The Beauty of Winter

We wanted to try bagging Lone Eagle Peak for the first time in the winter but we had no idea how rugged the Indian Peaks Wilderness would be in the snow. The snow was so thick and dense that we could not even find the trail to make the attempt at the 14 mile round trip. We made our way around Monarch Lake instead in our snowshoes. On the last turn before we finished, I looked out over the frozen lake and saw a wonderful collection of trees that were a perfect contrast to the forest, clouds, and snow capped mountains that flanked them in the distance.