We woke up to the wind howling outside our bedroom window. The trees were swaying back and forth…another windy day. We had snowshoed up to the Mills Lake Junction the day before on the winter trail, but the wind- blown snow was covering the trail quickly, We decided to turn around and not go on to Mills Lake. Better to be safe and wait for another day, then to attempt the hike. We were concerned that there was a chance that we might become lost on the way down. And it was a very cold day…not one you want to lose your way.
 
We drove up to Bear Lake parking lot early and sat in the car for a while. Should we try it? We always loved the hike up to Flattop in the summer but this would be different. From the car, It looked like it was very windy part way up the trail, but sitting in the car, we could feel the temperature rising. The weather predictions indicated that it would be in the 40’s in Estes Park. After a few minutes, we both decided to give it a try as we could always turn around. We never consider a hike a failure if we didn’t arrive at our destination. The most important element of a hike is to return safely to our starting point, not to arrive at the summit. With this hike, we knew that we would only hike to whatever place we were comfortable with and turn around.
 
We started up the winter trail in the Bear Lake woods… and by the first bend, I had removed my hat and tucked it away in my backpack. That was to be the end of wearing hats for the day. It was just beautiful in the trees. The winds were blowing but the wind was cool, not a freezing one. The trail was well-defined at the beginning and we had trouble keeping a pace as we stopped numerous times for photography, The day was “Picture Perfect!” We passed a couple who were returning from the Odessa Trail. They indicated that the Odessa Trail was full of drifts due to wind-blown snow and it wasn’t a lot of fun hiking on that trail that day. But we knew about the condition of that trail already during the winter months.
 
We came to the junction for Flattop and Odessa and took the left toward Flattop. The trail was narrow but easy to follow. There was so much snow which made the hiking at a much higher level; you were ducking the branches here and there. Being 5+ feet higher up from the ground gives any trail a different feeling during the winter months. We hiked for another half mile and then the trail thinned out quite a bit. There was only one set of snowshoes hiking up to Flattop. At this point on the hike, having a GPS is an added piece of equipment for safety. But NEVER rely on a piece of equipment the uses batteries as any gear with batteries can fail. We also carry walkie talkies in case we become separated from each other. Every once in while during the first part of the hike, we could see Bear Lake. It was just beautiful, laden with snow and drifts everywhere. You could see the tracks of where the skiers had shushed down from the snowfields above. Longs Peak rose out of the snow majestically. It was just breathtaking!
 
Snowshoeing through the pines, we bushwhacked a bit here and there. Some of the trail was quite narrow with a nice drop-off down the slope, so it was a slow-going process... one step at a time. By now, the trail had only one set of snowshoes left as we approached uncharted territory. It was a beautiful day as we went higher on the trail. As we were enjoying our snack and a little rest, a flock of Clark’s Nutcrackers perched in a tree nearby. Pretty soon there were joined by two Stellar’s Jays . We could hear the “chick-a-dee-dee-dee” song of the chickadees in the distance.
 
Continuing our hike, we approached an overlook. Hallett Peak and Flattop soared in the distance. We stopped for a while photographing the mountain peaks. A plane was soaring above the mountain peaks leaving a white streak in the dark blue sky. The mountains, covered with snow, were like a picture postcard. We decided that this was high enough as our appetite had been filled by a great hiking day. We basked in the sun for a while longer and enjoyed the stunning views before heading back down the trail.