Hidden Valley 060411

On our first ski trip of June we experienced HOT temperatures and a variety of snow conditions at Rocky Mountain National Park.

Cathy and Sandy de-skin at the top of the snowfield.

Cathy collected the Denver crew at the CMC at the relatively early meet time of 7 am, including Sandy, Phil, Fred, and Bob A.  We loaded up into two cars and headed north to Rocky Mountain National Park.  After a brief stop at the Boulder MacDonalds (next to Sprouts grocery store) on Baseline, we headed north to Rocky Mountain National Park.  At the toll booths both cars had someone qualified for the $10 lifetime pass, so the rest of us lucked into the park for cheap.  Our toll taker announced that he used to run the rope tow at Upper Hidden Valley when the ski area had been open.

The Telemark cabins with snowy peaks from RMNP.

Trail Ridge Road was open to Rainbow Curve, but we pulled over at Upper Hidden Valley pull out.  We skinned up and carried our skis a short distance to the low point of the snow bank.  Despite pictures of 20-foot-high walls of snow, our access was an easy step up from the road.

Luckily, we did not have to climb this wall of snow.

Sandy, Cathy, Bob, and Fred are ready to tackle the climb.

Phil, Sandy, Cathy, and Bob at the trailhead.

Bob was the most prepared for the temperatures, but I had trouble making the shift from winter to summer.  My black shirt and pants soaked up the rays, and fearful of the UV, I tried to keep everything covered up, which was way too hot.  Ii knew I was in trouble when an 80-year-old gent passed me on the uptrack.  Finally, I got the 70 SPF out of the pack, slathered on the juice, and took off layers until I was down to a short sleeved T-shirt.  At last, the climb was tolerable.

Bob is stylin' in his summer knickers.

After a shaky first run on the climbers' right side of the bowl, we were back at the road.  The upper upper slopes above 11,000' had a couple inches of corn, though innumerable boot tracks made the surface uneven.  Down below, it was more like 6 - 8" of slushy corn.  With much of the slope above 25°, it was a challenge to find our way.  Down at the road, we consumed our snacks, drinks, and performance enhancing potions, and headed out towards climbers' left side of the bowl.  

Cathy and Phil prepare for the climb.

Phil and Sandy bask in the sun.

Bob slugs down his energy drink of choice.

Smoke from fires in southwestern Colorado, New Mexico, and even Arizona filled the air with haze and particulates, but they also helped tone down the power of the sun's brutal rays.  The wind picked up as the day went on, making the climb a bit more tolerable.  


Up high towards the ridge, the slightly more north facing aspect yielded some perfect conditions down to about 11,000'.  

Phil gets in touch with his feminine side.

Bob and Fred prepare to descend.  Photo by Phil.

Bob's keepin' cool.

Below that we battled the slush, but with a better feel for the conditions, we made our peace with the conditions and got in some good turns.

Fred picks his way down the bottom of the slope.

Phil does a good job powering his way through the turns.

Bob finishes off the trip with the last of the turns.

After two runs we called it quits.  Back at the cars we lazed in the sun, then headed back to town.

2 runs / 2 miles / 1500'.

This year's track (red) was similar to last year's (black).
Last year's trip was May 22!  View and download track
at Every Trail.  Zoom out to see the topo map.