Drove over Independence Pass in late June during a three-week road trip out West. First time here and couldn’t believe the views. Still a decent amount of snow up high, but everything was starting to green up.
A few shots from around Twin Lakes. Mount Elbert towering over the valley, views around Twin Lakes, a stretch of the Continental Divide Trail, and a morning at Mount Elbert Forebay. This whole area was one of my favorite parts of Colorado. The scale of the mountains around here is hard to capture in photos.
Yogi and I were lucky to be here just before the wildfires and smoke started affecting the area, and had an incredible experience exploring it.
About 900ft of gain over 2.5ish miles, but overall not to bad on the legs.
Lot of car traffic up the trail, you can drive all the way up the Loch. Lot of people camping in the woods right at the tree line and even at the loch. No issues finding solid ground to step aside and let the car go. Took me an hour to get up, probably saw 15 cars come and go at approx 11:30-12pm
No bathroom :(
Overall 8/10, had waterfall, didn’t make me wheeze,seems like a good camping spot.
I took a day of PTO last week to get Brainard Lake reservations and tick off the Niwot Ridge traverse, which I'd been curious about for a bit. An unranked 13er in the Indian Peaks Wilderness, almost all trip reports recommend going up Airplane Gully and combine it with an ascent of nearby Navajo Peak. But that means you only do a lil errant *doop* of a summit, eliding the terrain that makes up the body of the ridge. I'm curious about holes in guidebooks, so I figured I'd check it out while looking at some stephabegg photos.
Thunder storms were forecasted for 12PM, so I started around 6AM and headed up the broad open country of Niwot Mountain (a tiny 11er at the easternmost start of the ridge). I then made my way west up the ridge, which is primarily rolling tundra that steadily narrows until around the 12.4K foot mark when the rocky talus becomes the dominant terrain. The views along the ridge incredible, especially for some rarely-seen views of the north side of Kiowa (within the Boulder Watershed), north side of Arikaree Peak, and the pleasure side of the Kasparov Traverse via the Chessmen.
The direct rock is the best, as usual. If you peel off the ridge then you can keep the traverse Class 3, but that both bypasses the meat/exciting bits and also puts you on much crappier rock. Going straight has huge blocks with awesome crimps and cracks to stay steady. I don't think I'd recommend the 4-ish miles of tundra walking from Niwot Mountain, but there are a couple trails that cut it off about halfway. The major notch was by far the most interesting point crux-wise (the first photo here) as on first glance the pinnacles look far too sharp to find a way without dropping majorly to the south. But it's there!
I wanted to hit Navajo Peak, but things took longer than expected, so I skedaddled down Airplane Gully (which absolutely blows - I can't believe this is considered a "classic" route, but no doubt it's much better with snow). Crossing the loose talus and large boulders back to the Lake Isabelle Trail also took more time than expected, but thankfully I made it back to my car right when thunder and rain started going hard at around 130PM. Hopefully the tens of people I passed along the way back didn't get too screwed by the rain.
Nice little adventure, and halfway through my IPW peakbagging goal.
On Saturday August 15th, I got together with some climbing buddies (about half of us are in our late 60’s to mid70’s) to hike Abrams Mountain. It’s the prominent peak you see looking south from Ouray (picture #1).
We had beautiful weather, a break from the wildfire smoke, and the trail conditions were moist and firm instead of dry and marbly. Thankfully, one of our group had hiked it before so they were able to guide us along the various unmarked trails, animal paths, and trail-less segments.
After gazing up at this mountain for years, it was fun to see Ouray from the top (the town is in the valley in picture 5, obscured by the light colored rock ridge).
Thank you Mother Nature, Family and friends, and trail crews for another life-affirming day in the mountains with friends : )
I know Huron isn’t the hardest or most interesting 14er but it really is just a dam good hike. And the views today were pretty incredible
A great way to hike La Plata, but not for everyone.
For starters, the road to the trailhead was... rough. My stock Crosstrek S (8.7" of clearance) got up there just fine, but I can't imagine driving anything less capable. We were surprisingly the only ones to park at that TH the entire day, it was empty when we got there around 7-7:30 and still empty when we returned.
The trail was quiet and solitary. We saw a total of 3 people on the trail (before the summit) the entire day. The trail itself is quite beautiful and well maintained (despite a bit of overgrowth and some downed trees) up until about the 2 mile mark when you start to ascend a steep and incredibly loose gully. That gully climbs around 1000 feet and only gets worse until you top out on the ridge crest. Once you get to the ridge crest, it's smooth sailing until you hit the talus field, a crux wall that climbs around 1000 feet up some solid high class-2 scrambling. Going up the route doesn't seem to be very apparent. I'd suggest you aim for the due center/center-left of the field and try your best to follow the cairns. On the way down it makes way more sense and is pretty clear. After you top out of the talus field at 14,000', it's a pretty clear shot to the summit, where you meet up with the standard La Plata trail.
This trail was crazy beautiful. The basin you spend a good chunk of your time in on the way up is otherworldly. Panoramic views no matter where you look. There was a helicopter flying very low in that basin, I heard they were looking for a lost child. Overall I can clearly understand why this isn't the standard trail. But if you're well equipped mentally for a loose and steep trail, and have a capable car, check out the La Plata south ridge!
8.3 Miles, 3700 feet, 7:45 car to car (that descent was superrrrr slow hahaha).
First time on this trail and I had a fantastic time! Gorgeous views every so often, the kind that made you want to keep going! It was a pretty good elevation gain of 2,700+ to reach the lake and around 9.5 miles out and back. Drier year meant no mosquitoes. Well worth the trek! Will be doing this one again!
This mama moose and it's baby made it's way down the upper trail as I was heading up. I'm glad I noticed a strange, large brown blob before I continued. I was caught off guard when the baby came out of the bushes. The mama got very aggressive and did a small charge down the mountain. They eventually traversed and took a swim to cool down in the lake.
Even if it feels like a safe distance it's probably not. They're extremely fast, cover ground very quickly and will run straight down a steep mountain slope if they sense a threat.
I was finally able to secure a reservation to visit the Brainard Lake Area this past weekend to hike Lake Isabelle, and man was it worth the wait. We saw 4 bull moose right off the side of the road right by the Niwot picnic area. Then saw another moose where the trail splits around Long Lake. We also saw 4 marmots chilling on a boulder, and a bee taking a nap on a flower. We hiked from the Niwot Picnic area and clocked just under 7 miles with a few side quests exploring the lake. The elevation gain was mild, most of the hike was pretty flat. Absolutely gorgeous scenery, with plenty of wildflowers to enjoy. The lake was so refreshing for a swim at the end.
Did some hiking around the summit today. Absolutely gorgeous day! Can you spot my new friend?
Chief mountain sunrise views!