Joche Wizlo: Hikin' in the snow...in spring

Here we are, well into May, getting really used to the sunny weather and all the blooming that is happening in Longmont right now. I didn't have to work until 5:30, so Jo and I had most of the day off together, and decided that it would be amazing to take a nice, pleasant springtime hike out in the woods. So we drive up to Estes and encounter this scene...

Snow. Lots and lots of snow. And a grey, misty sky to boot. Observe:

Alright, alright. To be fair, we both knew that there would be snow on the ground once we got higher in elevation. We just didn't know exactly how much snow there would be. And there turned out to be a lot. We weren't entirely prepared (read: no waterproof pants!) but we were mostly prepared, as we did have the essentials:

Bagels: check. We made the mandatory pre-hike run to Einstein's to grab our favorite trail snack.

Snowshoes: check. We brought these "just in case," but it turned out that the hike would have been impossible withouth them, so I'm so glad we had them.

Warm hat: check. Nuff' said.

Backpack: check. Not only does it provide a convenient spot for the water, but it also looks incredibely cool.

Cute couple photo: check. Awwww.

Here Jo is at the trailhead. You actually have to walk through the Macgregor research station to get to the trailhead, which is kind of cool. I'd love to work out there; beats working in the office anyday.

And here's the trail. Yup, that is water you see, running down the steps leading to the trail. The snow had started to melt, creating a small river on the trail. This is the first of several instances where waterproof pants would have come in handy.

Here's me, enjoying the view. At this point in the trail the snow was too deep to walk in without snowshoes, so I'm so glad we had ours with us. Without them, we would have had to turn back.

I put this pic in because I want to remind myself to try to figure out what disease this poor tree has. If you're reading this sentence, I haven't been successful yet.

At several points along the stream we were following, there were these big patches of bubbles.

And now for my favorite shot of the day. This is Jo straddling a small stream, which also happens to be the trail. The melting snow had decided it would rather follow the path of the trail, rather than the path of the streambed, which is off to the right. Jo, undaunted as always, suggested we simply straddle the stream until the water veered off to where it was supposed to be, which is just what we did. Jo maneuvered the water perfectly. I, of course, fell in and got my foot soaked. Typical.

I didn't mind though, because what Jo found on the other side made it more than worth it. BEAR TRACKS!

Judging by the appearance of these suckers, they were still very fresh, so we must have just missed that old bear. Too bad. Or maybe not: bears just coming out of hibernation can be especially ornery.

We kept a look out for the rest of the hike, but we didn't find anything but more tracks. We did, however, spot these pasque flowers trying to make a go at it a little early. Brave little suckers, methinks.

And now it's time for a little Joga. Notice how supple Jo's limbs are as he gracelfully adjusts his snowshoe...

...............................

This is Cow Creek.

And this is the view from where we decided to have our picnic. Jo and I sat on a log and a rock, respectively, and enjoyed those Einstein's bagels you saw earlier. We wanted to go further, but we had to get back because I had work later, so after we fueled up....................

we put our snowshoes back on and turned back.

No, this is not a pretty mountain waterfall. This is another view of the waterlogged trail we had straddled earlier, which we straddled again to get back up.

And that was the last shot from Cow Creek Trail. We made it back sooner than we thought we would, so we had time to stop on the drive home to take some wildflower shots to add to the collection. I'm not going to name them all here, since Jo and I identify flowers on his Cthulhu's Gate site, but I'll throw them in just because they're so pretty to look at. Also, it's cools to see just what a difference altitude makes when it comes to seasons. Up in Estes, where the elevation is around 10,000, it was full-on winter. Down in Lyons, where these next shots were taken, the elevation starts at about 6,000 and spring was full force.

We pulled over and scrambled over the rocks next to the road to get these next shots.