Colorado Summits: Twin Sisters (Spring Snow)

Breaking Storm. From Twin Sisters Peak, Colorado, 2015

Well, how ’bout them apples. A strikeout yesterday, a home run today. It eventually pays off if you keep coming back.

This time, I chose Twin Sisters (3a.m. start hike time), directly across from Longs Peak, as the photo perch. I figured with the storm still lingering about that there might be some fog or a low cloud layer at sunrise today and, sure enough, there was.

The one “shoulda”: I probably should have worn the snowshoes on my feet rather than leaving them in the truck. There was a lot more snow than I anticipated and the trench from a week ago was just visible enough to follow with the headlamp. Luckily, I only had two or three post holes to the hip–typically it was ankle, or shin-deep at the most–and I made the boots work.

The snow was gorgeous…a crystal carpet of jeweled white. And you just couldn’t beat the view (even with a very large stick) of Longs, Indian Peaks, and the retreating storm cloud remnants.

Some notes:

–With the snow conditions, the hike up took 3 1/2 hours. So, I was above the trees, but just shy of the summit, when Mr. Sun showed up. In the summer, the romp through the forest to the top shouldn’t take quite that long.

–FYI…About an hour up the trail from the parking lot is a small break in the trees which makes for a nice place to rest and to take pictures of Longs Peak.

–Photo note: For close images of Longs, 200mm effective focal length is a minimum–and it’s all I own. It would be nice to have at least 300mm or even 600mm available. That is a lot of lens weight, though, so maybe consider a teleconverter on a small telephoto, combining images, or cropping if you have the megapixels to spare.

–Maybe 5-10 minutes past the aforementioned “Longs Peak Vista Luncheon Counter” you will arrive at the 2013 mudslide site. The slide cut through several of the Twin Sisters Trail switchbacks. In the snow, I just followed the faint trench which sometimes had me going straight up the slope parallel to the mudslide and sometimes walking the zags of the old switchbacks. I’m not sure where you might go in summer with bare ground, but it should be fairly obvious.

–I never considered Twin Sisters to be much of an avalanche risk kind o’ hike…but, had it snowed another foot or so that last slope up to the summit saddle might have had me wondering about deviating a bit. As it was, the snow seemed to be heavy (wet), consolidated, not too deep, and fairly well anchored by the rocks and boulders.

–The highest point is to the east, but your best views of Longs are from the west summit.

–The east wall of the “radio shack” was in the sun and out of the wind (well, out of whatever little breeze there was), so made for a fine lunch spot.

–The hike is around 7 miles round trip and 2,500′ vertical, and it is generally accessible all year round, so it’s a good one to keep you in shape for the higher Colorado peaks–and, of course, it’s a wonderful hike in it’s own right.

Some selected images:

I was hoping to be at the top at this moment, to catch first light on The Diamond of Longs Peak. Ah, well, this moment was pretty nice, too…

Here Comes The Sun. Twin Sisters, Colorado, 2015

Smooth snow. A bit more of it and there could be some avy concerns here. Skiers, I know it looks sweet, don’t get your hopes up. There are many rocks and boulders (granite “sharks”) lurking just beneath the surface…

Sun and Snow. Twin Sisters, Colorado, 2015

Yet another corner of RMNP to explore…

Mummy Range Above the Fog. From Twin Sisters, Colorado, 2015

Roughly the same scene, but with the peaks labeled for your convenience…

Mummy Range, RMNP. From Twin Sisters, Colorado, 2015

No, it doesn’t open so you can camp in it. Leave it be as the sign asks you…

The Electron Shack. Twin Sisters, Colorado, 2015

Nothing like a few clouds to spruce up a photograph…

Dissipating Storm. Twin Sisters, Colorado, 2015

Looking south and west. Mt. Audubon is prominent on the left and, of course, Longs Peak on the right…

Then, the big one once again right across the valley. I could see a track in the snow leading up toward Chasm Lake junction and Chasm Lake, probably from this morning…