Sandbeach Lake Trail
Location: Rocky Mountain National Park
Fees: Day Use = $20, Weekly = $30, Annual = $50
Elevation: 8,312-10,283 feet
Distance: 8.8 miles roundtrip
The forecast called for a cold day of snowshoeing and it was! I think the high may have been 20 degrees. At first we thought it might be slightly warmer as the sun peaked through the clouds, but it didn’t take long for a light snow to fall and the sun to disappear for the day.
Only a dusting of snow covered the beginning of the trail, so we were able to don mircrospikes. After about two miles in, however, the snow thickened substantially and snowshoes became a necessity. I found it was slightly challenging to cross a narrow log bridge on snow shoes though the elevation change wasn’t as hard as I expected.
After a few hours, we reached the lake. I thought we would be able to see it, but it was covered by snow. We didn’t stay long, as out of the tree cover, the wind was biting cold. The group split up a bit upon our return to the parking lot as everyone needed to go a different pace to stay warm. It was a nice snowshoe and a good challenge. ETB
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