TennesseeBackpacker.com

Windy Peak

This late winter/early spring trip proved to be quite a challenge for us. Full on winter conditions in the Rockies provided some unique challenges for our five day venture into the backcountry.

Snowy Peak

 Snow, snow and more snow......we started our hike near Bear Lake in around 4 feet of snow.  We were walking on 10-12 feet of snow at an altitude of 11,000 feet a couple of days later.

Birch Stand

Spending a week in this much snow was simply amazing. It snowed a bit each day we were on the mountain, but most heavily our last couple of days.

Snow

We had to beat the snow off of the tent every couple of hours and clear out around the tent regularly.  Lots of work, but worth the effort.

Buried Tent

Backpacking in Tennessee more often than not, I'm used to leaving a few things outside of the tent.  Yeah, not a good idea in heavy snow.  We had to dig to find a number of items...not sure we actually found them all.

Elk

As with our previous visit to Rocky Mountain National Park, it seemed there were elk everywhere, especially at the lower elevations.

Elk Herd

It was really interesting to watch the huge herds of elk.

Stellar's Jay

 This was one of my favorite animal sightings on our trip.  The Stellar's Jay is a really interesting and unique bird.

Another Stellar's Jay

This bird had a great personality...very boisterous.  Was extremely interested in our camps....or probably what food we might accidentally drop.

Stellar's Jay

The Stellar's Jay got extremely agitated each time the Marten would visit our camp. ....they probably compete for the some of the same food sources.

Snowshoes

With snow depths running four to twelve feet, snowshoes were a necessity.  

Postholing

With the overnight hard freezes, the snow was walkable without snowshoes for the first few hours of the morning.  As the daytime temperatures rose and the sun worked on the snow, the surface started to soften. Even with snowshoes on, we often found ourselves "postholing" (sinking into the snow with each step). Sometimes we'd sink to our knees and waist, sometimes almost to our necks. This doesn't sound too terrible, but after hours and hours of hiking up the mountain with fairly heavy packs, each subsequent posthole brought a louder and louder shout of frustration......unless it was your hiking partner.....then it brought louder and louder laughter.

Mountain Top

Once I figured out why I was encouraged to lead the way during each stretch of hike (it's much easier for the person in the rear to walk in the "postholes" from the person in the lead), I started taking the rear position and started smiling more.

Lots of Snow

Even with gaiters, snowshoes and water resistant boots, my feet were fairly soaked at the end of each day's hike in so much snow.  The unfortunate part was waking up the next morning to rock-hard frozen solid boots.  

Marten

Not the best picture (lighting wasn't good and he wouldn't stand still!!), but the Marten was a really interesting animal.  He was curious about our camp and kept wandering in while keeping a close eye on us.

 Lucky Weasel

I was unusually lucky to be standing still near this log pile when a bobcat attacked this weasel. The weasel might have been a decent meal if the bobcat hadn't noticed me getting my camera out.  Though the weasel didn't explicitly say so, I think he was quite thankful I scared off his predator.  I've seen a few bobcats in the wild, but never one actively engaged in a hunt......quite an experience.

Ground Squirrel

These guys were everywhere at the lower elevations of the park.

Beaver Dam

This beaver dam was really interesting with the frozen stream backing up against it.

 So Much Snow

When the daytime temps would rise, the piles of snow on the evergreens would fall like mini-avalanches.  

 Black Lake

 Looking down on a wintry frozen Black Lake in Glacier Gorge.  We had an hour or so of decent weather here before a snow storm set in.