RMNP - Hallett Peak

Since I took my daughter and son-in-law to Flattop Mountain, I've always wanted to tackle Hallett Peak (12711').  Today was the day to tackle that.  It was not the best day to hike, the weather was cloudy, it was cool, and their was a small chance of snow, but off I went.  Since I would be parking at the Bear Lake trailhead, I knew I needed to get a reasonably early start, otherwise the parking lot would be full.  Sure enough, when I got there the lot was filling up, even on a less than glorious day.

Some color at Bear Lake

This is a pretty cool look over Emerald Lake

A cloudy and cool day

The hike to Flattop Mountain is long, steep, and uneventful.  It is a popular trail in that it provides stellar views, connects to the trails on the west side of RMNP, and tops out at 12000'.

Color, Color everywhere (below the cloud layer)

Along the trail near Bear Lake (this was taken later in the day)

Note the horses just at the bend in the trail

Flattop is not a trail for the faint hearted, because it is steep and with much of the trail above 10000' there is not alot of oxygen up there.

Long's Peak from along Flattop trail

Joe Mills Mountain (there is a bushwhack up to there somewhere)

On the hike up, I met up with the park rangers that were out looking for elk.  I suggested that there might not be many elk at 11000'.  They agreed, but said they were tracking the radio collar signals of the elk and that 11000' would be a good place to do that.  I agreed.  As we continued to talk for a bit, they mentioned that this is also a way for them to find elk in distress or dead.  It is much easier to locate a non-moving radio collar than searching the ground.

I soon reached the horserack near the top of Flattop, where I sat and took a break.  Soon a couple came up.  They had some rather funny accents.  It turns out they were from Wales.  I suggested that the weather wasn't all that uncommon for them.  They agreed, but said the elevation was quite the challenge.  This was their third day in Colorado.  There were staying with an aunt in Boulder.  We split up, but would meet again at the top of Flattop, where for the first time, I had someone take my picture.  Turn about was fair play after I took their picture.

Robb

Robb

The hike to Hallett from Flattop is along a jumble of boulders and talus.  It is a rather steep ascent but very doable.  I'm sure the view when it is not snowing is spectacular.  Maybe another day.

Tyndall Glacier from above

McHenry's Notch (this is just north of Snowbank Lake)

Glacier basin and the rock wall from Tyndall Glacier 

Looking North along the Continental Divide

Hallett Peak (later in the day)

Summit Hallett Peak (12711')

I can now check Hallett Peak off my list.

Overall Track Statistics for RMNP - Hallett Peak,   1455 data points

 Length 9.764 miles  :  Garmin Length 10.163 miles

 Start Elevation - 9514.70 feet

 Maximum Elevation - 12711.15 feet

 Minimum Elevation - 9318.01 feet

 Date of Hike - Sep 21, 2016

 Start Time - 07:47 AM

 End Time - 01:11 PM

 Total Duration -     5:23 hours:min

 Total Ascent - 3470.08 feet

 Total Descent - 3666.77 feet

 Net Ascent - -196.69 feet

 Maximum Grade - 30.78%

 Average Speed -  1.81 mph :  Garmin Average Speed  1.88 mph

 Maximum Ascent over Mile - 866.83 feet

 Maximum Speed over Mile -  2.68 mph
 Maximum Gain over Mile (%) - 15.67%

RMNP - Lion Lakes & Snowbank Lake

It has been awhile since I posted a journal entry.  It has been a busy late summer, early fall.  I've always wanted to hike to many of the lakes in the Wild Basin area of RMNP, but they have all seemed very long.  Now that I have a bit more stamina, I decided to tackle Lion Lakes.  The hike to Lion Lake follows the same general track as many of the lake hikes in Wild Basin do; follow the trail to Calypso Cascade, then on to Ouzel Falls then on to the junction with Ouzel Lake.  Once there you begin the hike along Thunder Lake Trail to the junction with the Lion Lake Trail.  Up to this point the hike is a long, steady, and moderate climb through dense forest, with some periodic views of the surrounding landscape.   You can begin to tell that Fall is in full swing.  The aspens were out in force.

Long distance line of aspens

A small aspen grove.  Stunning

Once at the Lion Lake Trail junction, the trail climbs steeply then begins a moderate up/down for several miles before reaching Lion Lake #1. You can tell that this area was glaciated at some time, there are some huge rocks just sitting in the middle of the meadows.

Glacier remains?

 Even though it was a nice day, there was still a little ice around.

Ice on the puddles

It seemed to take forever, but I came up out of the trees and there was Lion Lake #1.

Pop out on a nice  meadow, then down through some trees and then Lion Lake #1.

Lion Lake #1 (from the inlet)

Once at Lion Lake #1, I followed the steep trail alongside the creek to Lion Lake #2.  Once there, I could not resist that final attempt at Snowbank Lake.  While all these lakes are incredible, Snowbank Lake takes the prize.

Lion Lake #2, Snowbank is just above

Couldn't resist the reflection of the clouds and the one red wildflower

A snowbank at Snowbank Lake

Snowbank Lake and the west ridge of Chief's Head Mountain

Snowbank Lake and the Continental Divide

Overall this was a uneventful hike that was well worth the effort.  One interesting thing did happen that has never happened before.  On the way back down from Snowbank Lake, while sitting eating my lunch at the inlet to Lion Lake #1, I saw a hiker come out from the trail near the outlet of the lake.  At that point the hiker stopped, put down their pack and started walking about like they were looking for something.  Then they stopped, looked back at the lake squatted down, looked at the lake again, then squatted down for a long time.  Now I sure you know what I was thinking at that point, but soon the hiker jumped up, ran to a rock in front of the lake and did a handstand!  It wasn't a very good handstand, so they then walked back to, what I now knew was a camera, squatted, then ran back and did a perfect handstand.  They then walked back to the camera, picked everything up and head back down the mountain.  There is a first time for everything.

Here are a few other pictures of landscapes I found interesting.

Mt Alice (13310')

Waterfall between Snowbank and Lion #2

Small escarpment to climb

Overall Track Statistics for RMNP - Lion Lake,   1997 data points

 Length 14.839 miles  :  Garmin Length 16.044 miles

 Start Elevation - 8535.93 feet

 Maximum Elevation - 11552.56 feet

 Minimum Elevation - 8363.19 feet

 Date of Hike - Sep 16, 2016

 Start Time - 07:53 AM

 End Time - 03:28 PM

 Total Duration -     7:34 hours:min

 Total Ascent - 3830.02 feet

 Total Descent - 3876.61 feet

 Net Ascent - -46.59 feet

 Maximum Grade - 23.92%

 Average Speed -  1.96 mph :  Garmin Average Speed  2.12 mph

 Maximum Ascent over Mile - 701.31 feet

 Maximum Speed over Mile -  3.17 mph

 Maximum Gain over Mile (%) - 12.72%

Cameron - Lake Agnes

Many years ago a friend and I rode our mountain bikes along the Michigan Ditch to the Lake Agnes trail, then hiked the short distance to Lake Agnes.  I remember this as a nice outing and wanted to tackle it again, this time hiking it.  The Michigan ditch is a canal that transfers water from the east side of the Continental Divide to the west side, dumping it into the Poudre River.  I find it interesting how much work Colorado settlers have done to improve the water situation on the Front Range.  You can read more about the history of the Michigan Ditch and their other efforts here.

One of the reasons I chose to tackle this hike was that I wanted some miles, but really didn't want to climb all that much.  Since it is a canal the grade of the Michigan ditch is quite tame, so it seemed to meet the requirements.  You get on the ditch at the Cameron Pass parking area.  I got an early start since the drive would be over two hours.  Once I reached Cameron Pass, I was confronted with a sign telling me that the Michigan Ditch was undergoing an update and that the trail was closed to all uses for the rest of the summer.  Well...  There goes the idea of not so much elevation gain.  On to Plan B.

Plan B was to proceed a ways west down the mountain to the American Lakes trail, then climb back to the Michigan Ditch trail.  This would actually shorten the overall length of the hike, but would add a few hundred feet of ascent.  So, off I went.  I quickly reached the American Lakes TH and headed up the trail.  On reaching the Michigan Ditch I was confronted with this sign to my left.

More construction

And construction equipment and construction to my right.  Aargh.  Time to return to the truck and proceed to Plan C.  Plan C was to backtrack to the Crags CG and take an old logging road up the hill to the Michigan Ditch and try again.  So off I went.  Well, Plan C worked.  I finally intercepted the Michigan Ditch at about the halfway point of Plan A.

Finally on the plan

Now that I was on the trail I was supposed to be on, the hike was easy and very enjoyable.  I only encountered a couple of early morning trail runners.  In the winter this area poses moderate avalanche risk.  You can easily see places where avalanches can take place.

One of the more interesting geological formations in this area is called "Nokhu Crags".  Crags is a term used to describe steep, rugged rocks.  I think the name is appropriate.

Lake Agnes lies in a basin bounded by Mt. Richthofen, the Nokhu Crags, and Mount Mahler.  I believe it is one of the more stunningly beautiful lakes I have seen.

Lake Agnes, Mt Richthofen 

Lake Agnes, Mount Mahler

Lake Agnes outlet

Lake Agnes inlet

After a nice lunch and watching several fisherman try their luck, I decided to head home.  On the way down I followed an old flume that, I believe, diverted water from Lake Agnes to the Michigan Ditch. These old flumes required alot of work, but they have stood the test of time.

Old Flume, still carrying water

Original water tunnel?

As I was headed down a brief thunder/rain storm hit, but I was well down in the trees.  I donned my rain gear and kept going.  This area has been extensively logged so there were many short skid trails, some of which I explored, and a few abandoned logging relics.

Logging wagon

 Even though the original plan didn't work out, Plan C did and I had a wonderful day.  There are a few more miscellaneous pictures at the end.

Overall Track Statistics for Cameron - Lake Agnes p1,    285 data points

 Length 2.416 miles  :  Garmin Length 2.541 miles

 Start Elevation - 9821.00 feet

 Maximum Elevation - 10283.33 feet

 Minimum Elevation - 9798.65 feet

 Date of Hike - Jun 29, 2016

 Start Time - 09:34 AM

 End Time - 10:32 AM

 Total Duration -     0:57 hours:min

 Total Ascent - 523.98 feet

 Total Descent - 546.33 feet

 Net Ascent - -22.34 feet

 Maximum Grade - 11.77%

 Average Speed -  2.51 mph :  Garmin Average Speed  2.61 mph

 Maximum Ascent over Mile - 437.70 feet

 Maximum Speed over Mile -  2.83 mph

 Maximum Gain over Mile (%) -  7.96%

Overall Track Statistics for cameron - Lake Agnes p2,    955 data points

 Length 7.160 miles  :  Garmin Length 7.585 miles

 Start Elevation - 9726.51 feet

 Maximum Elevation - 10633.46 feet

 Minimum Elevation - 9661.22 feet

 Date of Hike - Jun 29, 2016

 Start Time - 10:40 AM

 End Time - 01:46 PM

 Total Duration -     3:05 hours:min

 Total Ascent - 1255.81 feet

 Total Descent - 1321.10 feet

 Net Ascent - -65.29 feet

 Maximum Grade - 18.52%

 Average Speed -  2.31 mph :  Garmin Average Speed  2.44 mph

 Maximum Ascent over Mile - 537.73 feet

 Maximum Speed over Mile -  3.42 mph

 Maximum Gain over Mile (%) - 10.07%

Lake Agnes outlet

Lake Agnes trail 

Road Maintenance

Indian Paintbrush?

Lake Agnes

Dismond Peaks & Hwy 14