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Leap Day Float About 2008
February 2008
Estes Park , CO
posted by emptycloud
Leap Day Float About 2008
Namaste, greetings and gratitude to each of you...Well a Leap Day is the perfect excuse to take a day out of time and head to the hills, especially with the warm weather we are having here. So I stuffed my Osprey pack full of standard gear, filled the bladder, grabbed a couple cameras and film, strapped on the tripod and Atlas snow shoes and headed west into Rocky Mountain National Park.
I parked at the Bear Lake trail head about an hour later, hydrated and headed out. It was a solo trek for me and the trail wasn't too crowded being a weekend. Every one was delighted to be out and about especially the tourists. It was fun wishing all fellow wanderers a happy leap day, most weren't even aware it was so.
Anyway, I didn't put on the snow shoes though everyone else was wearing them, my pack is designed to carry them till needed. The trail was so packed and crusted from wind and traffic that just a little toe and heel kicking was needed for the steeper pitches. When I got up to Dream Lake after about 45 minutes of awe inspiring views, I was ready for a break and set my gear down behind a gnarly old Pine tree that offered relief from the cold wind. After a quick snack I set up my tripod up for some peak shots. The wind put some shake into the mix even with the tripod.
I had all my Outdoorsy and Tribe friends in mind and heart as usual keeping me company throughout the day. And as usual Jamilla, my dear Tribe and trail compadre, showed up in her Raven guise to cackle at me during break time. She was so funny flying into the wind and going nowhere as she tried to make headway over the frozen lake.
The snow depth was about three to, four feet I would say, depending on sun and wind exposure. It wasn't a long outing, about 2.5 round trip, but it is a steady climb up and back down from about 9,475 to 9,900. Just the perfect test run for my now healed broken ankle, which showed no signs of fatigue or distress. It's back to near normal after 4 months of self- healing. It had me worried about my hiking future there for a bit, but by the grace of the Almighty Whatever, I am back on the trail and loving it.
I stashed my gear in the truck but couldn’t tear loose from nature yet. So, I took the cameras of to Bear Lake which is just a few hundred feet from the parking lot. Hiked around the North East end and found a large dry rock for some soothing sun bathing… Stay tuned for further adventures of the travels of emptycloud in the wild blue yonder.
P.S. Photos can be viewed at my website gallery by following this link. To view photos as a slide show just click the menu icon to the left which resembles a viewing screen. I suggest you immediately click pause when the page loads so that you can shorten the viewing interval and also select “no limit” for the image size, then click n resume and sit back and enjoy a dose of Rocky Mountain High……….
Here is the link => http://emptycloud.org/cloudygallery/main.php?g2_itemId=839
http://emptycloud.org/cloudygallery/main.php?g2_itemId=839
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