With multiple fronts coming through Colorado the weather didn’t look great anywhere. However, with the fronts being mostly upslopers, Pete and I hoped a trip to the west side of the Lost Creek Wilderness would produce the best hiking conditions.
Many clouds, but no new snow greeted us as we drove down the Tarryall Creek valley towards the Spruce Grove Trailhead.
The first few miles of the Lizard Head Trail was dry and allowed us to watch the play of light on the rocky peaks above with snow-dusted trees.
Once we hit the Hankins Pass trail and north-facing slopes, we found the snow we hadn’t been missing. Thankfully, the trail had been traversed by others since the last storms and we had a beaten down but slightly icy route to follow to Hankins Pass.
From the pass we were on our own and bushwhacked uphill through a powdery 4-6 inches of snow towards the summit of South Tarryall Peak.
Snow started to come down steadily and I figured we’d be under falling flakes for the rest of the day. So it was surprising when the snow stopped and the sun appeared while we relaxed at the summit.
I didn’t want to ask where the forecasted 30mph wind gusts were, or the high of only 18F.
We counted ourselves seriously lucky for the pleasant conditions and took in the views of McCurdy Peak and its satellite peaks to the north.
Eventually we headed back down, returning to Hankins Pass following our upward tracks. Then back down the trail to Spruce Grove before heading home where the weather and roads deteriorated the closer to home we got.
