Backpacking 7/29- 8/01 2020

3 DAYS, 2 ALPINE LAKES, 2 MOUNTAIN PASSES, 1 SUMMIT

Watch the video below!

Backpacking 7/29 - 8/01

T-1 week

This was a 4 day trip, 2 days were spent in one wilderness area and the following 2 days in another, split up by a night in a yurt. We were fortunate enough to book the yurt on short notice and it was extremely helpful as we were able to leave half of our food and clothing in the car for our second trip.

Although I know the area we spent our first 2 days fairly well just from frequently looking at maps, we’ve never actually done it. Since it’s too long to do as a day hike (12 miles roundtrip) with the dogs, it’s been on my overnight backpacking to-do list for a while.

We have been to the area we were in for the latter two days numerous times, even in each season, and know it like the back of my hand. However I have never climbed the 12,228 ft mountain that looms over the valley with Scott or the dogs and the views at the peak are too beautiful not to share with them.

Day 1

Our first day began with our typical early morning arrival at the trailhead to get a head start on the heat. It was a 5 mile hike to reach our destination lake followed by another mile or so up to the unnamed pass we would be camping at. The trail itself meandered through trees for the whole 5 miles until the lake, crossing over rivers with bridges as well as requiring some technical crawling under and climbing over fallen trees. It was a relatively uneventful 5 miles, but once you reached the lake the views were stunning!

After taking a handful of pictures at the lake we made our way up to the pass.

On the right of the lake you can see the trail

After spending some time at the pass, we hiked a little farther to find camp for the night. We were greeted by some impressive views on the other side of the pass as well. Those mountains you see in the background below are actually in the wilderness area we were in for our next backpacking trip, see the blog titled “34 Miles of Lakes.”

That night was a windy one, it felt like we were about to fly away in our tent despite being staked down with 4 bodies inside. We still somehow managed to have a good nights sleep though!

Day 2

The following morning we got up at first light to watch the sunrise over the mountains.

Taken just after getting out the tent, waiting for the sun to hit the mountains

After watching the sunrise we packed up camp and headed 6 miles back to the trailhead. Along the way we came across a moose wandering through the thick forest!

Once back at the trailhead we drove to our next destination for the night - a yurt. When we arrived there were about 50 cows in the pasture in front of the yurt and as you can imagine the dogs were going crazy and wanted to put their herding skills to the test. Fortunately the cows left relatively quickly.

Day 3

We woke up bright and early the following morning to pack up and get ready for our next overnighter in the mountains. The starry sky was mesmerizing to look at as we we were packing up.

On our drive to the trailhead we spotted a bald eagle on a branch in the reservoir nearby our yurt.

At the trailhead we had to layer up as it was in the low 30s, but once we started the ascent up the switchbacks and into the sun, it warmed up quickly.

We did come across a couple moose that were grazing in front of us on the trail. The animals I am most afraid of seeing on trail are moose. They can be very unpredictable and hard to scare off especially during the rut. I love seeing them from a distance, but when they are on the trail just in front of you I like to find the closest tree to hide behind and make some noise to get them to move as the last thing you want to do is to spook it and as a result it charge you. Fortunately for us we didn’t have any issues even when coming up on a female with her calf.

We hiked 4 miles with 1,347 ft of elevation gain to a pair of lakes where we found a place to camp and set our bags down. We then climbed an additional 1.85 miles (and another 1.85 back) with 1,407 ft of elevation gain to the summit of the mountain you see behind Maxi and Zeus below.

After arriving at the lakes and leaving our bags at camp, we headed towards a mountain pass and then made the steep climb up to the peak.

Climbing to the 12,228 ft peak has been on my bucket list to do with the dogs ever since I climbed it myself about 4 years ago. As we climbed up the ridge, it grew increasingly windy but that didn't stop us from continuing on, and fortunately (and surprisingly) it wasn’t as windy on the peak itself. These were some of the best views I’ve ever seen and I love that I got to share it with Scott, Maxi and Zeus. See below.

Taking a break as we made our way up to the peak

At the summit Maxi hunkered in this wind shelter

The peak you see on the left with a cloud shadow on it is the peak we climbed in our previous overnight trip

You can see the two lakes behind Maxi and Zeus, the lower one is where we camped

After spending around 45 minutes on the summit, we made our way down the steep ridge.

Rocky Mountain National Park behind Maxi

When we were back at the pass, we were greeted by a huge bull elk with some of the biggest antlers I have ever seen. It actually started coming closer even after it saw us and Scott actually began running away because of how close it was getting, but after a couple barks from Zeus it backed off a bit and we were able to continue down the trail.

The elk continued to watch us as it made it’s way down the slope

After the excitement of seeing the elk, we headed back to camp and allowed the dogs (and humans) to relax a bit. Later that evening before the sun set we went to the lake and took some photos.

These two make the mountain we climbed look small

Day 4

The next morning we made our way back down the trail to the parking lot. We saw another 5 moose on the way down, a couple were just laying down within the trees and others grazing beside the trail, we did our best to not disturb or scare them and kept on trekking.

We made it back to the trailhead after a relatively easy 4 mile descent. The dogs slept the whole way back home!

Alpine Adventures