Another perfect day on the tundra and another first. I have never turned right when I have hiked up Flattop before. But before that right turn, we could look to the south at Hallets and Tyndall glacier.
As we moved north across the tundra, we rounded Ptarmigan Point at the head of the gorge leading down toward Lake Odessa. All the front range east mountains were still visible on the horizon.
Notchtop from the tundra side is just a mound of rocks, allowing us to peer down into the gorge.
Knobtop was our next destination. It is a strange looking rockpile at the edge of the tundra, that makes you question how the rocks ended up here?
Our next stop was Gabletop. While climbing to the summit, Tom nearly stepped on a ptarmigan protecting her nest. Hidden under the rock were 6 medium sized speckled eggs.
From Gabletop we descended Tourmaline gorge down a very rocky gulley. The clouds had risen up the gulley, engulfing us in a strange fog that would come and go. Eventually we reached the bottom and stopped for the remainder of our lunch overlooking Tourmaline Tarn.
When we had finally climbed down to Lake Odessa, we had to climb back out of Odessa gorge. Rather than taking the trail, we rounded the west side of the lake where the original trail had been. Fallen rock, snowbanks, and rushing streams were beautiful, but Grace Falls in full force was our reward for this extra effort.
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