Dawn Patrol Mission: St. Vrain Mountain, Indian Peaks Wilderness

Snuck out for a pre-dawn jaunt up St. Vrain Mountain in the northern Indian Peaks this Sunday morning. The Indian Peaks is well known as a popular backcountry ski zone for spring descents, but rarely sees many visitors during the winter season as it is one of the windiest and most variable backcountry spots in the state of Colorado. Sunday morning I had to be into work by 10am, so I didn’t have much time to ski, but figured I could manage some turns up near Allenspark (1 hour from work, closest bc spot to home, good snow, etc.). So, I packed up the truck the night before and set the alarm for 2:30am with sights set on sitting on the summit of St. Vrain Mountain at sunrise while drinking some coffee and catching a glimpse of the early morning winter light.

Earth or Moon?

With an aging starlit night with the early morning hours creeping up quickly I moved quickly up the well trodden trail and made the Meadow Mountain-St. Vrain Mountain saddle shortly before 5:30am.

Early morning light:

Looking down on Longmont, Lyons, and Boulder County:

Another 40 minutes or so and I was sitting on the summit of St. Vrain waiting for the sun to rise to the east. It was a rather windy, yet warm morning, so the weather wasn’t all that bad as I sat there waiting for the morning light to give life to the world around me. I sat there and watched the sun slowly make it’s way up and over the eastern horizon. I can’t think of a better way to spend the 6am hour than sitting atop a Colorado mountain top in the middle of winter.

First sight of the sun:

Zoomed out:

Looking to the north with Longs and Meeker in the near distance:

Absolutely beautiful. Knowing I had a nice 3,000′ descent below me I was content. Conditions were hardpacked above treeline, but very smooth and soft below treeline. Super dense, yet soft powder made for some easy and fun turns down low all the way to the truck.

Ogallala, St. Vrain Glaciers, and Elk’s tooth: