Winter Camping with my Son

My son and I drove to Leadville and then up the hill to the end-of-the-road. It was my usual late start, so we didn't get there until after dark.
The weather was cold, of course, but otherwise very mild.

I loaded up the sled and then we went a ways up the road and then off into the snow. We happened to find a convenient deep depression in the snow. After some shoveling and lots of stomping, we had a flat, hard surface to set the tent up on.

You could see stars through a thin haze overhead, but somehow it snowed all night! It wasn't a heavy snow, but it was amazing that there was never a point where you couldn't see stars, and there was never any puffy clouds - just that haze. So how did we get 6" by morning?

During the night, we each had to get up. Before my son came back in, he shined the flashlight straight up into the night and the falling snow. The snow was way more crystalline than usual, and extremely glittery. He thought that was just the coolest thing and if nothing else, that experience made the whole trip worthwhile.

We ate breakfast at the Provin' Grounds coffee shop, then headed back.

On the way, I stopped to check out the waterfall which I think will be premo' ice-climbing. No doubt it is! It looked extremely high-quality. Now I need to see if I can rope a brother into teaming up with me.