With Every Obstacle Comes Opportunity…

In the previous post Bobbie and I were about to head up Red Mountain's switchbacks to do some high altitude snowshoeing on the pass (11,000 feet).  It was the first clear day after a series of holiday storms that left several feet of snow in the high San Juans. About 3 miles from town we found Highway 550 South barricaded for "avalanche control." Ugh… 



We U-turned and zipped down to the Amphitheater Campground road. What's it been, maybe three of four years since we'd snowshoed up there? Being a recent convert to the Glass-Half-Full School for the Emotionally Impaired, I now understand that Obstacles are actually Opportunities in waiting. We adjusted our "Jello" plans and were thus able to sidestep the disappointment of full sun on "Red." Maybe it was a fortuitous detour, given the high avalanche warnings up there…   
   

We found people camping in spite of the cold, long nights. :)

We had managed an early start because the sun rises early on Red Mountain Pass. Not so in the Amphitheater; it would be shaded and cold snowshoeing up against the southernmost crown of mountains that encompass the Amphitheater's massive bowl. Temps hovered near 5 degrees. After only a mile I opened a couple of packets of "Hand Warmers" to insert into my wool mittens. Those things really work! The rest of me was fine, as the trail was steep enough to break a good warm sweat. Here are a few Black and Whites to cool you off… :)  

Finally, sun. Ahhh, night and day… and yes, those are some really big pine trees.

Here is Bobbie's watercolor painting from the last time we snowshoed up into the Amphitheater, "Portland Mine in Winter." She warmed it up a little :)