The Spearhead.

I have to thank my wife for motivating this day.  Though I am very close to finishing off RMNP (only 15 things left!), it's going to be a full day to visit alot of those, and that full day spent to visit just one thing.  I guess it's been poor planning to leave those orphans behind, but I'd planned to visit this one multiple times, but wisely turned around due to weather on all of those.  

With other outdoor goals on my mind, it's been difficult to commit a whole nice weather summer day to just one thing when I can head elsewhere and check off multiple other goals.  But early last week, Katie was kind enough to ask, "What about RMNP?"

What about RMNP?

With a long outing on Tuesday, I was happy for a shorter drive and shorter day two days later.  Despite a good(ish) weather prediction, I decided to play it safe and get above treeline early, and back down by noon.  The Spearhead was the perfect choice for the day, just long enough that I'd feel accomplished, a little bit of scrambling, and great views, or so I hoped.

I started from the Glacier Gorge trail head just after sunrise, and passed a person on the trail shortly after, which would turn out to be the only person I saw until much later in the day.  Wanting to be as efficient as possible, I took the Fire Trail and popped out just below the Black Lake trail.  It was a short jaunt from there to the ever charming Mills Lake, aka sexy lake.  

One sexy lake!  Any time of the year, any time of day, except maybe for at night.
I like this lake alot, and I like that one can see the farther and higher destinations from it.  Always fun to know I'll be "over there" soon enough.
I continued along the trail to Black Lake.  While there's only 600 feet or so of elevation gain between the two lakes, it seems to take some time as there are lots of ups and downs. 

Nearing Black Lake, which is late to get sun due to being situated down in a bowl.  But the peaks to the east catch the early morning sun...

here, reflected in the lake. 
The trail takes another turn uphill here, paralleling a pleasantly gurgling stream.  Soon enough though, you'll top out into Glacier Gorge, a place of endless beauty.

The goal for the day directly ahead.
Once you get here, you can either follow the many cairns and hope you're going in the right direction, or just pick the way you want to go and do your best.  There's alot of cairns up here.

A favorite, McHenrys Peak(also).
I approached the monolithic northeast face, and followed a climbers trail to the right/west.  While I'd love to actually climb this peak one day, it was not in the cards today.  I planned to go up and back down the third class down climb.
The trail was easy enough to follow, and I soon helmeted up and started up the scree slope.  While I never saw anyone above me, I did see signs of recent rockfall throughout the day, and heard rockfall as well.  So a helmet is definitely a great idea, if you want to keep having ideas. 

Looking down the slope to Frozen Lake.  Also as a reference for later.
As I came down a different way, there is a place where you might face a choice to go left or right.  I stayed right going up, but came down the left option.  Both work fine, maybe a bit more technical movement on the left side, which is more direct to the summit.

Getting there, just a look at the terrain.
I was close to the summit ridge when I saw a cairn above me, so I climbed up a crack.  This was the most difficult movement of the day, and unnecessary as it turns out.  I got to the top and started to traverse over, but found a unfeatured slab in the way.  If it were right off the ground, no problem.  But at these airy heights, I decided to go back down and go around.

Looking over to Chiefs Head(also).
From here, it was a mostly easy scramble up to a thin catwalk, then a careful walk across this to what looked like the summit.  I sat for a minute, and then headed back.  Then I turned around, and looked back.

Now I could clearly see the summit was a few inches higher than where I'd just been.  The rectangular block on the left is it.  It's just a few third class but exposed moves to reach the top.

The view down all of Glacier Gorge.  Pretty spectacular!

A view downish the north ridge.
I turned back, and made the few moves back to more solid ground.
The Spearhead, Glacier Gorge- Rocky Mountain National Park from Andy Rose on Vimeo.
What a place to be!
On the way back I stopped at a window I saw in the rock.

Keyboard of the Winds reflected in Green Lake.

Looking back down Glacier Gorge from near the summit.
On the way back down, I stayed a little more east than I did on the way up.  It looked like both ways are down climbs, as there was a pretty obvious and occasionally cairned social trail.  The east route was maybe slightly more technically difficult, but not bad at all.

Looking up the pile of rubble I'd come down.

Near the bottom, Frozen Lake.
I stopped to take my helmet off and get situated, and then started the jog back to the trailhead.

A good view of McHenrys and The Arrowhead over Black Lake.

I saw alot more people on the way down than on the way up, but none on the Fire Trail.  It was nice to get back to RMNP, if ever so briefly.  It will be nice to finally finish this project/list.  I just need to remember to dedicate a few days to it here and there!

Link to hike map on Caltopo.

The Spearhead, 12575 feet: 13.25 miles rt, 5658 foot gain.  Third class.  Strenuous-.

*Do note, both the distance and elevation gain figures in the linked map which are cited here are very likely too high due to GPS having some trouble reading/connecting, particularly in the area of the summit.  A hand drawn line using the snap to feature on Caltopo gives around 10.25 miles with 3600 gain.   

Chiefs Head Peak via Pagoda/Chiefs Head Couloir.

Ahh, Chiefs Head Peak.  The last time I climbed it, it was one of the few remaining peaks in Wild Basin that I had to do.  We took the standard route that day- starting at Sandbeach Lake th and, after reaching the lake, making a short bushwhack up to North Ridge and then continuing on to the summit.  I have fond and cold memories of that day.

With the Pagoda/Chiefs Head Couloir being one of the few remaining named destinations in Glacier Gorge that I needed to check off, this one was a priority this year.  When we were on our way to Dragon's Tail, I could look up and see that the top of the couloir looked to be melted out already, so I decided to head for it next instead of waiting a little bit longer. 

Aspen in the early morning. 

The single most photographed tree in RMNP??

Sexy Lake.  The wind hadn't picked up too much yet and I was able to get a nice reflective photo.
The amount of snow on the trail steadily increased as Black Lake grew nearer.  At times route finding became a little bit of a challenge- was I sure those footprints were going in the correct direction?  That always becomes a bit of an issue this time of the year.

Nearing Black Lake, McHenrys Peak.

At Black Lake. 

I had a few views of it from farther down and away, but here I was in upper Glacier Gorge, and there it was looking intimidatingly steep. 

As I've said before, there are a ton of cairns in Upper Glacier Gorge which may lead you somewhere or nowhere at all.  I've had better luck just picking the general direction I want to go and working my way over.  Try to stick to the slabby rock in the area to avoid any bushwhacking.

Much to my surprise, it only took me three hours to get to Green Lake.  I thought the snow had slowed me up alot.  I was happy to see the north facing couloir was still in shade.  That mean the snow would still be pretty firm.

The Spearhead is the only destination in Upper Glacier Gorge that I have yet to climb. 

At the bottom.  It looks less steep from this vantage point.  I strapped on my crampons and got out the ice axe.  Upward!

The snow was rather hard, so much so that I couldn't kick in steps. 

About half way up, there was a small section where the snow had disappeared significantly.  I carefully made my way up the thin strip of snow to the right. 

Things grew steeper near the top, and I wasn't going to stop to take any photos there.  Here I have just finished the snow section.  There was a short scramble over some very loose rock to the top. 

Pretty good views!
I headed west towards the summit of Chiefs Head Peak.  While only .6 mile away, you do gain about 1000 feet per mile until there.  And it's on sometimes loose talus.  So it takes a little bit of time.

There is a flat rock on the summit on which you can sit and hang your feet over a whole, whole bunch of air into Glacier Gorge.

Looking back to Pagoda and Longs.  You can see the top of the Spearhead/Chiefs Head Couloir here.

I'd briefly entertained the idea of descending this couloir rather than going all the way back.  But it was the bottom that looked to be in the very steep snow category with a lot of air under it that kept me away.  Maybe once this region melts out this could be a more viable option.

Looking back down North Ridge.

The high peaks of Wild Basin.

On the descent, I carefully made my way down through some of the rocky stuff until I hit solid snow.  Though I was worried about the snow never softening up enough to glissade, a few hours of sunlight did the trick.  Once past the rocks at the top I got into the snow and started down in a side self arrest position.  I remembered that one area of thinner snow and knew I'd need to stop completely there and walk through it.  This is also where the climb is the steepest, and this position helped me to control my speed much more than the standard sit.
However, once I got past that thin area, I moved to sitting glissade and kept a moderate speed the rest of the way down.  There were still all those rocks at the bottom to avoid.

Back near Italy Lake.

In the early afternoon, I could see the couloir already getting back into some shade, this time provided by Chiefs Head. 
I made my way back down towards Black Lake.

I snapped this photo standing on the snow field that covers the trail to Upper Glacier Gorge.  It looks like CGI almost, but I can assure you it is real.

Looking north from Black Lake.  I wondered when I would start to see some people.  By Mills Lake surely, but would anyone have gone up to Black Lake?  I saw some footprints.  The answer was yes. 

At Mills Lake looking up.  I always enjoy being able to see a destination from below later in the day.  It seems improbable that I was up there just a few hours ago.  But I was!
This was a pretty fun and adventurous way to climb this peak for the second time.  This route is about half a mile shorter in distance and gains about 900 feet less than the route from Sandbeach Lake.  But of course, this method requires some special equipment and skills.  Due to the steepness of the couloir and the large amount of loose rock in it, I would suggest doing this route only in snow.  Even then, make sure you wear a helmet as there was visible and audible evidence of rockfall in addition to the chunks of ice whizzing by me from above.  And as always, Glacier Gorge provides spectacular scenery!
Chiefs Head Peak via Pagoda/Chiefs Head Couloir:
7.3 miles one way, 4399 foot gain (9180-13579).  Second class, steep snow.  Strenuous.

The high lakes of Glacier Gorge.

Last week we set out aimed at some of the higher lakes of Glacier Gorge.  This is a sector of RMNP that I have not hiked in much if at all, and a fun change from Wild Basin.
The drive up was mellow, and it was pleasant to start a bit later.  We did briefly get stuck in the Bear Lake Road construction, but were soon able to follow a spotter vehicle up the road.
We started off from the trailhead a little after 730am on October 24.  Our ultimate goal for the day was Black Lake, but we decided if we felt good, my leg felt good, and the weather held (this was the day during/before our first winter storm of the year), we might hit some of the others.   
Early morning on the Glacier Gorge trail.

Soon we reached Alberta Falls.  As Lisa Foster says, "This is a good hike for children and anyone desiring a short, rewarding hike in RMNP."  And I have hiked here before with my parents from Bear Lake on the advice of a park ranger. 

Albert Falls.
Low clouds in the early morning and throughout the day made from some impressive looking photos.

Peaks in the mist.

Somewhere, sometime.
We passed through an area that must've seen a high wind event at some point in the past year.  As always, it was amazing to see these huge trees snapped like toothpicks and torn out of the ground like blades of grass.

 At 5.4 miles round trip, Mills Lake is a destination I'd definitely consider visiting if you haven't already. 

Just look at it!  That is one sexy lake!

Looking up the Gorge to oblivion.
Our destination was farther on, higher up.  Into the clouds we headed.   

Chiefs Head/Pagoda couloir.
Next up was Black Lake.  This is a pretty cool sub-alpine lake (10620 ft.) and at 4.9 miles each way, entirely reasonable for a higher elevation but shorter hike in RMNP.

Arrowhead as seen from Black Lake.

More Black Lake.

Arrowhead (12640+ ft) will be on the list for next year.

From here, the trail winds around the lake and travels up, up, and away.  These granite benches will be on your right.  During warmer months, I bet these cascades are quite pretty.  During colder months they are pretty as well, but in a different way.

A cleared view of Arrowhead and McHenrys Peak as we rise above Black Lake.
Once we gained the drainage above Black Lake the trail became harder to see, and not as well marked.  There was a bit of snow which didn't help.  And a wealth of cairns, many of which appeared to lead to nowhere.  It may very well be easier to find your way in the summer months, but outside of that, it is still easy to find your way.
The Spearhead is the large triangular shaped tower in front of Chiefs Head.  Simply find your way to its right to get to Frozen Lake, or to the left to get to Green Lake.

A later goal of Blue Lake seen from near Frozen Lake.

At Frozen Lake (11580 ft), which as you can see, was not yet Frozen. 

A small yet scenic bowl.

Mummy Range beyond.

Some delicate ice starting to form around the edges of the lake.

Up from Frozen Lake to Chiefs Head Peak.
From Frozen Lake we decided to make our way around The Spearhead and drop down to Green Lake.  Actually we thought we wouldn't have to drop down, and stayed fairly high around the bottom of the cliff face, only to discover a descent awaiting us on the other side.

The Spearhead certainly looks as though it could hold some fun climbing routes.  Not sure if anything is established there as of yet.

Keyboard of the Winds, Pagoda Mountain, Chiefs Head/Pagoda couloir as seen from above Green Lake.

Dan dropping down to Green Lake (11540 ft).  Longs Peak in the background.

The Spearhead as seen from Green Lake.
I was just awe struck with the supreme alpine beauty of this bowl.  It is a must hike in my opinion.  Here are a bunch of pictures.

Keyboard of the winds.

Pagoda Mountain.

Chiefs Head Peak.

The Spearhead.

More The Spearhead.

Looking almost due east.

The moraine to the immediate south.

Back up to Longs and Keyboard of the Winds.

Pagoda looming over Green Lake.  This is the only peak surrounding Wild Basin that I have not climbed.

Looking back at Green Lake as we move on.

A panorama shot from Green Lake showing the peaks surrounding the bowl.
We did this hike on October 24, which was the night we got our first snow of the season.  The lower clouds rolling in here made for some awesome photos and light snow.

Mummy Range and points lower now in clouds.
We decided rather than go down and attempt to find a trail, we would try to head directly towards Blue Lake and maintain a constant elevation.  This worked pretty well.

Ice forming over rock on the north side of Longs Peak.

Dan approaching Blue Lake.

Blue Lake (11,140 ft).
Clouds we starting to blow up into the Gorge before reaching a certain elevation and swirling up into nothingness.  It was very pretty.

Dan in front of Arrowhead.

Making our way down to the lake, where we found all the ice that has formed so far blown to the east side of the lake.

Blue Lake with Chiefs Head Peak in the background.

McHenrys and Arrowhead as seen from Blue Lake.

Keyboard of the Winds, Pagoda Mountain.

Yours truly.
We stopped to eat lunch behind a wind block slightly north of the lake.  The swirling clouds continued to amaze and delight us, making each moment a photograph.

The sun struggling to poke out.

Unforgettable views.

Eventually, we got up and continued on our way.  We worked back in a north westerly direction, bypassing some steep but short drop offs, and the drainage from Blue Lake.  We found the trail back to Black Lake and on we went.

McHenrys Peak.

Can't get enough of the clouds!

Looking back up from farther down.

Descending to Black Lake.

Almost there, slightly reflective.
Of course, from here on out the hiking was rather easy and all downhill.  We took the Fire Trail back to the trail head, which cuts a little distance off the hike. 

Stopped at Mills Lake in the afternoon.  The low clouds have now completely obscured the view up.
This was a rather fun hike!  Great views abound, and though you do go above treeline, you start higher when compared to Wild Basin.  Movement at elevation is no less difficult, but it takes less time to get there.
The views from the bowl around Green Lake are spectacular, and this would put it high on my list of best places to be in RMNP.
The high lakes of Glacier Gorge:
Mills Lake (9940 ft): 2.7 miles one way, 760 foot gain.  Moderate.
Black Lake (10620 ft): 4.9 miles one way, 1440 foot gain.  Moderate+.
Frozen Lake (11580 ft): 6.1 miles one way, 2400 foot gain.  Strenuous-.
Green Lake (11540 ft): 6 miles one way, 2360 foot gain.  Strenuous-.
Blue Lake (11140 ft): 5.5 miles one way, 1960 foot gain.  Strenuous-.