Hike: Hesperus Mountain
Rebuffed again.
My annual hajj to the west La Plata Mountains this year was supposed to include a picnic on a blanket by a pond, a walk through golden aspens, a view of the magnificent Hesperus Mountain, and blue October skies. When will I ever learn.
Despite the weather predictions, my aunt Kathy and I decided to attempt a climb of Hesperus Mountain anyway. It was cloudy and cold, the summit of Hesperus alternately clouded and denuded by descending snow-laden clouds. We bundled up and left the Jeep around 10 am. In less than an hour we noticed the first bits of snow/graupel falling. The weather progressively declined from there. We left the trail to begin the ascent up the steep western face toward the western ridge of the mountain. From there, we were to summit from the south. The directions I had were about as clear as the decreasing visibility. The climb was steep and snow was beginning to collect and moisten the talus, making hiking more difficult. From our height, we could see the waves of sleet and snow falling over the valley below like torrents of rain in summer, and spindrift was swirling on nearby Lavender Peak, striking up in monochrome stolidity. At one point the sky opened slightly (and temporarily) over the valley to the south, the sun pouring over a forest of golden aspens.
The going would have been difficult even with dry earth, calm winds, and good visibility, but in light of the absence of all of these, I decided we should descend. It was a good decision, I believe, because the weather only worsened. High winds pelted us with graupel on our descent, the snowfall getting heavier all the time. Entering the forest was a relief from the winds and became quite a wonderland of snow where only a few hours before none had lain.
On our drive out, the snow continued, but the lower we descended, the thicker the fog became, lending great atmospherics for some photo making. Thanks, Kathy, for indulging me!
Here are a few photos from the trip. I played around with some watermarks after post-processing in Photoshop and I hope they aren’t too pretentious or distracting.
My annual hajj to the west La Plata Mountains this year was supposed to include a picnic on a blanket by a pond, a walk through golden aspens, a view of the magnificent Hesperus Mountain, and blue October skies. When will I ever learn.
Despite the weather predictions, my aunt Kathy and I decided to attempt a climb of Hesperus Mountain anyway. It was cloudy and cold, the summit of Hesperus alternately clouded and denuded by descending snow-laden clouds. We bundled up and left the Jeep around 10 am. In less than an hour we noticed the first bits of snow/graupel falling. The weather progressively declined from there. We left the trail to begin the ascent up the steep western face toward the western ridge of the mountain. From there, we were to summit from the south. The directions I had were about as clear as the decreasing visibility. The climb was steep and snow was beginning to collect and moisten the talus, making hiking more difficult. From our height, we could see the waves of sleet and snow falling over the valley below like torrents of rain in summer, and spindrift was swirling on nearby Lavender Peak, striking up in monochrome stolidity. At one point the sky opened slightly (and temporarily) over the valley to the south, the sun pouring over a forest of golden aspens.
The going would have been difficult even with dry earth, calm winds, and good visibility, but in light of the absence of all of these, I decided we should descend. It was a good decision, I believe, because the weather only worsened. High winds pelted us with graupel on our descent, the snowfall getting heavier all the time. Entering the forest was a relief from the winds and became quite a wonderland of snow where only a few hours before none had lain.
On our drive out, the snow continued, but the lower we descended, the thicker the fog became, lending great atmospherics for some photo making. Thanks, Kathy, for indulging me!
Here are a few photos from the trip. I played around with some watermarks after post-processing in Photoshop and I hope they aren’t too pretentious or distracting.
The Shark's Tooth slowly succumbing to sheets of snow.
Aspens to the south from high on the trail.
Nearing the top of the west ridge, where we turned around.
Before and After. Kathy (reluctant model, good sport) in the same spot before we left for the hike and after we'd returned.
Waves of pelting graupel from high on the trail.
Deep aspen woods.
Foggy autumn road.
A parting gift for the contestants, just for playing along...
2 comments:
Even a miserable hike makes for fabulous photos! But dude, those watermarks make it harder for me to resell them! ;o)
Ah, the silver lining...
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