Maroon Bells in the Spring

As some of you may recall I asked the question about shooting the Bells while the road was closed with snow. Brent D. went up in a snow cat a few seasons ago. And Art E. actually snowshoed it this winter!

So yesterday I called the Rangers Station up in that region (Carbondale). The Ranger I spoke with stated that people are skiing and snowshoeing it almost everyday right now! But when asked what the avalanche danger was he said it has been moderate to considerable all Winter. He also said that there are several places along the road that you will have cross over a slide areas.

I was thinking the lake would look really good in a partially frozen/thawed state. He said that last year it thawed completed by Memorial weekend and that the road will open around that time this year. He also anticipates the avi danger to increase as things start to warm up/melt.

So I am sort of undecided. On the one hand I would love to shoot the Bells from a 'unique' perspective. And on the other hand I am a somewhat concerned about avalanches especially after hearing about the recent deaths in Aspen this Winter season.

Is anyone thinking of getting up there before the road officially opens? Its amazing how many people do it in spite of the danger.

Derek,

I remember another discussion about the route to Conundrum Springs on summit post. Yes people are doing it, but there are serious slide chutes through that whole area.

I would think that by late April you'd be OK for slide danger, but I can't say for certain. Especially if you go up at night/early morning you should find the conditions safer as the snow should freeze up nicely. The lake should still be partly frozen at that time.

I'm not an avi expert, however I am familiar with going up the road before it opens. The road first opens as far as the first major bend to the right where there is a trailhead parking area on the left below the road. This can happen up to a month before the remaining section opens. This also makes for a shorter hike, however at the time I did it the lake was fully thawed and the road could have been opened the entire way if the FS had wanted to open the gate, since there was zero snow on the road the entire way. What may delay the opening til Memorial Day is the stationing of the camp host in the overflow lot, once he gets there they probably open it.
You may want to take a bike along just in case. This year however has seen greater snow levels than when I did it (about 10 years ago). A better time to get the shot you're after is in early winter before the lake is fully frozen, at that time you're dealing with fresh white snow, instead of in spring when you have old dirty snow, unless of course you time it after a fresh spring snowfall.

Thanks Don for the good info. I was not aware of the partial opening of the road further up toward the lake.

I know what you mean about early Winter or late Fall. But Spring can also surprise us with some of the new white stuff. I guess the hardest part is timing things. I sure wouldn't mind a shorter snow shoe or even a bike ride. Of course if the road is dry all the way up to the lake it is most likely thawed completely. But that isn't necessarily a bad thing if the light is good.