RMNP - Deer Mountain Trail

 It's finally go-time - winter adventures in Rocky Mountain National Park!

Well, we've been building ourselves up to this since our last visit in August. We've been slowly building up our winter outdoor gear, spending time outside in below-freezing temps, and consistently hiking in whatever weather conditions life throws us. This has been a source of gratifying personal growth for me, a diehard heat & humidity fan and enemy of all things that chill my poorly-circulated fingers and toes. But the right gear is key! And I'm proud to say I've made peace with winter, even finding many things to love about it. 

 Our Colorado winter trip was a real stress test of that truce. 

The night we arrived, our cabin owners called to let us know they'd switched us to a different cabin - much bigger but with no hot tub - just for the night. It seems the previous guests hadn't followed instructions to keep hot AND cold water running (not trickling) in all the faucets during the record-low temps, so the faucet froze and pipes burst. 

But we were determined to make the most of every day of our trip, so we geared up the next morning just the same, and hit the trail with below-zero wind chills. 

Now, my thinking for Day 1 was - something relatively easy, as in 'no gear required'. We didn't want to waste any time messing with gear rental; we wanted to dive right into the trails! Based on reviews on AllTrails, Deer Mountain was a win! 

Lesson #1 for hiking in Colorado: check elevation gains. 

We had just arrived in Estes Park, elevation 7,522, the night before. We knew from our previous visit that the altitude is no joke and makes even the slightest incline a breathless one. So we start our hiking trip with a little mountain climbing. Brilliant. 

The trip up was rather grueling. Beautiful! But grueling. Just when you think you've gotten past the difficult climb, the final push is the most brutal. But gosh - those views! 

The top was incredibly windy. I sat for a minute to take it all in and had a brief, blissful moment of temperature equilibrium. "I feel great! Not too cold at all! Just warm enough," I said to myself as my elevated body heat balanced out the arctic wind. But it was short lived. Soon enough, I hesitated to get into my pack for a snack, because the idea of moving so much seemed cold. And as soon as I pulled my pack around front, I lost all the insulation I forgot was keeping my back warm. We took in the spectacular view for as long as we could and promptly set to descend. 

One major bonus of winter hiking in RMNP: the trails are empty! We saw 4 people on our trek up (and one of those left their party and descended soon after their start). We passed maybe another 6 on the way down, 2 of whom asked us "are we almost there?" as we passed, and I had to deliver the bad news that they were not quite halfway. 

It was a baptism by fire, as they say, but I'm so glad we did it the way we did. We might have chickened out if we really knew what we were getting ourselves into. 

I don't have as many pictures from this trail, because my phone completely drained its entire battery and shut down about 30 minutes into it. I'm guessing this has something to do with the cold? Pro-tip: keep your phone in a pocket close to your body - not an exterior bag. But the pics I did get (using Ryan's phone) can be found here!