Climbers: hobo and tortoise
Location: Ten Mile Range, CO, USA
Trailhead: Wheeler Lake
Summit Objectives: Clinton, Traver, and McNamee
The trail from Montgomery Reservoir to Wheeler Lake is pretty long and relatively flat. Once you get up to the lake at 12,100', the "trail" turns sharply uphill. This would have been a workout, but not a problem, if we hadn't slogged through some moderate snow up to the lake, and then floundered through thigh-deep snow up the hill. By the time we reached the basin below the peaks at 12,500 or so, we were exhausted, wet, and perplexingly running short on daylight. Conservatively, we chose to turn back. It's possible that snowshoes would have made some difference, but it's also possible that we just plain old didn't get an early enough start.
Still, it was a beautiful day to be out in the mountains, getting some fresh air, and playing in the snow, and a good welcome to the winter climbing season.
