It was another 3:00 wake up, this time a bit more difficult with Flattop Mountain still fresh on my legs. This morning is was myself and Aaron, who arrived yesterday afternoon, picking Erik up from his home in Allenspark and starting from the Wild Basin trail head for Thunder Lake. In the winter, the road into Wild Basin is closed about a mile from the trail head, adding two miles to your day. We were hoping for some sunrise shots so we left early, while Scott, Bill and Glenn slept in a bit to make sure they were fresh for the snowshoe.

The moon was not as full so we turned the headlamps on and started making our way into the thick forests of Wild Basin. It was a quiet morning with absolutely no wind and the temperature was great for snowshoeing. It was a fairly uneventful hike until the sun made it's appearance. Again, the spectacular sunrise we were hoping for was thwarted by a cloud bank, upon which set thousands of baby unicorns. There were, however, some nice colors in the sky and we were pretty mad about being in the thick trees with no way to shoot the sky. So we kept on keeping on towards Thunder Lake.

After the sun rose, the sky, and the light, was pretty dull, so our cameras didn't come out until we got to Thunder Lake. The entire time, we were walking in a skiers track. The entire time, that is, until we got about a mile from the lake. That's where the skier turned around and the trail ended. Now it was a route finding, snowshoe stomping, lung busting slog through wind swept powder. This was what it was all about. This is what Aaron, and the others, traveled thousands of miles to do. Even though we were pooped, we we enjoying being out in "our park." After all, there was no one else even mildly close to us. It was our snowy playground and we were thoroughly enjoying the experience.

Finally, after 7.8 miles up through the heart of Wild Basin, we spotted Thunder Lake, and the patrol cabin that rests on its shores, below us through the trees. It was a great feeling to be in this beautiful spot. The forest opens up to one of the most scenic lakes in the park. It is surrounded on all sides. Tanima Peak rises to the South, Mt. Alice to the Northwest, and Chiefs Head to the North, with Boulder Grand Pass calling your name from above.

We snapped some shots of the cabin, then retired to its porch for some R&R. The funniest thing happened. As I was digging a snow cave, I felt a little tap tap tap on my shoulder. I turned to find none other that my old pal Bilbo Baggins. He was on his was for a secret meeting with folks of the Elvish nature...of its locale he would tell me not. We chatted for a while, he got to meet Aaron and Erik, then he was on his way. We wished him well, shared some tea and then watched as he climbed up and finally over Boulder/Grand Pass and out of sight. As you may remember, I ran in to Bilbo on the summit of Quandary Peak last November. It was great to see him again...my old friend.

The light was not the best, and I was frustrated with the results of my pictures of and around the Lake, so I turned my attention to the little ranger patrol cabin. I loved a few of the shots that I got while exploring the nooks and crannies around the cabin. Here are a few (1 - 2 - 3) After about an hour and a half at the lake, we were getting cold and decided to head back down. We had talked to the other guys via two way radio when we got to the lake and figured they were still a good distance away. But only five minutes from down the trail we ran into Glenn and Scott, with Bill only another minute behind. We told them the good news about being so close and the hurried down the trail as I had to be back to run the lodge in a few hours.

The first rmnpforums.com stomp was a huge success and I hope this continues for years to come! We covered just under 24.5 miles and just under 5,000 vertical feet. Good stuff!

If you would like to see a thread about this report, and other reports on the stomp...go here.