St. Mary's Glacier

Yesterday, my husband, parents, and I hiked up a glacier located about an hour out of Denver. Although the lake at the foot of the glacier was frozen, the sky was sunny and the weather was mild.


But, as we began ascending the glacier, the wind picked up. The gusts whipped powdery snow at our faces and the inch of water in my husband's water bottle froze solid. The 11,000+ altitude combined with the steep face made our steps slow and laborious. 


Unfortunately, with every few feet we walked, another few feet of the glacier appeared at the top of the hill. When my dad ran up some snow covered rocks to the left of the glacier to scope out how much further we had to go, I snapped this picture. Due to the biting cold and the unknown distance left, we ran, stumbled, tromped, slid, and sledded (on our coats and/or nylon covered butts) all the way back down.


What a tiring, fun, and gorgeous adventure!