Home»All Photographs»2016 Hikes»Commonwealth Creek 03-21-16

The forecast called for unsettled weather, so rather than try to eek out a hike in the front ranges as I have been so lucky to do lately, I embraced the conditions and went searching for deep snow in the big mountains near the continental divide. I was aptly rewarded.
A Monday morning with heavy snowfall ensured one thing for this snowshoe trip - complete and utter silence. As I traveled over the frozen bogs south of Engadine Lodge, the snow really started to come down. The temperature was a balmy -1 Celcius - just low enough to keep the snow fluffy and not wet.
As I proceeded west toward the headwaters of Commonwealth Creek, I broke into open meadows interspersed with short bits of forested sections. Although the clouds were low, I had reasonable views along the valley floor and kept a keen eye for wildlife. Moose are often seen in this area, but I wasn't so lucky today.
I continued to the uppermost reaches of the valley, below the final hill to Smuts Pass. Here, I spied a large boulder the size of a cabin in the distance, and decided that it would make a good turnaround point as anything beyond was certainly in avalanche terrain. The lee of the 'cabin rock' made for a good shelter from the snowfall, with its hulking, overhanging mass.
After lunch, I explored the upper valley with some random snowshoeing through lightly forested patches, before picking up my entry trail and following it back out to the gravel highway.