Hiking In Snow Up To Flattop On An August Day
We awoke last Friday morning and it was a bit nippy in the house. When we looked at the thermometer, it read 41 degrees in the outdoors. Burr…it was definitely a jeans and long sleeve shirt day; the first time since May. Ok, it was a good day to go to Loveland and do the monthly purchase of food and other needed supplies. As we left, it started to rain… rather it started to pour. And it poured all day Friday, and most of Saturday. When the clouds finally parted on Saturday afternoon, we were spellbound by the gorgeous white in the mountains. It had snowed and it looked like it had snowed a lot!
Sunday we awoke and, although rain was in the forecast, it didn’t look like it would really happen. We decided to drive to Bear Lake, walk around, and see how much snow was really up there. We were not disappointed. It was really beautiful. Hallett and Flattop were covered and it looked like Long’s Peak got hammered. This might be the last chance for people to try to climb Long’s Peak (without a technical climb) for a while. On the way down, we stopped at Sprague Lake and took in the magnificent views. Wow! Snow in August.
Monday was the day. We had decided to take the trail to Flattop, possibly to Hallet, and hike through the newly fallen snow. Early in the morning, the temperature was only about 40 degrees, so we put on mittens on for the beginning of the hike. The hike up to Flattop is always a great hike. You always feel that you are on top of the world! We wore our “snow boots” instead of our hiking boots so we could keep our feet dry when we had to hike through the snow. There were probably hikers that went up to Flattop the day before, so we thought that the trail would be matted down somewhat. We passed a few groups of people heading up, and we laughed because it is usually us who get passed by the die-hard hikers. The hike was just beautiful with incredible views of Long’s on the way up. The snow really glistened in the sun. What a perfect picture. And we certainly took our share of pictures that day.
The closer we got, the more magnificent the views of Flattop and Hallett Peak! Just incredible. By the time we hit tree line, the snow was pretty constant with a trail that hikers had made the day before. By the side of the trial, we saw a Ptarmigan and her three little chicks. They were just precious and blended in with the rocks. They were scurrying around, pecking at the little wildflowers, while their mom quietly made cooing noises to them. We stopped for about 20 minutes to watch and photograph the Ptarmigan. The little Pikas were playing among the rocks, gathering food and preparing for the next snow fall. They were probably wondering how winter came so fast and how they were going to get enough food. We also heard the chirping of the marmots sitting on top of the rocks. They are always adorable. There were 2 of them on top of the highest rocks in that area.
By this time we were hiking in about a 12”-18” of snow. It was really exciting hiking in the first snowfall in the summer. Tyndall Glacier looked like it had grown to twice its size over night. We hiked through a large snow field to arrive at Flattop. The top was beautiful and the snow just brilliant against the blue sky with a few white clouds floating by. How glorious. This is paradise. We contemplated hiking up to Hallett, but after watching another (much younger) couple slip and slide and eventually turn around, we decided against that idea. Better to be safe and return for another day than to regret our decision to try it. We sat on a large rock and had a much deserved lunch while we just gawked at the superb scenery before our eyes at 12,200 feet. What a day! Hiking in the snow in August…you just can’t beat it. As the clouds started to form, we decided to head back down. Safety prevailed.
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