Loveland Pass - snow in June

The snow in the mountains stays longer than downhills... So if you miss it and want to refresh your memory... just go up to the mountains and you will definitely find some ;) Loveland Pass is one of the best destinations for such an escape from the heat of a big city. Can you imagine this tall wall of snow along the highway at the end of June? And yeah... I was unable to park closer to the summit and needed to walk uphill to the trailhead.

 

When I was there, I discovered that there was some kind of bike race that day and Loveland Pass was filled with the bikers who stopped to have some rest after the climb and before flying down ;) By the way, in just a few minutes I crossed the highway and started on the trail that goes up...

I started hiking on the trail and tried to walk slowly. I've done it before and knew that although the trail looks easy, in fact it's steep and quite challenging...

A few minutes later I could barely see the bikers below... But the snowy peaks seemed much closer than before.

I climbed higher and higher... and oh boy, the views were absolutely amazing!

There were a lot of flowers along the trail. I love this time of the year, when you can see snow and flowers at the same time, isn't it cool?

Soon I found myself a good 1000 feet higher than where I started and was treated to an absolutely stunning 360-degree panoramic view of the surrounding mountain peaks.

I hiked a bit further down the trail and found a group of... skiers ;) Believe it or not, these guys started at dusk, hiked all the way up to Grizzly Peak and skied down. They were now relaxing and enjoying the sun before heading back to Denver. It was unexpected and really cool to meet them and chat.

I reached the snowy valley and decided to turn around and go back. This was enough for me for this day and I was ready to return.

It was actually quite windy and I wanted to grab a bite to eat before starting my descent, so I found a mound of rocks to hide in. There was another hiker resting there, but there was enough space for the two of us;)

A few minutes later I followed the other people down the hill and it didn't take long before I was back at my car and ready to drive home... to Denver, where no snow could be found :)

Click here to see the same hike, but in November, where there was more snow and colder... - Morning in the mountains

The pictures were taken on June 25, 2011.