It's always refreshing to return to school Monday morning after a weekend full of wandering through the woods, subalpine lakes, and friendships.
A few of my future roommates and I drove up to Rocky Mountain National Park on Sunday afternoon for an adventure. They weren't avid hikers by any means—they hadn't ever been to Rocky before! I was stoked to show them the gem of our state and the center of the Rocky Mountains.
Once we arrived at the Glacier Gorge Trailhead in the middle of the park, we stepped out of the car and were almost blown away. 25 mph gusts full of snow and dust attempted to knock us over but we persisted onto the trail. It was snow packed and little slippery, but once under the trees we became hidden from the icy wind.
We traveled past Alberta Falls, came to a fork and decided to continue left up to Mills Lake, our ideal destination. We were beginning to be in sight of the wind again and wondered what the conditions would be like at the top. We dodged ice, a melting creek, large boulders and eventually stumbled upon the subalpine beauty.
Mills Lake was massive. Far more elusive than the popular Dream Lake and far more breathtaking than any other view I had come across in Rocky. I stood in shock at the bank of the half-frozen lake for a few seconds before dropping my bag and reaching for my camera.
The wind was howling. The sun managed to creep out between the snow-filled clouds and warm our chilled bodies, but would disappear again behind the clouds, leaving us to our frozen slice of heaven. I snapped dozens of photos, all admiring the pile of fallen logs at the foot of the lake; who knows how long they've been there.
This photo doesn't quite describe the scene the three of us witnessed on our late Sunday afternoon. The photo looks peaceful, effectively capturing the tranquility of the Rockies. But my two friends and I will forever be in on a little secret. It wasn't peaceful. It was almost hellish, with the combination of wind, sun, snow and cold. I always find it funny how my photos often don't explain the true essence of a scene—more often than not, they pretend that mother nature is angelic, instead of unruling and unpredictable.
My friends thought I was insane for dragging them into the storm.