Pretty ice chandelier Taken along the way through avalanche pass. [enlarge]

courtesy _markus

More ice sculptery [enlarge]

Alpine Avalanche Pass and Lake Markus poses in front of the very wintry and blustery Avalanche Pass lake and cliffs. Truly a spectacular place at any time of year. [enlarge]

Gateway through the pass Two dead trees stand as sentinels, guarding the way through avalanche pass. [enlarge]

Cliffs on Mount Colden A closeup of the lower cliffs on Mt Colden, as seen from Avalanche Lake. [enlarge]

courtesy _markus

Starting the trek across Avalanche Lake [enlarge]

Ewart, grizzled veteran hiker, part II A bit more ice, a bit more snot, but still chugging. Note photographer and others reflected in sunglasses [enlarge]

Crossing Avalanche Lake Our party starts its way across Avalanche Lake, now frozen totally solid. Usually the trail follows a tortuous path along the shore of the lake, but in the winter we can cut right across. Very nice. [enlarge]

Crossing Avalanche Lake High winds, blowing snow, and a desolate, windswept, ice-covered lake. [enlarge]

Pu, Shannon and Caroline. Waiting for the others while on Avalanche Lake. [enlarge]

Markus crosses Avalanche Lake Markus crosses the white windswept plain of Avalanche Lake. [enlarge]

Cuddly Ranger Dog We met a park ranger and her very friendly husky, who seemed oblivious to the wind and snow. [enlarge]

The Trap Dike A mountaineering route, winter or summer, the Trap Dike is a neat way up Mount Colden (which we are not doing on this trip) [enlarge]

courtesy _markus

Lunch break Taken just after crossing Avalanche Lake [enlarge]

courtesy _markus

Deborah's Lunch [enlarge]

courtesy _markus

Backcountry trail signs Almost buried by this year's snow. [enlarge]

Mount Colden This is a shot of the summit of Mount Colden as seen from Lake Colden. Visibility up there is not looking so good, is it.... [enlarge]

Start of the section that climbs Mount Colden This is a trail junction on the shore of Lake Colden. This is the start of the trail that leads, very steeply, up the southwest flank of Mt Colden. [enlarge]

Treeline on Mount Colden We break out into the open on the upper slopes of Mount Colden. Although it is cloudy and snowing, there is still enough visibility to see quite a ways. In this picture, Lake Colden and the Flowed Lands are visible behind Markus. [enlarge]

Boulders near the summit of Mt Colden [enlarge]

Max and Lake Colden [enlarge]

Tricky, icy slabs Nearing the summit of Mt Colden, we encounter some slabs with ice that we must scramble up. It doesn't help that there are steep dropoffs below. [enlarge]

courtesy _markus

Andrew's Summit Photography This is me, fully covered up in the driving wind and snow, near the summit of Mt. Colden. My Sony F707 digital camera is proving its mettle in these kinds of conditions - never once has it had a problem, even though it is about -15C with a 60km/hr wind and blowing snow. [enlarge]

courtesy _markus

Ewart, really grizzled vetern hiker Jolly and chipper looking, isn't he? [enlarge]

Mount Colden Summit Here is a view of the true summit, as seen from the southwest. [enlarge]