(Note: links go to big pictures -- most on the order of 60-100kbytes. You are warned.)
We had backpacked in the Holy Cross Wilderness just about exactly three years and eleven months ago (trip report and photos), and decided to revisit it. This time, we'd take it easy with a short loop near the southeast end, since I was recovering from a cold: Missouri Lakes trailhead to camp at the lakes, over Missouri Pass and up to Blodgett Lake, camping there and possibly peeking over the saddle to the south, and then up and over Fancy Pass and home. As it turned out, we didn't quite make even this unambitious itinerary.
The Missouri Lakes trail wound through the forest, crossing Missouri Creek several times. The creek ran through many deep rock gorges on its way to a small artificial pond, where much of it was piped out to the Homestake Reservoir, part of the Front Range's water-stealing system.
We camped at the outlet of the next-to-highest of the Missouri Lakes. Small packs of drift ice floated on the lake. Above our camp, Missouri Pass was still snow-covered.
The next day, we packed up camp and hiked past the uppermost lake. Just before we started to ascend the pass, a storm blew in; we took shelter under some scrub and waited it out, not wanting to be on the exposed pass with lightning all around. After it cleared, we continued, picking our way carefully up the rock bands separating the snowfields, crossing the snow when no other choice was available. The final hundred yards or so were across a deep drift, and I sunk in to my waist a few times, but we finally made it to Missouri Pass (also pictured above).
From the pass, we looked back at the Missouri Lakes basin. As snowy as that sight was, it didn't compare to the winter wonderland on the other side. We'd planned on camping at Blodgett Lake (the farther lake in the photo) but it didn't look like we could get there without ice axes -- and we'd have to set up the tent in snow. Instead we hiked down and past the frozen Treasure Vault Lake and set up our camp on a knoll protected by some scrubby bushes.
Even though it was early in the afternoon, we were a bit tired from postholing and we slid into the tent. I fell asleep instantly. I woke up in time to cook and eat dinner, and then go to sleep again. Britt woke up in time to inform me he'd caught my cold. Oh well.
The next morning, since Britt was in the full throes of the cold, and since there was too much snow where we had wanted to hike, we decided to just hike on out over Fancy Pass. A long glissade on the other side brought us down nearly to treeline, and we reached the car just at 1pm.
