Enchanted by Instagram posts of Dream Lake's sunrise in winter, Molly proposed a snowshoe hike to see it in person. It wasn't supposed to snow the night we went up to Estes Park, but I shouldn't have been surprised. Going up the mountain pass with poor visibility and people sliding off the road left and right wasn't exactly ideal, but we made it! Rising at 3:30 AM (after no one bothered with the 3:15 alarm), we suited up and drove to the trailhead. I was pleasantly surprised with how warm I was until we reached the summit. Someone suggested two hours to complete the hike but we did it in one. Sunrise wouldn't be for another hour. It was still dark, and the wind was whipping so hard that it was basically creating overcast conditions and making temperatures even colder. There was no way we'd see a sunrise even if we waited an hour. I took a few pictures without my gloves and thought my fingers were going to fall off. I don't think my hands have ever been THAT cold before. The burn is mind-boggling. All the hand/foot warmers we'd brought were losing warmth quicker than it took them to fully heat up. My toes were icicles, even with toe warmers inside my wool socks surrounded by fur-lined snow boots. We busted down the trail and made a beeline for the hot tub once we got back to the Estes motel. With all the torment we endured, I'd still do it again in a heartbeat (hopefully next time with a sunrise to see!)
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