Cold Rain and Snow

It rained on me for hours as I hiked through the trees. I missed a trail junction and had to bushwhack over a ridge to the proper drainage. When I got above treeline, the wind blew the rain sideways and through the zipper of my rain jacket, soaking my next-to-skin layer. The cold rain turned into wet snow above 10,000 feet.

This wasn't the most pleasant trip of the summer.

My plan was to cross the Continental Divide at Buchanan Pass (11,837 feet). I looked up and couldn't even see Buchanan Pass. I checked the time. Large wet snowflakes were accumulating fast. There wasn't much daylight left and conditions weren't getting any better. The forecast called for additional precipitation overnight. That wasn't going to make my return trip over Pawnee Pass (12,541 feet) the next day any easier.  Time to bail.

I followed my own footprints through the snow and set up my tarp when I got below snowline. I was too cold and wet and tired to cook a proper dinner, so I crawled into my sleeping bag and ate chocolate instead.

I awoke the next morning to mixed weather. The sun was shining to the east and clouds obscured the Continental Divide to the west. I retraced my steps from the day before. I was warm and dry and I could see the views that I missed 24 hours prior - the distinct profile of Sawtooth Mountain to west and Longs Peak, the monarch of the Front Range, to the north in Rocky Mountain National Park.

The view of Sawtooth I was hoping for

Approximately what I saw

It wasn't the trip I had planned, but I did have fun. Two types of fun, actually. Day one was Type II Fun (not fun to do, fun to talk about later) and day two was Type I Fun (fun to do, fun to talk about later).