RMNP CONDITIONS

The hike up to Emerald Lake was beautiful.  The ranger station was reporting 38" of snow. but the trail was well packed and skis and snowshoes would have only been cumbersome.  Trekking poles, gators and sturdy boots were nice but not necessary.  Post-holing was minimal but still a concern in some areas, especially higher up the trail.  I spoke to some skiers who said the snow was, "eehhh," as it softened up nicely but there were a lot of runnels already.  The March snow-pack looks more like it did in June last year.  Below is a picture of terrain above emerald lake.  There were some ski tracks in the couloirs and it looked like OK spring skiing.

Looks like there is some snow coming through this week:
http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=40.3066290288676&lon=-105.66564559936523&site=bou&unit=0&lg=en&FcstType=text

Ski tracks and runnels above a frozen Emerald Lake