Astrophotography and Snowshoeing
Katie and I took a long weekend to go up to Valley View Hot Springs. On the first night, I woke up early in the morning to do some astrophotography. The moon didn't set until about 4am, so I had some foreground lighting, but that also washed out the sky a little. Right before 4 I got some photos with the Milky Way Galaxy that was rising in the East. I couldn't see it with my eyes but I noticed it on the photos in the morning.
During the day we went to do a snowshoe in Monarch Pass. We picked out Boss Lake thinking it wouldn't be too difficult, but it was. The trailhead for this hike starts at a more popular trailhead, so the first mile and a half wasn't too bad until we branched off onto the trail to Boss Lake. There was only one other person who had done this portion of the hike since the last snowfall. So luckily we could follow their tracks, but for the most part we were breaking trail the last mile of the hike.
The views at the lake were spectacular. The lighting wasn't great, but it was a peaceful lake. We would have stayed longer if it wasn't so windy.
5.1 mi
4.3 hrs
10,928 ft
1,312 ft
Cloud Over the Mountain
This was looking East before the Milky Way rose.
Cloudy
As it got later in the night there were more and more clouds. It was too bad since the moon set late in the night.
Up
The trees were dense at the beginning of the hike.
Meadow Opening
There was a small meadow opening after the turn off to Boss Lake.
Two For One
We were on both the Continental Divide Trail and the Colorado Trail. We found 2 pairs of these signs on trees, both of which looked pretty new.
Trekking in the Snow
The snow wasn't too deep in some areas, but it was easily waist-high in others. This was before it got too deep.
