The park reopened on day 2, though the winds eased up only slightly. I headed into the park on southern US-36 entrance and started off by exploring Bear Lake Road. The day before, this was where all the accidents were, and the main reason why the park closed. Easily saw why, and was surprised this was still opened today with all the wind driven snow. . . especially near Moraine Park. . . (More at: http://www.christoperj.com/2007/01/ph-ls-tr-rock-south-rocky-mountain.html)
There was some light snow overnight. . .maybe about a quarter of an inch sticking to the car. . .
. . .inside the park -- about a mile down Bear Lake Road from US-36, this pic shows just how high the snow was on the side of the road. It came up to just below the wheel well on the car. . .
. . .the winds were almost as strong today as they were on day 1 -- in the distance, a gust across Moraine Park kicks up the snow across the open land. . .
. . . the trees on side of the Bear Lake Road, with the faint glint of slow being blown into the camera. . .
. . .coming into the Moraine Park, there wasnt any trees to block the wind and snow from causing a near whiteout across the road. . .
. . .an erie sight, the snow being kicked up in the gusty winds at ground level at Moraine Park. These winds come down and around the mountains and whip everything up. . .
. . .wind driven snow across the foothills around Moraine Park. . .
. . .the hills and treeks provided some shelter from the wind. . .the area was generally calm around the next curve. . .
. . .futher down the Bear Lake Road at Hollowell Park -- a snow covered picnic table. . .
. . .the snow in the air was near-whiting out the surrounding mountains. . .
. . .wind driven snow kicking up at Hollowell Park. . .
. . .above the ground blizzards, the skies were clear and the trees were green. . .
. . .the sun being masked by the wind driven snow in the air. . .
. . .coming around the switchbacks towards the end of Bear Lake Road, the snow was just piling up. . .
. . .another pic of the snow being nearly blocked out by the blowing snow the air. . .
. . .blowing snow outside of the car window. . .
. . .a snow covered bus stop at the Bear Lake area at the end of the road. . .
. . .the blowing snow was thick in the area around the Bear Lake trailhead. . .
. . .ran out of road -- so i turned around and headed back. The wind blown snow was getting thicker, as it blew around the mountains. . .
. . .the view from the Glacier Gorge wayside. . .
. . .the wind blew through the gorge kicking snow up from the bottom. . .
. . .one of my favorite photos of the trip -- this shows the intensity of wind swept snow in the gorge -- just feet below me. The snow felt like cold sand coming up out of the gorge -- i was only able to get out of the car for a couple of minutes before being frozen. . .
. . .around the next switchback -- all was calm, or at least blocked by the trees. . .
. . .Storm Pass Trailhead off of Bear Lake road -- with a Storm Peak barely visable in the distance. . .
. . .a pointless picture of the Sprague Lake Trailhead. . . not sure what i was aiming for on these few. . .
. . .Gianttrack Mountaion beyond a switchback on the Bear Lake Road. . .
. . .the snow covered area around the Hollowell Park turnoff. . .
. . .view towards the eastern border of Rocky Mountaion National Park from the last picnic area before Moraine Park. . .
. . . Deer Peak from Bear Lake Road just before Moraine Park. . .
. . .heading back through the Moraine Park area, the ground blizzards had become more intense. . .
. . .where's the damn road?. . .
. . .wind whipped snow coming off of Moraine Park. . .
. . .never seeing anything like this until this trip, i spent about a half an hour watching these wind gusts dramaticly carry the snow across the valley. . .
. . . around the curve, the wind died down and it was back to peaceful scenery. . .
. . .back at the US-36 junction, with a snow covered Deer Mountain in the distance.
