Elfin Lakes

I'm stoked to share a full roll of film taken with my Canon AE-1  (first to fully turn out!) accompanied by Coco's recounting of our adventure. 

Monday was unbelievable. Kat, Lucas, and I got up early to take advantage of the beyond perfect March weather and an extra day off work to trek out to Elfin Lakes. We weren't sure what the condition of the trail would be, but the snow was still packed down for all the backcountry skiers, leaving a nice wide trail for the first half of the hike. It wasn't too steep but the sun was bright and we got warm fast. It didn't take long before we had to lather up with sunscreen and strip down to our t-shirts.

After about an hour and a half, the trail clears and opens up to a mountain ridge with a light tree line and clean rolls of snow. With every corner, we had to slow down and take it in... Maybe it was the altitude but those same mountain ranges just looked better with every step we took.

It's wild that something this beautiful is so close to where we live and work. In just a few hours, or even less, you can be clambering the side of a mountain with nothing but untouched creation in front of you. 

Kat called it a reawakening. For both of us, our entire lives consisted of mountain views from our bedroom windows. We needed to rediscover our sense of wonder for our surroundings by seeking it out for ourselves. Now we're nothing less than obsessed with the mountains, and on days like this, we become straight up giddy.

The alpine cabin at the end of the hike is normally two stories, but with probably fifteen feet of snow on the ground, only the second floor was visible. It was a little bizarre to look out the windows at the bottom of the hut and just see big ice curls. We took our time there, eating some lunch, feeding nuts to the whiskey jacks, and chatting with fellow hikers.

The day was so on point. We laughed and ran and slid (I may have bailed face-first during a mad sprint downhill) all the way up and all the way down. There is no doubt--we are already planning our trip back up there to see those pretty little lakes in the summer! 

Photos by Kat  |  Words by Coco