On Friday I had taken a PTO day to do my
first spring ascent of Longs Peak. On Saturday I had climbed at
Lumpy Ridge with Nate. I expected Sunday to be a forced day inside, from looking at the NOAA forecast (which was calling for 100% snow, 4-8 inches in RMNP). I planned to do some cleaning, laundry, and website work. But when I woke up the mountains were basking in the light of sunrise and there was not a storm cloud in site. Hm. I regretted sleeping in (even though I needed it after waking up at midnight for the Longs Peak ascent on Friday). I ran though a mental checklist of possible destinations for the day. So I decided to head to Tyndall Gorge, with the goal of getting all the way up to Tyndall Glacier and Pool of Jade at the head of the gorge. I knew there were some snow slopes prone to slide under unstable conditions, so with the stable conditions, today was a good day to check this area out.
My round trip time was 4 hours. I enjoyed exploring an area I had never been to before (in the summer, I had been up to the Third Buttress of Hallett, but no further up the gorge). There were a lot of skiers out enjoying the slopes above Emerald Lake, but I had the upper gorge to myself.
Below are some photos from my short bonus day out.