St. Vrain Glaciers (Indian Peaks Wilderness, Colorado)

Trip dates: Nov 17-18, 2018

Looking west towards the St Vrain Glaciers and Elk Tooth (center).

Caltopo map here:  caltopo.com/m/V8C0

This was a quick overnight trip in Indian Peaks.  I got some new winter gear I wanted to test out so I chose fairly crappy conditions intentionally (more on the gear later).  The first day it was a white out with overnight temperatures around zero degrees F.  The next day would be a balmy 10 deg F. 

The summer spoiled me--I forgot how exhausting snowshoeing is with a couple feet of fresh powder and a heavy winter pack.  I didn't quite make it to the actual glaciers but got pretty close.  

Day 1

Because of the heavy snow I didn't take many pictures the first day.  

Surprisingly the gate at Peaceful Valley was still open. I walked up the forest service road through Camp Dick campground, which is closed for the season but one of the bathrooms were still unlocked (by January they are all locked for the season).

It's definitely winter.

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Day 2

The previous night I cooked in the vestibule because it was in the middle of a white out. In the morning I cooked in the vestibule so I could eat without leaving my sleeping bag. because, you know...why wouldn't you do that?

Why didn't I think of leaving the window scraper outside the car before? Also, it looks like my car has a bloody nose.