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| Snowshoeing Bear Lake | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I took my first snowshoeing trip on Sunday, December 30, 2001. The day was bright and the weather was clear and cool with gorgeous blue skies. I went with my co-worker Tom and his wife Debra to a place called Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. The initial drive took us through Estes Park, the location of the Stanley Hotel <the really scary hotel featured in the movie The Shining> I wish I had pictures of the hotel to show you all... it was massive and absolutely stunning to see. Looks like another trip will be in order. |
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| Our starting elevation at the entrance to Bear Lake was 9475 feet. The scenery along the trail was beautiful. Although it was cold at first, once I got moving, first while gearing up and then on the trails, I warmed right up. I started all layered with a rather bulky pack that had lunch and a few other items I carry with me wherever I go, but before I even set out on the trails I had my jacket balled up and stuffed into my pack. The sun was warm in the wide open. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| The trails were relatively flat. Off of some of the trails you could venture into deep snow but I wasn't quite ready for all that so I stuck to the trails trying to get a feel for the snowshoes. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| We stopped for lunch about an hour or so into the hike as it was around lunchtime. Rocks served as both table and chairs. Before we knew it, two pretty little Grey Jays became our lunch companions. I watched them as they hopped closer and closer to us from their position in the branches and wondered how close I could photograph them before they hopped away. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| One of the two seemed a little bolder than the other and as I climbed on a rock to get within arms length I was amazed that this little creature stood still and actually seemed to pose for the picture I was taking. It was really fabulous to get this close and see the actual fuzz of its feathers. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Updated July 22, 2005 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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