Worth A Thousand Words

I'm going to do my best not to prattle on about this weekend's big hike, as the pictures really do a fantastic job of telling the story.

Sunday saw us up at 6 AM, as the guidebook said we could expect the 11 mile trip to take close to seven hours. Incredibly, the picture above is not the end result of our hard work, but simply the view from the parking lot. Yup, it's true...that is Maroon Lake, and you can drive right up to it.

Framing the lake, and spectacularly reflected in its pristine water, are the Maroon Bells, the most photographed mountains in the United States. I can now independently verify this claim, as even with our 7 AM arrival, we were greeted by dozens of tripods already dotting the lakeside, all hoping for that one breaktaking shot.
With the lingering effects of a cold front hanging about, we were bundled up for the start of our hike. Here's Lauren and I wondering how cold it would be at 12,500 feet when it was only 20 degrees at 9,000.
About a mile into the hike, we emerged from a tree shrouded switchback to find this vista awaiting us. What's truly amazing is that, as Lauren pointed out, all four seasons are represented at once.
A little over two miles in, we had to cross a stream to continue on towards our goal, Buckskin Pass. Earlier in the summer, this would have meant getting rather wet, but with the water levels at their customary autumn low, we could cruise right through. Here's Lauren and Natalie during one of their happier moments of the climb.
Not to pat myself on the back, but I actually snapped this photo. Around 3.5 miles in, and at roughly 11,700 feet, we left the greens and yellows and moved on to the whites. As the snow on the ground steadily deepened, we came upon this half-flowing, half-frozen stream.
Three hours and 2500 feet of climbing into our hike, this was what we had left. Buckskin Pass is the patch of white in the upper right hand corner of the photo. If you look closely, you can see the meandering switchbacks traverse the face of the mountain until they reach the top. At this point, the snow was 6-10 inches deep, but the weather had turned beautiful. With a cloudless sky and at that elevation, it feels like you can reach out and touch the sun. As bundled as we were at the beginning of the day, we had all stripped down to merely long sleeve shirts by this time.
Here they are, getting ready for the final push. These last nine switchbacks would climb 750 feet in less than a mile, and coupled with the new fallen snow, would prove to be an exhausting aerobic test.
Proof that we made it. From here, you could see clear to Kansas. Halfway up the climb, I began feeling weak, and was forced to eat my right glove for quick energy.
This is the view staight down the gulch from which we emerged. Yes, it was that steep.

The happy couple celebrating their greatest accomplishment to date. Lauren climbed over 3300 feet in 11 miles, while basically breaking trail through 10 inches of new fallen snow for the final mile to the summit. She is really, really amazing.

Talk to you soon.