2/7/97 - Lake Helene, Rocky Mountain National Park, ColoradoClass 1 & 2 Snowshoeing/Skiing, Elevation at Lake Helene, 10,580ft (1,215 foot gain); 2.9 miles each way.Trekkers:
Because of a cold or flu bug in the area, Ernie and I missed a couple of Fridays in what was becoming an almost-every-Friday trek. Finally, we got our health and our schedules tamed so we could go out again. We discussed where to go and agreed that it would be nice to do something besides Glacier Gorge or Loch Vale. After some discussion, we decided to go from Bear Lake up to Lake Helene, on the Flattop Mountain & Odessa Lake Trails. We’d gotten a few inches of fresh snow in town, which usually means the upper elevations of the Park are getting 2 or 3 times as much. That’s good, because Ernie says that sometimes the snow gets a bit thin on this particular trail system. We set out early, leaving my house at 8am, because Ernie had to be back for an appointment at 3pm. For the first time, I decided to take my video camera along in addition to my digital camera. I asked Ernie if he would carry it (the digital camera), and he agreed to. He takes better pictures with it than I do anyway. It’s pretty neat to be able to play back the 10 minutes or so of video from the trek as I write this. As has become my habit, I brought a small thermos of coffee for us to drink at our destination. I also had some Cliff bars in my pack, and the dates indicated we should probably eat them sometime before spring. We drove into the Park with gorgeous, mostly-sunny skies and cold temps — about 10F degrees. Bear Lake Road was somewhat snowpacked, but not a problem. When we arrived at the Bear Lake parking lot, we were surprised to see it practically deserted. We got out and strapped on our gear and layers, noting that the temperature here was 1 degree (F) above zero. With the sun shining on us, it didn’t feel like it. And it certainly didn’t feel cold once we got moving on the trail. After only 20 minutes or so, we had to stop to open our pit-vents. The trail conditions were just fantastic. Lots of fresh champagne powder, no bare spots, and good packed snow on the trails. Even when we got off the trail there was a good base underneath. Best of all, the sun was still shining and there was no wind! As we worked our way up the trail, we both stopped frequently to shoot video, snap some pictures, drink water, and catch our breath (only to have our breath taken away by the stunning views of the back side of Longs Peak, Keyboard of the Winds, Thatchtop, and Hallett). After an hour or so, the temps had warmed up to maybe 20F and Ernie was so warm he took off his shell. I was still at that awkward stage where I was a bit warm, but knew I’d be too cool (NPI) without my shell. We stayed on packed trails most of the time, but sometimes departed the main trail and blazed a trail on a higher line, as Ernie is often wont to do. As you can see from the photos, the snow was fantastic, even when we were blazing new trail. All the way up, we didn’t see another person. Soon, we traversed a hill above a bowl which Ernie told me was informally called the "Banana Bowls." On other treks, he and some friends would ski the bowls, climb back up and do it all over again. Ernie decided to wait until we were on our way back to ski them. As we were standing there looking out beyond Bierstadt Lake toward Estes Park, Ernie said, "We’re sitting here right in the middle of paradise." We made very good time and soon we came up a hill and got our first glimpse of the impressive bulk of Notchtop Mountain. Stopped for a couple of pictures and video, then pressed on. A few minutes later, at about 11:30am, we reached Lake Helene (frozen, of course) and because the wind had kicked up, we stopped so Ernie could put his shell back on. We started looking around for a place to sit out of the wind so we could take a coffee break. After wandering off the trail a bit farther, and pausing to take a few more pictures of Ptarmigan Glacier and Notchtop, we found a spot out of the wind. After we packed the snow down, we took off our packs, broke out our Ridge-Rest pads, and poured some coffee. The Cliff Bars and coffee tasted fantastic, due no doubt to the beautiful setting and the exertion it took to get there. As I’m often fond of saying, "It just doesn’t get any better than this, unless you’re in a beer commercial." Soon, the inactivity and the wind chilled us into realizing that it was probably time to move on. We took a couple more pictures and some video, then headed on a bit farther before turning around to head back. When we got to Helene, Ernie took the camcorder and videoed me coming across the Lake with Notchtop in the background. Then I took it and did the same for him. Both of us walked right up into the camera lens. Pretty funny. Guess you had to be there. :-) A bit farther down the trail, Ernie took a higher line on a hill and I took a lower one. I saw that Ernie met three other people snowshoeing on their way up; the first people we’d seen since we left the car. I continued on, and our trails diverged and we didn’t see each other for about 20 minutes or so. Soon I came out of the trees into a clearing and saw someone several hundred yards away climbing up a hill. I was pretty sure it was Ernie. I got out my video camera and captured him skiing down the hill. Our paths converged again and we trekked on. Ernie pulled out way ahead of me again. The trail sloped gently downward and he was able to effortlessly glide long distances. Again, I almost wished I had skis, too. Soon I reached the Banana Bowls, but didn’t see Ernie anywhere. Then I saw a lone skier uphill from me, but didn’t think it was Ernie since the skier wasn’t wearing a pack. Then I noticed a pack that looked just like Ernie’s sitting next to a tree. Took me a minute to realize it was his, and he was climbing up the hill to ski down into the bowl. I saw two other skiers in the bowl, too. Ernie saw me, and I signaled that I was ready with the video camera to capture his descent. He came down, skiing nice turns all the way down the hill. At the bottom, he started criss-crossing back up to where I was. When he reached the top and was getting his gear together, two women on snowshoes stopped to talk to us. Turns out they were from Albuquerque and were heading back the next day. Ernie asked if they had email, and one of them said, "sure," so Ernie whipped out the digital camera and took this photo of them. Turns out Susan, the one on the left, is a database developer/consultant for Oracle, and is a self-described computer geek (said she was even online while staying in Estes!). Sure enough, I got email from her the next day saying she’d found Mike’s Hikes and their picture. We continued on down in a familiar pattern. Ernie pulls way out, then waits for me to catch up. Once, I was alone on the trail for awhile and I started thinking about trying skiing, then thought about how hard it would be on narrow trails, which made me think about what it would be like for a skier to ski into the back of me. A few minutes later, I hear this scream and Ernie skis down right behind me. I nearly jumped out of my skin and I’m sure he was surprised at how startled I was! We had a good laugh, but I definitely owe him one! We were almost back now, and I encouraged Ernie just to ski all the way down to the car and I’d meet him there. I went on down the trail, stopping often to enjoy the sun-drenched mountain views. All too soon, I found myself back down near Bear Lake. As I walked by the building with the restrooms, I noticed that snow had piled up on the roof and was cascading all the way to the ground. I also noticed ski tracks right up onto the roof, and said to myself, "I’ll bet Ernie did that!" When I got to the car at about 1:45pm, Ernie was inside with the engine running and we got a laugh out his skiing up onto the roof of the building. We drove back out of the Park, went back to my house and looked at the photos and video before Ernie went to his appointment. A really great day! |
 The parking lot at Bear Lake was practically empty.
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Ernie with Notchtop in the background.
