North Inlet Basin- Water.

Last week brought my farthest drive to date in pursuit of this goal.  I went all the way through RMNP, entering at Fall River and exiting at Grand Lake.  I didn't really do any planning on how to get to the North Inlet trailhead- I assumed it would be well signed and I would have no trouble finding it.  

I didn't see any signs, though I may have missed them in the darkness, but I followed the most logical route, stopped and looked at the topo, and then finally saw a sign for the trailhead moments later.

All of this, of course, while you were still likely asleep! 

I made good time on the drive over, and started from the trailhead at 4:52.  I had the feeling it was going to be a long day.  

By darkness I made my way past some private property that housed horses.  I could definitely smell them, and soon enough I saw them.  White horses lit by a headlamp at night definitely look like demons of some sort, with glowing eyes that see right into your soul.  You'll also pass by a small cabin.  I am certainly envious of the owner of this place.

After passing by Summerland Park, my first goal for the day was the 9723 foot ranked but unofficially named Cascade Falls Point.  On the topo, this is the high point almost directly north west of Cascade Falls.  I left the trail at some of the flatter areas south of the point, and planned to go up into the saddle and then up the west side of the peak.  The bushwhacking was a bit more intense than I have seen this year, and I took a more direct approach to the top.  

This small peak is second class if you take the path of least resistance, but third if you want a little spice or a more direct ascent.  I took the third class options when they presented, and found myself at the top in time to enjoy sunrise and copious amounts of wild raspberries growing in the area.

Sunrise from Cascade Falls Point.
The register here was placed by Mike Garrett in 2002, and like many of the minor peaks, was pretty great reading.  The first two signatures were his (his last summit in RMNP), and this one, her final summit in RMNP.

A big accomplishment!

This one brought tears to my eyes.  There is certainly a bond that forms between two people who share the wilderness together.  We'll remain friends forever.
The last ascent was in 2013 by none other than Steve Knapp and his son.  I left the date and my name.  And then it was onward.
I descended the way I intended to come up.  More bushwhacking.  I got back to the trail scratched up and dirty.  Well, filthy might be a better word.  I slipped while heading down some loose soil and fell backward into it.  My arm was covered in fine dirt.  And it was so early in the day!

Cascade Falls was next, a rather pretty set of a few drops over rock.  But not the best waterfall I'd see over the course of the day.
I continued upward, gorging myself on wild raspberries that were growing all over the place, and right next to the trail.  I finally told myself I had to stop, both so I'd have some left on the way down, and so I wouldn't incur any fruit induced intestinal distress!
I passed by Big Pool and was tempted to jump it, but it was still early in the day and too cool.
Next up I planned to hit War Dance Falls and then make my way to Bench Lake.  Here is where I took a dumb wrong turn and lost almost two hours of time.
The topo I have clearly shows Ptarmigan Creek intersecting the trail between the Grouseberry and North Inlet sites.  There is a small stream there.  It looked too small to hold a waterfall, but to be frank, some of the named waterfalls in RMNP aren't really all that spectacular.  I went a little farther along the trail and didn't hit anything, so I supposed this was it, and followed this small stream up.

More bushwhacking madness ensued.
I kept questioning it, as I saw nothing that looked like a distinct waterfall, nor did I find anything that looked like a faint trail on the east side of it, as there was said to be.  I kept following it up and up.  An hour later I was at 10250 feet, over a hundred feet higher than Bench Lake.  The big problem was that I'd yet to reach the lake!  Looking up, there was no end in sight.  I was clearly in the wrong place.  It didn't take me too long to figure out I was west of where I wanted to be.
Nearly forty five minutes of bushwhacking and talus hopping later, I finally hit a significant creek.  I was in the right place at long last.

War Dance Falls.
This was truly a spectacular waterfall, though with so much elevation loss from the exit at Bench Lake, it was hard to pinpoint a specific place as "the falls".  Again, this seemed like a series of large cascades, but very sustained. 

More falls.
After a bit more bushwhacking, I was able to cross the creek and find a thin trail on the other side.  Shortly thereafter things leveled out and I found myself at Bench Lake.

I took my shoes off and had a snack.  It was very relaxing.  I was angry at myself for a dumb navigational error.  But oh well.  I was on the right path now.
I headed back down and found the trail to be pretty well put in.  There are places where it becomes less distinct (in rocky areas for instance) but follow the cairns and the lay of the land and you'll end up in the right place.
I ended up rejoining the trail at the Ptarmigan site.  Funny enough, not thirty feet away from the site I found a pile of large bones.  Nature is also out there while you are sleeping. 
I continued up the trail, passing by North Inlet Falls.  This was a pretty cool waterfall, and easily accessible.  It was more what I think of in a waterfall, which is to say one big drop versus a series of smaller cascades linked together.  It occurred to me that most of the named waterfalls in RMNP are pretty close to trails.  Not too many people really go exploring.

North Inlet Falls.
From here I finally got to experience some more significant elevation gain.  Most of the trail up until now had been pretty flat gain, which is to say upwards, but not steeply.  Heading up the switchbacks to Lake Nokoni gets the pulse up, gaining almost 1000 feet from the first right hand turn to the lake.

This brings some increasingly good views of the peaks to the east.  As I've said before, it has been pretty neat this year to see the opposite side of the mountains that I know so well.

Lake Nokoni was reached.  I was still feeling pretty good here, and the weather was still holding, though I can't say it looked great.
My next goal was Pettingell Lake.  This lake lies no more than seven tenths of a mile from Lake Nokoni, but will go down in my book as one of the most inaccessible lakes in the park.  You just have to head up to the saddle north of Lake Nokoni, between points 11733 and 11322, and then drop down to the lake.
"Just".
In reality, going up the 400 or so feet is fine, with relatively easy movement.
But coming down the 700 feet or so on the other side is steep, forested, rocky, and loose.  And bear in mind that you won't be able to see the lake from the saddle, in fact won't be able to see it until you're almost there.  But it's there.  Trust me. 

At Pettingell Lake.

I refilled my water from this lake that must see under ten people a year.  Another case of lying close to a trail, but not on a trail.  The whole point of this blog is to convince you to make the extra effort and go off the trail.  Get lost and find a rarely visited and absolutely beautiful body of water out there.
But if you are keeping track, bear in mind that it is about 1.4 miles round trip, and 1200 feet of elevation gain to get here and back to Lake Nokoni.
Going back up was less fun.  I added on a few more scratches, though the bushwhacking was somewhat less intense than what I'd found earlier.
Back at Lake Nokoni, a light rain started to fall.  I got my rain gear on, had a snack, and headed down to reach my final destination of the day, Lake Solitude, which still lie 9 miles from the trailhead.
Interestingly enough, there once was an official trail to this lake.

From the 1945 map.

And from the 1961 map.  It appears that this trail was abandoned at some point after 1961.  You'll note the trail doesn't exactly follow the same line, and in the older map it also goes to Lake Nanita.  I did not see any evidence of it today.  It looks like it splits off shortly after North Inlet Falls.  I will have to explore there a little bit next time.
I took the route recommended by Foster.  After North Inlet Falls, you want to go to the first right hand switchback as the trail starts to gain elevation.  From here, simply head straight (southeast), bushwhacking through the forest.  Yes, more bushwhacking.  It took me approximately half an hour to get to the lake using this method.  This switchback lies about 80 feet above the lake, so you'll have to come down a little in elevation.  Go too far down and you'll be in a marshy valley with a small creek running through it.
I did find and use a few animal trails going in the general direction that I wanted to go, but this is another short off trail adventure. 

At Lake Solitude.  This was a nice, quiet, and peaceful lake.  Please note there is also a Solitude Lake in RMNP.  It is located on the east side, in Glacier Gorge. 
Going back to the trail was a bit easier since I had some idea of where I was going.  I regained a small amount of elevation, but planned to hit the trail below where I'd left it.  I wasn't entirely sure I'd done this until I arrived back at North Inlet Falls.
I stopped to change socks since my feet had gotten wet.  I ate a big snack and started to race the sun back to the car.  I'd now been hiking for a little over twelve hours and was ready to be done. 

Back at Big Pool, it was now on the other side of the day and too cool again.  I'd really like to jump in there at some point.  I could look down into the crystal clear waters and see fish swimming around.
I was able to run some of this long, flat downhill, but eventually reached a point when I decided I didn't have any more running in me.  Hiking quickly would do.

I left myself plenty of raspberries to enjoy on the way down.  They were just as tasty as they were on the way up.
I got back to the car at 7:44, narrowly winning the race with the sun.  I had a snack, and started the drive back.  Ironically, I haven't had a RMNP pass in almost two years, since I normally arrive well before the entrances are manned.  On this day I got to the Grand Lake entrance shortly before the day ended, and bought a pass so I could drive back home after hiking all day.
I will admit that after such a long day I wasn't much concerned with things like speed limits as I drove over Trail Ridge Road and down 36 to Lyons.  Of course, I made sure to abide by them in the towns I passed through on the way and once I got back to Longmont, but I was comfortable with plus five or ten most of the way back.  Even then, I got home as I'd left: in darkness.
This was another fun and big day in the park.  The lone peak of the day clearly doesn't see many people, with nearly two years passing between the last ascents.  There isn't much of a view from the top, yet it was pleasant, despite feeling like I'd been chewed up and spit out by the time I got back on the trail. 
The waterfall winner of the day would be War Dance Falls in my book, quite pretty.  Just make sure you are at Ptarmigan Creek (which is signed) before you start up.
As for lakes, if you've read this blog at all, you know my preference is for the things that don't see alot of traffic.  Pettingell Lake was clearly the one that fit that criteria.  Right below treeline, this lake is difficult to get to, with the one way distance being 11.1 miles.
While the other lakes visited this day were just as pretty, there is something to knowing you have made an effort that few others have, and may very well be one of only a handful of people to visit this lake in any given year.
Link to hike map on Caltopo.
North Inlet Basin- Water (distances from trailhead, one way):
Summerland Park, 8520 feet: 1.3 miles, 20 foot gain.  Easy.
Cascade Falls Point, 9723 feet: 3.5 miles, 1223 foot gain.  Moderate.  Second class or more.
Cascade Falls, 8800 feet: 3.6 miles, 300 foot gain.  Easy+.
Big Pool, 8920 feet: 4.8 miles, 420 foot gain.  Moderate-.
War Dance Falls, 9900 feet: 7 miles, 1400 foot gain.  Moderate.
Bench Lake, 10140 feet: 7.3 miles, 1640 foot gain.  Moderate+.
North Inlet Falls, 9480 feet: 7.8 miles, 980 foot gain.  Moderate.
Lake Nokoni, 10780 feet: 10.3 miles, 2280 foot gain.  Strenuous-.
Pettingell Lake, 10500 feet: 11.1 miles, 2000 foot gain.  Strenuous.  Second class.
Lake Solitude, 9740 feet: 9 miles, 1240 foot gain.  Strenuous-.
As a whole, this hike covered approximately 23.9 miles with 7418 feet of elevation gain.  Strenuous+.

Bushwhacking the west side.

With a predicted 70% chance of thunderstorms after 1pm, the weather didn't look so great for this week.  Last year a prediction like that would have kept me at home.  This year I slept for 3 hours and drove for two hours to get a 5am start.  I have a specific goal for this year, and those mountains aren't going to climb themselves!  

I was able to put together a logical grouping of peaks, a lake, and a waterfall that would keep me below tree line for the most part, and out of harms way, with the foray above the trees coming early in the day.  

I started from the Green Mountain TH just as the sky was starting to grow light.  I stayed on the trail for about fifteen minutes before deciding to cut off south and east and start gaining altitude.  Though I would cross an official NPS trail a few hours later, it would be almost six hours before I would actually hike on a trail again.

The buswhacking started, and it was of moderate intensity.  There was a fair amount of dead fall to go over and around at first, but at around 9500 feet this lessened up significantly.  The undergrowth is low to the ground and fairly easy to move over for the most part.  

Up I went until I gained a high point.  I continued along, moving higher and staying near this ridge.  After a few false summits I found the true summit about an hour and twenty five minutes after I started. 

Mount Patterson and Nisa Mountain through the trees.
As you can see, there wasn't much to see from this treed summit.  The register was a sight worth taking in, as is often the case on these minor peaks.  It has been in place since 1992.  Over the day I would see the signatures of people such as Jennifer Roach, Steve Knapp, Brian Kalet, and Lisa Foster.  Some good company to be in.
This peak looks to see 3-5 summits a year, and I had missed someone by three days.
Next I set my sights on Nisa Mountain.  I simply headed east, avoiding any steeper areas as I worked my way downhill. 

A trail!  As I hiked through Big Meadows, the largest meadow in RMNP, I crossed no fewer than eight trails.  One was obviously the NPS trail, but this thin trail was within twenty feet of it.
Up and up was the name of the game when I got to the other side of the meadow.  I spied some rocky areas on the west face of Nisa Mountain and stayed north of them, but passed close enough to take a break and snap some photos from one.

Green Mountain.

Looking over Big Meadows.  A very pretty place to be.  Note all the beetle kill in this photo.
Things finally started to flatten out a bit, and a short time later the summit was sighted.  This peak is unranked, but still has an official name.  The bushwhacking was again of a similar character to Green Mountain.  Not much dead fall, low ground cover, and relatively easy movement as any forward/upward impedance was able to be avoided. 

I spied this saddle from Nisa Mountain.  Just a few weeks ago I'd stood in it as I went from Timber Lake to Julian Lake.

I took a break here and looked to Mount Patterson.  At least I would leave the trees for a short time and have some easier travel.

Trees everywhere.  Again, not so much in the views department.
Though there wasn't a trail, getting to Mount Patterson wasn't too difficult.  Just loose some elevation, and then gain some elevation.  Move around any obstacles. 

Finally I poked my head above the trees and was treated to some great views.  Here I saw the continental divide from the other side, which is to say most of these peaks are normally seen from the east.  A different perspective from the west, though McHenrys still looks pretty wicked from this side.

Never Summers.

I thought this was interesting to see- all the peaks I'd climbed on my previous outing.  It looks like a pretty big day from this vantage point.

Down to Grand Lake.
My plan from here was to move north east, and head directly to Granite Falls.  Hopefully I wouldn't go too far east and end up above them.  But in the end, I didn't go east enough and went almost directly north.  

Probably a good choice, because somewhere in this bushwhacking, I stumbled across this moose antler.  It was huge, obviously from an animal in its prime.  It probably weighed 25-30 pounds, and when I stood it on end, it was up to my waist.

Pretty cool vascular structure on the backside imprinted in the bone as it grew.

A little more.
This was an awesome find.  It's crazy to think that an animal can grow 50 plus pounds of bone in just a few months, and then leave it behind when the season changes.  This was one of those things that you can see in nature that I think is truly humbling.  If only I'd seen the enormous beast that dropped these.  After getting over the fear I would have been floored.
The bushwhacking was a bit more intense here- more and larger fallen trees, more waist and chest height brush grabbing at the clothes and backpack.  I eventually came to some cliffs and moved west to avoid them.  So I wasn't going to pop out at Granite Falls, but at least I'd be on a trail to get there.
As luck would have it, I popped out at the Sunset campsite, and saw the first two people of the day.  We talked for a little bit and I had to ask where I was specifically.  I got a congrats on my earlier adventures, and headed up the trail to the falls.
Now my plan was to run this.  I was still feeling pretty good as I hadn't been making much if any effort to really go fast as of yet.  I put my poles away and started up.  Almost immediately I felt a pain in my lower back/hips.  It was enough to force me to give up on running and walk.  Oh well. 

Granite Falls.  Pretty cool!

The Tonahutu Creek Trail moves through some very pretty flowery meadows.  I also happened upon and ate some wild strawberries.  Yum yum!

Flowers.
My plan was to head back down until I met the intersection with the Onahu Creek trail, take that up to the top of the saddle, and head directly to the ranked and unoffically named Bushwhack Hill, which lies directly south west of the saddle.  Simple.

Big Meadows again impressing.  Very beautiful. 

Shortly after I reached the saddle, I stumbled upon my second antler of the day!  Wow.  This was not as big as the first, and had been out for at least a full year if not longer.  I could see places where creatures had been gnawing at it, and some of the internal structure was visible.  Shortly after finding this one, I came upon a third!  Crazy.
My plan here seemed good, but from the saddle Bushwhack Hill wasn't visible.  I saw another high point and decided (without checking my compass) that this must be it.  Instead of going sw I went nw and climbed this high point.  You can imagine my disappointment when I got to the top and didn't find a cairn or register, and discovered it was about 100 feet too low.  Arg.  After spending some time looking around, I was able to see a hill with two high points almost directly south of me.  Whoops.

Bushwhack Hill.  Again nothing much to look at, again pretty cool register.
I was at a mental low here.  I'd just made a dumb mistake that cost me some time.  It was a little after 2pm, and almost on cue I heard thunder start around 1.  The wind had picked up alot and was now swirling, and I'd encountered a little bit of rain.  Was the weather going to be a factor after all?  I was well prepared for rain, but still, getting caught out in a thunderstorm is pretty scary.
But I was also close to the Green Mountain Trail, and therefore close to the car.  Maybe I could go down to the car, reevaluate the weather, and take the Onahu trail up toward Chickaree Lake.  The more I thought about it, the better an idea this seemed.  I even used my Inreach to send a message to that effect.  But when I stood up, my legs took over and propelled me north again.  I knew that if I went back to the car I would likely not continue on, and that would leave me with this one lake to come back for.
The bushwhacking here was similar to what I encountered for most of the day, and I felt like I was flying downhill.  I knew the lake was around 9300 feet in elevation, so I contoured around at around 9600 feet, making sure to keep the lake below me.  I reached a place where I would have to start heading back east to stay at that elevation, and knew I should now head directly north and find the trail.
Within a few minutes I came to a log and a definite sign of humanity: wadded up toilet paper and a turd on the ground.  Ha!  Well, at least I was headed in the right direction and had to be near a trail.  Moments later I popped out into another campsite, this time sans people.  I made my way over to the trail.  I was at the Onahu site.  I simply had to head down to 9400 or so, bear right to leave the trail, and I should be able to see the lake below me. 
Once again, there wasn't much dead fall to contend with.  I kept thinking at every little rise that I came to that I should see the lake soon.  And then, there it was.

 

What a beautiful and peaceful place to be.  I sat and had a snack, thought maybe I should just stay here and not go back.
While large, this lake has no inlet or outlet, and was therefore quite warm relatively speaking.  I decided to go for a swim and was in up to my knees when the weather went from lightly dripping to raining.  Oh well.  It would have felt nice.  

Reflections and ducks.

I made my way back to the trail.  As I was hiking, it seemed like it wasn't following the trail on the topo.  I was definitely on the north side of the creek for longer than I should have been (according to the map), and when I got home, my GPS points weren't on the trail at all.  I saw a few more people on the way down, met the Onahu TH and then stayed on the trail back to the Green Mountain TH.  There were a bunch of people there.  I ate some food, changed into shorts and prepared myself for one more little diversion.

I drove back toward Estes Park and stopped at the Coyote Valley TH.  It was now starting to rain for real, but while I was here I figured I would run this short out and back.  My lower back ceased to ache as badly as it did earlier, and I enjoyed the calm scenery and quiet of the Kawuneeche Valley as the rain fell upon me.   

Link to hike map on Caltopo.

Bushwhacking the west side (distances as part of the hike):

Green Mountain, 10313 feet: 1.6 miles, 1513 foot gain.  Second class.  Moderate.

Nisa Mountain, 10788 feet: 3.1 miles, 1988 foot gain.  Second class.  Moderate+.

Mount Patterson, 11424 feet: 4.25 miles, 2624 foot gain.  Second class. Moderate+.

Granite Falls, 9800 feet: 7.3 miles, 1000 foot gain.  Moderate.

Big Meadows, 9400ish feet: 9.5 miles, 600 foot gain.  Moderate-.

Bushwhack Hill, 10192 feet: 11.1 miles, 1392 foot gain.  Moderate. 

Chickaree Lake, 9260 feet: 12.9 miles, 460 foot gain.  Moderate-.

Coyote Valley Trail, 8820 feet: .5 miles each way, 40 foot gain.  Easy-.

As a whole, this loop covered 15.36 miles with an estimated 6318 feet of elevation gain in up to second class terrain with a whole, whole lot of bushwhacking.  Strenuous. 

Flattop Mountain and Beyond.

More than a few weeks ago now, Dan and I set out early one morning to try for Snowdrift Peak.  This peak is relatively far in any way you do it, with a good part of the day spent above tree line.  As you can see above, we started under hallucinogenic skies from Bear Lake.  We did not find the construction traffic to be too bad- of course the park is definitely much slower over all this time of year.

Frozenish Bear Lake, Hallett Peak sees first sun.

Glacier Gorge through the trees.

The early morning sun and low lying clouds gave us some crazy looking skies all day.

A better view into Glacier Gorge and of Longs Peak.

Above Emerald Lake.

A frozen Dream Lake far below.

Equally frozen Emerald Lake.

Amazing skies.

Nearing tree line and starting to approach Flattop.

Somewhere up there.

We remarked on the lack of snow at this point in the year.  Since our hike, the winter has caught up.

Well there it is.  Way over there...

I can't remember now why I aimed at this, but at least it looks cool.

Closer still.
We left the Tonahutu Creek Trail a bit prematurely, and topped out point 12277' a bit northeast of Snowdrift.  We sat and ate and talked, and discovered that the cold and windy day had taken a toll on our motivation and the seemingly questionable snow conditions lying ahead could cause us to turn back anyway.  So we acted logically and turned back.  It sucks to be so close (relatively) but knowing that neither of us really wanted to go on was all we needed to know we'll get back to this peak in the future...

Heading back to Flattop, Hallett Peak again.

Down something steep.  You can see just a touch of smoke from the Fern Lake fire above the lake on the left.

Tundra as far as the eye can see.

Onward!

Got my finger stuck in this one...

And the camera strap in this one...

And nothing in this one.

As we descended, I again found that on this day, the skies held most of my interest.

Back at Bear Lake.

And a last glimpse of Glacier Gorge and three goals for 2013- Longs Peak, Keyboard of the Winds, and Pagoda Mountain. 
Although we did not gain our ultimate destination of the day, we felt like this was a fun day in the park.  Spending several hours above 12000 feet wasn't so bad, and I did get to check off a place I hadn't been to before.  Despite the bone chilling wind, a good time was had!
Flattop Mountain:
4.4 miles each way, 2874 foot gain.  Moderate+.