The weather has been fairly uncooperative over the past few weekends for any significant distant hiking. Unlike last weekend, the gales of November had subsided; however, it was still cool enough that a t-shirt alone wouldn’t cut it. This day at Monarch Lake, we trekked our usual route. At one point, the wind had subsided at the lake appeared to be a sheet of glass, with the exception of the ever present trout breaking the surface looking for a quick meal. We had just crossed the dam with the first rain drops had begun to fall.
Wanting to view more of the fall colors, we headed over to Willow Creek Reservoir, and to our amazement, the reservoir had already been drawn down 7 to 10 feet. We drove back on the road as far as we were able to view the abundance of Aspen groves before heading back to Base Camp. Then the downpour had begun.
Sunday we awoke to thunder snow, which we enjoyed while eating our breakfast. With the snow letting up and the clouds breaking we jumped into the Tahoe and drove into Rocky Mountain National Park as far as we were able as the road is closed at the Colorado River Trailhead. Enjoying the views of the freshly fallen snow across the upper valley and mountains one cannot wonder how much longer before winter actually settles in for the season. `