Emerald Lake, RMNP

What happened Dondo? This reminds me of some old girlfriends.

>>What happened Dondo? This reminds me of some old girlfriends.

Sorry, John. :-) It was a photo taken last weekend on a snowshoe hike with my wife at RMNP. We’re using it on our Christmas card this year and I decided it needed a bit of work. Here’s what I came up with:

Nice Dondo… I love that place!

Me too, Brian. I never get tired of getting up there. By the way, I enjoyed your photo essay about your trip across the Park earlier this year. It looked like quite a trip.

Great work Dondo and a fantastic Christmas card. The sepia treatment is perfect.

Nice Christmas card! I've been twice to RMNP hiking but in summer. On a trip in December a few years ago, my wife and I drove up to the entrance. The drive up on US34 was nice. Snowing a little on and off. In Estes Park there were elk in the road. Ever since then I've wondered about hiking in RMNP in winter. Will have to try it when I get the chance.

estes park

these next two look like b&w because snow was blocking the light i think

My wife and I snowshoed on Emerald Lake in December 2006. Was it frozen over enough to walk across?

>>Ever since then I've wondered about hiking in RMNP in winter. Will have to try it when I get the chance.

George, it's great in winter. The network of trails around Bear Lake and Glacier Gorge provide some of the finest snowshoeing opportunities around. Avalanche danger is low but the quality of scenery is very high. The road to both trailheads is kept plowed throughout the winter. I tend to avoid the area in summer because of the crowds but in winter this is four star hiking. If you don't have snowshoes, you can rent them in Estes Park.

If you like to photograph elk, you can usually find a good herd at Moraine Park around dusk.

"My wife and I snowshoed on Emerald Lake in December 2006. Was it frozen over enough to walk across?"

David, it probably was, but we didn't try this time. The winds ripping across the lake were cold and fierce and my wife was huddled in a clump of trees about twenty yards back when I took this shot. The fingertips I exposed to operate the camera became useless in a couple of minutes. On the way back, we did walk across Dream Lake.