Day 16 - Bears, Boots, and Rocky Mountain Snowshoeing

I woke up this morning at 5am to get in my requisite daily run, on the hotel treadmill since it was 18 degrees outside, before getting picked up for my snowshoeing adventure. Some might argue that snowshoeing should count as running, but what if it doesn't? I'm not going to blow my goal over that! I did my 3.2 miles, and fortunately it was too early for local news today. Instead the hotel TV was showing "Viking Wilderness" where I got to crank out my miles while watching bears in Denmark... hugging.

Though I borrowed most of the gear I needed, I could not get a good set of loaner boots on short notice. I dropped into REI yesterday to check out the clearance rack. Unfortunately, like my colleagues at the office, the clearance rack did not have a single pair of waterproof hiking boots in a size 13-narrow. Go figure. So consequently I now have a brand new pair of totally awesome boots that I hope I will use for hiking and snow play for years to come, because otherwise this was an expensive day. REI is a dangerous place for me. (Catching up with you in number of pairs of shoes, Jennifer, better go shopping!) I also bought a pair of running tights, partly for snowshoeing, and partly because even if it is 18 degrees again I am not running on the hotel treadmill tomorrow.

By sunrise we were on our way to Rocky Mountain National Park. We started at 8400 feet elevation in Wild Basin, and shoed up to just above Ouzel Falls at 9600 feet, a hike of about 4.49 miles according to the GPS. The morning warmed up quickly, and none of us needed all the layers we brought even at the top, which was here right under these peaks of the Continental Divide, and in the shadow of Longs Peak, the tallest in the park. I took this with my phone.

And here are the three of us.

Mostly we climbed on packed trails, but I got to "break trail" for the last 3/8 of a mile on the final 200 foot climb from the bottom of the falls to the top.

The entire trip we were climbing past awesome scenery like this frozen creek.

We returned to car at about 2pm, completing the nine-mile trek in about 5 hours including stops. By the time we returned to Fort Collins, the temperature was a stunning 61 degrees. Could not have asked for a better day, or a better way to spend a Saturday in the middle of a business trip. I'll remember this for a long time! And I have souvenir boots.

P.S. Way to go, Rose!!!!!