[at-l] Winter Trip Report

[pmags@xxxxxxxxx (Paul Magnanti)]

It is Sunday evening. It is snowing out, just had a
nice cup of cocoa and I am showered. It is also means,
a trip report!

A little side note. Just showed a friend my PCT slide
show after we got back from the trip today. Showing my
slide show, going over my Colorado pictures and having
something to do almost every weekend..well, puts me in
a good mood. Ain't life great?  It can be mess
sometimes (re: the close call I had Friday evening),
but overall, it just seems to get better. Call me a
naive optimist. But also call me a happy one, too.



Anyway..on to the trip report!

The destination for today was Flat Top Mountain in
Rocky Mountian National Park. This mountain is on the
Continental Divide.  It is a quintessential Colorado
hike. Above tree line, pristine views, rugged
mountains all around.

Seven of us strapped on our snowshoes (with Ken being
the lone tele-skier) and started to hike up the trail.
 Naturally after ten minutes of hiking we stopped to
strip off layers. We began to notice that the views
were limited. The sky was white and it was snowing,
but it was still beautiful out. Nothing like fresh
snow on evergreens.  We continued in this vein until
just before tree-line. At this point, we decided to
grab a quick bite to eat. (Which included some Girl
Scout cookies I packed in for everyone. Mmm Mmm :D)

At tree-line, the weather changed dramtically. Windy,
white out conditions. We wisely decided to turn
around. One hr or so later, we made it back to the
trail head.   We then drove to the Estes Park Brewery
(after a bit of confusion: "Hey..did we miss the turn
off?".."Er, I think that is the road".. "There it
is!") and had the perfect food after a day of hiking
in the snow: Chili Cheese Fries and Beer.

So though we did not make it to the summit, the day
was still great. Beautiful winter landscape and
friends enjoying the day.


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The true harvest of my life is intangible.... a little stardust caught, a portion of the rainbow I have clutched
--Thoreau

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