Photos In Colorado's High Country - June 29, 2008

	Snow In The Forest I was supposed to hike up to Grizzly Lake (near St. Elmo) this morning, but thick clouds remained over the mountains. The photographer in me did not want to walk up there only to be disappointed with grayish skies ruining the views. So I slept in ... all the way to 10:30 a.m. I was shocked at how long and hard I slept in fact. Anyway, at about 12:30 p.m., I decided to visit the Lost Lake Trail and go for a short walk. Of course, the afternoon clouds were already rolling in again and it rained while I was up there. I did not reach Lost Lake either; I only casually walked to the unnamed pond fairly close to the trail. Having said all this, adjacent are three photos of snow in the forest and on the edge of timberline along the trail. Below are some of my more exciting hikes in the region: Lost Lake Mt. Yale Ptarmigan Lake Unnamed Point (2 Miles South of Cottonwood Pass) Turner Peak Midland Hill Sugarloaf Mountain
	The massive amounts of snow has been melting rapidly of late, and the ground was muddy and soggy in many places. I decided to just "chill out" from hiking any long distances and focused on snapping pictures of some of the creeks and wildflowers. I am quite amazed at how much water is running in these itty-bitty creek beds! Wildflowers
	I walked to the west side of the unnamed pond and looked back at the mountains. If you click the adjacent photo, you can see Mt. Princeton's summit (left), much of the higher peaks of Gladstone Ridge (center) and Jones Mountain South (right).
	This tiny pond had a few tributary creeks flowing into. Just amazing considering I was just a few thousand feet (at most) from the Continental Divide itself.
	It was so stinkin' cloudy up there. Grrrrrrrrrrr! For what it's worth, that pointed mountain is Turner Peak (top) and another view of those mountains looking back down the valley (bottom).
	It drizzled for a short while, then the sun and blue skies came out toward the west ... west of the divide. I zoomed-in on the unnamed point (~12,500 feet) about 0.5 miles south of Cottonwood Pass. Notice the few people standing up there and that huge cornice of snow remaining!
	On the way back, I thought a photo of myself among some snow in the forest was fitting. To all you people in places like Arizona, Texas and Georgia, eat your heart out! Or come visit. ;)