Musings: Steep & Deep

Okay so I was pondering going skiing, I did not. The wind was harsh and I have been wanting to go snowshoeing for awhile now. Rented a pair from the Keystone Nordic Center and drove about halfway up to the town of Montezuma. First off, if you haven't been to Montezuma, GO! Dave Mable told me about this place before I came out here and I've snowshoed and ridden up there. Very cool little mountain town, with a nice slow pace.

So the slog up wasn't too bad at first except for the other 4 tracks I was battling with, this ended about 20 minutes in and it started to get "steep and deep." It was a trail much like this for the first 45 minutes.

This is right where the other sets of tracks ended.

I found a house on the way and tried to take a picture. My camera is working about 40% of the time now. A little after that I came into a clearing and took these.

A scree field to the left and the trail goes towards the right, finally cutting through the opening in the trees.

Turning to my right we have some nice snow pillows. Had I gone and stuck my foot in there I guarantee I would have sunk all the way in, so I opted out of that.

Looking farther right, above the pillows, we have a nice backdrop: Tiptop Peak at 12,053' on the right and Morgan Peak at 12,474' on the left (obscured by the pines). Sorry about the sun but I had to get the picture. You can see the wind whipping off all the snow on top.

I kept along in this valley for another 20 minutes when I came to the field I'd been looking. The sign in the middle directs you to either Argentine Pass (straight), Morgan Peak (right), or Chihuahua Lake (left). Well I'd been getting sick of the pass and you all saw the wind on top of the peak to I veered left. This is where my camera took a dive and the wind started to suck. After 30 minutes of breaking trail knee deep to waist deep snow I came to the lake, or so what I thought was a lake. I assumed it was such, and tried to take a picture. It looked like a huge snow pond, with a scree field surrounding it, and the remnants of aquatic plants popping up every so often.

I rested behind a band of trees, drank some tea, at some G.O.R.P., and then headed out. The going back was much quicker, not only downhill, but I'd already broken a trail.

That was my day, and now a five sentence recap of my mini-vacation with Geoff, Jeff, and Jeremy. Took a free KAT ride into the South Bowl where we tore it up and Jeff Dullard had a yard sale after one turn. Drank Coors original silos at the base of North Peak at La Bonte's Cabin. On Friday, rode through knee deep powder all day long at Vail. That night drank a smidge and passed out in their sweet condo. They definitely do a ski trip right, cheers guys and thanks for a great time.