Snowshoeing The White River National Forest and Holy Cross Wilderness - Minturn, Colorado

The last weekend of November, John and I set out on our first snowshoeing trip of the winter. We intended to backpack to Missouri Lakes in the White River National Forest and Holy Cross Wilderness, but like many of our trips before, we were forced to change our plans, and as always, everything worked out wonderfully.

The White River National Forest is located outside of Minturn, Colorado, just south of Vail. It is about two-and-a-half hours from Denver. We left home early Saturday morning and arrived around 9 a.m. and discovered a few surprises.
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We knew it would be cold, but the temperature was only 9 degrees Fahrenheit according to my Jeep when we pulled down the road. That was about 20-degrees colder than we anticipated, but we kept going.

That was, until we also discovered that the road we were supposed to take was closed by a gate 8 miles from the trailhead! We parked the car and began reviewing our options and the posted maps. Hoping we could still get out to camp.

The maps showed that there were trails off Homestead Road and campgrounds along the way, so we decided to hike the road and find a scenic place to camp for the night. Easy alternative!

We put on our packs and snowshoes and started walking. We didn’t know, at all, what to expect, and we didn’t know how beautiful our surroundings would be!

The start of our hike down Homestead Road.

Homestead Creek:

​The road followed alongside Homestead Creek, and the creek was unlike anything we had ever seen.

​The creek was partially frozen with water flowing over top sheets of ice. This baffling phenomena coupled with the view of far-off, snow-covered mountains created a stunning winter scene. ​

The river was flowing over the sheets of ice!

The view of the surrounding mountains taken with my Nikon D3300.

No Name Gulch:

First ones to walk this trail! The only footprints so far were Maria's.

​We trekked for a few miles until we reached “No Name Gulch” where we veered off the road to become the first people to walk the trail since the last snowfall. We snowshoed through fresh powder, breaking the beautiful, white sheet beneath our feet.

We crunched our way through the trees and wandered into an opening where we found a nice spot to camp at the edge of a pine grove. We took off our pack and continued down the trail. Without our heavy packs, it was easier to get further up into the rocky hills and explore the entire area. 

The abandoned mine we found!

Our adventurous spirit was rewarded when we climbed a steep, snowy chute to reach a viewpoint of the valley. Just before we topped the hill, we caught a glimpse of a massive hole in the ground. We walked over to it and discovered an abandoned mine!

After examining our discovery and talking about what might be at its bottom, we circled around the side of the hill where Homestead valley and river lay. 

​We walked toward the river and found ourselves back on Homestead Road. We crossed over, took a drink of the cold river water, and decided to explore upstream.

​We discovered waterfalls crashing over sheets of ice, crystals of ice freezing in all kinds of strange patterns atop the river, and plenty of places to sit and take in the seemingly untouched beauty. ​

Standing on the frozen bank of Homestead Creek.

Some interesting ice creations we found.

Taylor and Maria enjoying the view.

More frozen creations on the creek.

Our campsite.

​Before it got too dark, we returned to our packs and started to set up camp. We quickly popped up our tent and gathered enough firewood for the night, because we could feel the temperatures rapidly dropping.

We got the fire going and enjoyed a dehydrated meal by the fireside as the sun abandoned us to the cold. We tried our hardest to stay warm and dry, but the temperatures were diving into the single digits again. Eventually, we drowned the warm  flames of our campfire and sprinted to our sleeping bags hoping to warm up and get a decent night's sleep.

Trying to dry out our socks and shoes to warm up.

The night was one of the most difficult we’ve experienced. Temperatures reached 8 degrees, and we didn’t have the proper gear. We struggled, fully clothed and shivering, through the night. We had even stuffed the feet of our sleeping bags with excess clothing save one jacket we draped over our dog Maria. We learned a lot that night and have already begun researching our upgrades.

Here are some items we wish we'd had better versions of:

Our Apex 2XT tent is best used in the spring and summer, and we could have used a four-season tent.

Our sleeping bags are Outdoor Vitals brand bags. Mine is only rated for 30 degrees, John’s is rated for 0 degrees, and neither got the job done.

John could have used a sleeping pad to keep him off the cold ground

If you want to see in more detail all of the gear we carry in our backpacks, check out the detailed blog post from Yellowstone National Park here!

We woke up the next morning with frost stuck to everything inside the tent, including my hat. We laughed at how ridiculous the situation we’d put ourselves in was, snuggled up with our pup, and waited for the sunshine to hit our tent and warm us up.

Once the sun was high enough in the sky, we stood in its rays and briskly packed up camp. After stuffing our bags and making one final sweep of the campsite, we started our hike back to the car. The trail was just as beautiful as the day before, but we were motivated by the warmth of my car. ​

The hike back was much faster than the wandering stroll the day before. Both of our hungry stomachs and frozen toes were encouraging us to make it back as fast as we could. We arrived at my car in about two hours, and we couldn’t have been happier with the heat or the trip we’d just had. It was an incredibly fun and beautiful weekend, but we would have loved it that much more if we had been properly prepared.

Similar blog posts:

Snowshoeing The St. Vrain Creek in Boulder, Colorado
Snow Camping at Conundrum Hot Spring, Aspen, Colorado
Snowshoeing Taos, New Mexico