutes.

We warmed up in the direct sunlight on the hike out. Across the valley, a massive cloud system rolled in making for some epic scenery. Once we got back to the trailhead, there was quite the commotion. It turns out that there were two hockey teams heading up to Emerald Lake for a game. That would have been pretty epic to photograph.

Photography Date: 12-4-16
Writing Date: 3-6-18

Chicago Lakes

November 27, 2016 in Retrospective, Photography, Hike, Adventure

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

To Sky Pond and Beyond

November 25, 2016 in National Park, Retrospective, Photography, Adventure, Hike

This hike was a huge deal for us. We'd never taken on an adventure this big or cold. Now granted, it's not Everest, heck I think just sleeping at Everest base camp would be harder than this, but we were excited. We were going to hike a little under 2,000 feet of elevation and somewhere around 9 miles all in sub-freezing temperatures. Before this, the longest hike I completed was 6 miles in the summer wear sneakers, and that just about killed me. If we were going to be true adventures, we needed to step up our game.

We decided to go on Black Friday, falling into REI's opt-out campaign. We did our research and put together what we could for hiking Kits. Let me tell you how comical my gear was. All my clothes were from Old Navy, my boots were city boots from DSW, and my gloves I picked up from a gas station... yikes. I did have a pair of crampons and some decent wool socks though.

We got to the trailhead nice and early and started our adventure with a pep in our step that only comes from excitement. The cold fresh air was incredibly refreshing in our lungs. We dressed for the cold weather at the trailhead but quickly shed our layers as we exerted our way up the mountain. Halfway or so we came to our first frozen lake, The Loch. I had never seen anything like that. Growing up a little under 500 feet above sea level, the largest body of water I had ever seen frozen could be described as a puddle. We quickly learned how fast and cold the wind blowing across the frozen lakes could get.

We carried on getting confused by the trail only a few times. Right before you get to Lake of Glass, you have to climb a rather steep hillside that could be called a low-grade cliff. This took us forever. Jesse and I at this point still had somewhat underdeveloped alpine lungs. Once we crested the top, we couldn't help but feel accomplished. We both explored a bit crossing over some slightly creaky ice. I continued past Lake of Glass and made my way to Sky Pond. Halfway in between the two, I broke through some ice soaking my right boot.

Once to Sky Pond, I had it all to myself. It was worth ever post hole I made to get there. I stayed as long as I could bear it, the wind chill seemed intentional on keeping me out. The whole area was incredible. The sky was clear and blue, and the wind was blowing snow flurries from the tops of the peaks around us. This was one of my favorite days.

Photography Date: 11-25-16
Writing Date: 2-28-18

No Sun for the Sunrise

November 20, 2016 in Photography, Retrospective, Video

Thought I would wake up early and see a fantastic sunrise from the top of Spencer's Butte, but good intentions don't always get you what you want. An excellent lesson to plan and check the weather report, but it was good to get out into some fresh air.

Photography Date: 11-20-16
Writing Date: 2-28-18

Little Adventures : New Rubber Boots

November 19, 2016 in Retrospective, Little Adventures

Ridley got a new pair of rubber boots, and it seemed like a good idea to break 'em in. We headed over to the Mt Pisgah Arboretum, there is a little trail that runs along the river, and it seemed like a perfect spot. Lucky for us there were plenty of puddles around but clear skies. We found a little side trail that took us down to the river, and we saw a few good sticks to throw into the water.

Photography Date: 11-19-16
Writing Date: 2-28-18