Lake Haiyaha via Glacier Gorge TH.

The weather has been massively cold lately, though we fortunately seem to be at an uptick.  However, just a week ago the high temps along the front range were in the single digits with negative double digits in some of the mountain towns.
Though this past Tuesday was certainly warmer, it was still only eleven degrees when we started from the Glacier Gorge trail head to take the winter route to Lake Haiyaha.  This lake is named after a Native American word for rock, and upon arrival you will see why.  The longer and harder to follow route from Glacier Gorge is the preferred method in the winter since the summer access via Bear Lake travels through and under a possible avalanche path on the finger of land extending east from Hallett Peak.  The route from Glacier Gorge avoids this risk for the most part.
Snow drifted across Bear Lake road and high winds led us to start out in snowshoes, and we kept them on the entire day.  It was also so cold that I didn't stop to take many photos.  Even taking short snack breaks left us quickly going from comfortably warm to too cold quite quickly.

Along the Glacier Gorge trail.  It was somewhat packed in places, but as we'd guessed, hadn't seen much traffic since the last snowfall since the temps have been so low.  Add to that the wind blown drifts, and we were glad to have our snowshoes!

Half Mountain as seen from the trail.  It looks pretty intimidating and bad ass from this side, but when viewed from other places that are higher, it looks tiny.
It was pretty easy to follow the trails path until we got to the intersection with the Loch Vale and Lake Haiyaha trails.  Though we could at times see signs that someone had been along this way before us, their trail was not very distinct most of the way, and not well broken.  Which means things got harder.

But of course, with effort comes reward, here in this delicate photo of our freshly broken trail through the forest.  These winter days are quite special, and in my opinion, well worth the slight discomforts of the cold and wind.

Fresh, unbroken powder as we near Lake Haiyaha.  

And upwards.
As we neared the lake, route finding became a bit difficult.  There is alot of rock here, and at first we thought an empty spot we could see in the forest was the lake.  When that proved not to be, we went up a little, then down a little before deciding up was the answer. 
We also crossed a small area that was just at about the minimum angle needed to avalanche.  I heard a loud whumpf and saw a twenty foot crack form right in front of me.  A quick retreat and we went a different way.

We finally arrived at the lake right near this large boulder which is familiar to many of you whom have been there before.  It lies right on the edge of the lake, with the northern side submerged in water.
It bears mentioning Chaos Canyon (which contains the lake) holds a wealth of hard bouldering, containing such problems as Jade, Riddles in the Park, The Automator, Nuthin' but Sunshine, and Secret Splendor (an appropriate name for the area). 

Hallett Peak up there somewhere.  It was colder and windier.  After a few photos, we immediately started heading down.

Finally reaching some shelter, we took a snack break and got cold.
Of course, going down along our already broken trail was much easier than going up.  In the end, it took us about three hours and fifteen minutes up and two hours back down.  In summer conditions I'd like to say I could do this in 2-3 hours round trip.
We came upon two others around the Loch Vale junction who were trying to get to Mills Lake(and others, just search for Mills Lake!).  Of course they were lost and unprepared without a map!  It sounded like they'd been up this way in the summer before and had followed the trail most of the way up in the snow, but had gotten turned around and confused in the snow.  Hiking in the winter is a different beast; I've remarked in the past how something so familiar can be rendered exactly the opposite by a layer of snow. 

 Half Mountain from the Glacier Gorge trail, still looking quite bad ass.

We arrived back at the parking to find four other cars.  More than we though would be there.  It was now up to a balmy twelve degrees.  The new winter gear I'd invested in this year worked wonderfully, and kept my hands, feet, and face pretty warm.  I would venture that this day could be close to the worst conditions I'll face this winter, but we shall see.
Lake Haiyaha is a fun destination.  It's too bad everything was so socked in because I am sure it offers some really great views of the surrounding peaks.  I will definitely be back up here this summer to check out some of the climbing, though most or all of it is way beyond my abilities.  It is decided more difficult in the winter, particularly if you need to break a trail in on the way up.  And make sure you know where you are going!
Lake Haiyaha via winter access (10221 feet): 3.5 miles one way, 981 foot gain.  Moderate+.

Half Mountain via Glacier Gorge TH.

Well, we kind of sort of had some finally good weather, which means it was snowing when we started and snowing when we ended, but we actually saw some sun in the middle.  I am not sure what is up with the weather.  I know we need the moisture and all, but why does it always have to be moist on my days off?  Case in point- it rained most of the night last night and has been raining for several hours today as well.

But hey, at least we got a few good hours in!

Dan and I started from the Glacier Gorge TH just after 7 am on the Seventh of May, 2013.  Our goal was Half Mountain.  This peak is along the ridge which borders the east side of Glacier Gorge and also holds Storm Peak and Longs Peak.  

Apparently this half mountain was once a whole mountain- a rounded hump cut in half by glacial action, the same glacier that formed the gorge.  Since I have hiked from this trail head alot recently, I'll spare you photos of the way up but tell you Alberta Falls is still frozen, though there is now water visible and audible just below it.  

We left the trail somewhere above Alberta Falls, before we actually reached the North Longs Peak Trail junction.  We just skirted along the creek until we hit the bridge.  Crossed, we followed a beat in trail for a bit until it turned uphill.  We decided to follow this, though according to the description in the book, it was heading up too early.  But we weighed this against having to break trail for miles.  So we followed the broken snowshoe/boot/ski trail up.

Tree on the slopes.

I took this photo from a vertigo inducing vantage point on the north face of Half Mountain.  You can't really tell how steep it was...

But here you can.  Pretty steep I'd say.  We were a bit concerned about the possibility of avalanches, but the snow conditions looked and felt great.  A more consolidated spring snow pack is on the way. 
Here is where the weather started to clear up a bit.  Looking around, it was still cloudy to the north, east, south, and west, but we were in this perfect little window.

I saw another cool looking tree on the slope, shaped by years of wind and weather.  I wish I had gotten the other side, as it reminded me of Danny Devito for some reason.  You gotta pay the troll toll...

Dan making his way up.

As we approached the summit, the trail we were following stopped, and it became our turn to take over.  I was feeling pretty great to my surprise.  I hadn't been out much in the past month and hadn't been above eleven thousand feet in awhile.  But I was motoring!

Staying near the ridge provided us the opportunity for some great views, like this one overlooking Glacier Gorge. 

A little bit higher up.

Dan in the lead as we start nearing the summit.  It looks close, but there is still a bit to go. 

Myself on Half Mountain.  Photo compliments of Daniel Regelson.

Dan joins me at 11482 feet.
The views?  Spectacular.

Looking south, Battle Mountain, Mt. Lady Washington.

West to the divide.  It was so cool to see the clouds rolling over it. 

Picture of the week?  Looking south along the ridge line that also holds Storm Peak and Longs Peak.

The Arrowhead.
The wind was definitely alot stronger up here, and a few minutes on the summit was all we needed.  We decided to stay near our steps initially, but to use the snow to our advantage in cushioning power.  After we hit tree line, we headed more north to avoid some of the steeper slopes, which might be more avalanche prone in the afternoon. 

Dan heads down. 

And down.  We could definitely feel the snow getting softer and slushier on the way down.  Postholing was deeper and much more frequent.

Far away peaks, dreams yet realized.
Much to our surprise, or perhaps not, we found ourselves right back on the trail we took on the way up.  It was a short way back to the Glacier Gorge trail.

Half Mountain from below.

And Half Mountain, on the left, as seen from the parking lot.  Looks pretty steep from here, but don't be intimidated!  We got back to the car shortly after eleven, giving us a time of just over four hours.
This was a pretty awesome and fun little peak.  I imagine if you were to head up here on a nice summer day, you'd likely have the summit to yourself.  It's a nice place to be.
Half Mountain north ridge via Glacier Gorge TH:
2.9 miles one way, 2302 foot gain.  Moderate+.