Shelf and Solitude Anniversary Hike

July 16th - Our 30th anniversary! We celebrated the day with a hike to Shelf and Solitude accompanied by a lot of bantering and laughter. Rich and Bob must have been along. First stop was Mills Lake. Even though some of us had just been there yesterday, today was clear and calm, with mirrorlike reflections and the high mountains in full view.

After we all had made is safely across Helicopter Rock, the uphill scramble started. Over slippery roots, downed trees, rocks, we snaked our way vertically up to our next destination - Shelf Lake. Finally the land levels out, we can breathe normally again, and the lake opens up in front of us. Ice and snow still remains on the far side of the lake where Solitude empties into Shelf.

We are all smiling because we have comsumed brownies, ding dongs, twinkies and M&M's. Our group at Solitude: back row - Catherine, Rich, Richard, Kim, Tommy, Theresa, Carl. Front row - Hannah, Mallory, Gregory (with Muneca), Evan (with Geoffrey), Elliot, Bob and Maggie.

A last look at Solitude Lake on a perfect day.

Winding our way down a slightly different way, we managed to find Shelf Creek Falls. Theresa and Tommy were also celebrating their anniversary. We've shared this special day for the 4th year now, a wonderful tradition.

Mills Lake

Mills Lake is definitely my favorite place in the park. It holds so many memories. It continues to be the place to make new memories with old and new hiking partners. Our first stop was Alberta Falls, which was flowing well for July. These recent rainy afternoons have pumped it up again. The overcast day gave it a different look - more defined.

 My favorite rock freed up as we approached the lake - thanks to Betty and Annie for snagging it before anyone else could claim it. Memories at the lake have to be made at this particular rock. There is room to spread out, dip your feet, go for a swim, and enjoy feeling like you are out in the center of the lake.

 Muneca was able to spend some quality time with her friend Big Geoffrey. She was very happy he was visiting again this year.

Our group at the lake: Rich, Annie (with Geoffrey), Sherry, Tom, Betty, Bob, Maria, Maria Jose (with Muneca), Daniel and Maggie

Back at the trailhead, a hillside of tall one-sided penstemon greeted us. The perfect ending to our hike.

Fairchild

 

With storms starting up again this month, we set off at 3am to hike Fairchild. Quiet, with only the sound of our footsteps and breathing, we hiked the first 6.5 miles to breakfast at Lawn Lake. Finally the first bird called and the rocks and trees along the trail came into focus.

From Lawn Lake, we headed up the steep trail to The Saddle and then turned left to Fairchild. Slowly advancing over the rocks, we made progress. Just when we were ready to give up, the slope became a little less steep and finally flattened out. A few more rocks to the summit and we were ready to hibernate in the shelter to eat our lunch. But first, Neil received his 500 mile patch!

At the chilly summit, Henry, Ed, and Neil in the backrow, Morgan, Maggie (with Muneca) and Ritchie in the front row.

On the way down, we stayed on the southern edge, overlooking Crystal Lakes. Vertical gullies are cut into this side, allowing us to look over 1000 feet straight down. 

The wind died down and the sun came out for some amazing views of the surrounding mountains. Crystal Lakes and Lawn Lake were shining in the valley below us while Mummy stood over the scene. Once we reached Lawn Lake in the distance, we retraced those 6.5 miles we had done in the dark. 

Emerald Lake Mirror

About once a week, I lead an early morning photo hike up to Emerald Lake. Not only is the light wonderful, but you have a chance to see this beautiful part of the park without all the crowds. However, I have never seen the conditions that we had today. A day without any possible hint of a breeze is extremely unusual, and it was already 70 when we left the Y at 5:30 AM. We made a quick stop at Bear Lake to see the view of Hallets and the reflections on the lake.

Flowers are saturated with color in the early morning light, and the columbine along the way were posing for us.

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As we approached the rock waterfall below Emerald Lake, Morgan spotted a dipper on the far side of the stream. For once, it stayed still long enough to zoom in and take a few photos.

But the crown jewel of the day was definitely Emerald Lake. As we came over the last rise before descending to the lake, it appeared that a deep canyon was opening up in front of us. The reflection of Hallets and the side of Flattop was without a single ripple, causing our minds to play tricks on us.

I doubt I will ever catch another morning at Emerald Lake like this again.

Our group at Emerald Lake - Standing - Morgan, Tina, Ed, Andrew, Emma (with Muneca), Dan, Crouching - Herman, Alex and Maggie

Thatchtop

Thatchtop may be the longest 9 mile hike, but it is also one of the most rewarding. Sitting between Glacier Gorge and Loch Vale, it commands a view of the entire front range. One little gulley, the S couloir, gives access to the tundra covered north side of the mountain.

Well, it may look like it is covered with tundra from afar, but from close up, there are lots of rocks interspersed with the tundra.

Unlike last year, when the view was obscured by the smoke from a fire near Ft Collins, today was clear. A storm was heading toward the Mummy Range, but we got caught only with sprinkles a few times. Scott and Tom are at the top here, signing the register.

The view into upper Glacier Gorge is magnificent. Solitude Lake lies below, Blue and Green Lakes off in the distance. Longs Peak, Keyboard of the Winds, Pagoda, Chiefshead, and a hint of McHenrys fill the skyline.

Our group at the top of Thatchtop - Wendy, Marie (with Muneca), Scott, Tom, Steve, Henry, Mary Margaret, Cory, Neil, and Maggie.

After an hour or so of downclimbing the rocks on the south side of Thatchtop, we reached Solitude Lake. Snow still lingered on the rocks between Solitude and Shelf. We followed Tom's special route to include Shelf Creek Falls on the way down and eventually across Helicopter Rock and back to the main Black Lake trail and civilization.

Lulu City

Hiking on the west side of the park means starting the morning off with a drive over Trail Ridge Road, the highest continuous paved road in the country. Mountains in every direction were clear with no clouds in sight at that hour. From the Colorado River trailhead, we hiked north toward its headwaters, through an area once populated by miners hoping to find gold and silver. Remains of Joseph Shipler's cabin, built in 1876, are still standing near his mine.


Familiar flowers were blooming along the way, but some unusual ones caught my eye. The delicate Small Mitrewort was blooming near a tiny stream.

Our group at Lulu City - Tommy, Theresa, Marise with Muneca, and Maggie.

Monkeyflower was blooming in the rocks at the edge of the Colorado River, one of the brightest flowers in the area.

Near its source, the Colorado River is just a tiny stream. Lulu City was established here in 1879, but lasted only a few years.

Mt Audubon and Paiute

Today our destination was not just Mt Audubon. For the first time in over twenty times up the mountain, I continued on to the next ridge and Paiute. Road construction at Brainard Lake forced us to park a mile away from the trailhead, but we still made it up to Mt Audubon at 13,233 feet fairly quickly. The carpet of flowers on the tundra certainly helped. From the top of Mt Audubon, we could see our next challenge - the narrow, rocky ridge to Paiute.

From the ridge between Audubon and Paiute we could look down on the valley that holds Blue and Upper Blue lakes. Upper Blue was still frozen solid, while the ice was breaking up around the edges of Blue. Lots of snow remained in the cirque below Mt Toll, where we planned our descent.  

The panorama of the southern Indian Peaks was spectacular from the top of Paiute. Clouds were building despite the forecast of a 0% chance of rain.

Our group on Paiute - Brittany, Morgan, Donovan, Annie, Malia, Tom, Molly (with Muneca) and me.

We had already climbed our two 13'ers, but the fun was really just beginning. The route down from Paiute can be challenging. We headed over to Mt Toll, trying to find a gully that might be good for sliding - good snow, not too steep, no rocks in the way, and a flat runout. Well, we got, three out of four.

Looking back up the mountain, we slid down the snowfield from the center right. It was a little steeper than we had planned. This second, lower slope was much more fun, and did not induce terror and tumbles like the upper one had.

Blue Lake was magnificent with its ring of broken ice. Only one more snowfield to cross and we were back on trail. Sliding on this one would have meant an icy plunge, but we all made it across safely.

Back on the trail, we could look back at our descent from the saddle on the right side of Mt Toll. An epic hike. It was OK that the rain and hail started at this point, as we splashed our way through the puddles and mud the last 3 miles.

Alpine Wildflowers

Our flower expert Zelma comes for two weeks and explores all her favorite places on hikes with the Y. Today it was my turn to escort her on an alpine extravaganza. Let's just say that we hardly hiked, but we saw about 35 species hidden among the rocks or hugging the ground at 12,000 feet. Alpine sandwort was one of our first to see.

Nailwort is easy to miss with its little green sepals perched on its cushion.

Narcissus Anenome are one of the tallest plants on the tundra, growing where they are sheltered from the winds.

Cabin Creek Cascades

Today was the inaugural hike to Cabin Creek Cascades. Thanks to a friendly ranger who showed me the cutoff to this old and faint trail that winds its way through the forest on the eastern flank of Mt Meeker and then up Cabin Creek.

There are so many beautiful cascades, it is hard to choose one for a lunch stop. Today we stopped beside the large rock face.

Muneca found another travelling companion hidden away in someone else's backpack. BunBun has been hiking with Amy for over 30 years.