One of many
trip reports under the
SilGro home page for Alan Silverstein and Cathie
Grow.
Email me at
ajs@frii.com.
Last update: March 26, 2024
(Previous trip report: 1990_0705-08_CastlePeak.htm)
It was another summer weekend of -- monsoon weather, too much stress, too little sleep. Regardless, I had hopes of climbing Navajo and Apache Peaks, in the Indian Peaks Wilderness south of Rocky Mountain National Park, along with Sherry Perkins. Well we'd have made the summits if the weather had cooperated. We settled for a long, lovely hike to the base of Isabelle Glacier on the northeast flank of Apache, with periods of rain on the return.
Sherry and I met in Fort Collins at 0620 and departed the trailhead (10400') west of Brainard Lake at 0830. There was a cloud deck below us on the plains. A blue dome above filled us with false optimism.
The trail was a highway, up (mostly) and down (a little), past the appropriately named Long Lake. We followed it below a forest canopy to the deservedly famous, extraordinarily beautiful Lake Isabelle, 10868'. This large body of water sat at timberline surrounded by small copses of evergreens, before a magnificent backdrop of continental divide peaks.
We took a long lunch break about half a mile beyond and a little above the lake, where the trail climbed past a cacophonous series of rocky waterfalls. From this perch the view east was of a broad valley containing the graceful lake, ending at a sharp edge beyond which were cloud tops over the plains. Uphill to the west -- running water, melting snow, green tundra dotted with flowers, jagged rocky slopes, and moist thermals...
Keeping an eye on the weather, we followed the trail up past a blue gem of a pond surrounded by steep snowbanks at 11400'. We switched up the Shoshoni Peak mountainside south from the pond and then proceeded west again to the southeast base of the enormous Isabelle Glacier. We reached our high point of the day at 1235 as menacing clouds blew over the divide. I think we covered a bit more than four leisurely miles to get there, gaining only 1600' in 4:05.
We sat on some rocks and snacked. (Dare I mention we used my ham radio to say "hi" to some friends, and to make a phone call to Sherry's kids?) It got dark fast and started to rain a little. We gave up on the peaks and turned back toward the trailhead at 1310.
We passed Lake Isabelle again at 1525 after enduring two thunderstorm cells -- with rain, snow, occasional thunder, and blue sky in between. Another 1:25 of strolling returned us to the trailhead at 1650, 8:20 on the round trip with about 1800' of total gain. (There was a 50' uphill stretch on the northeast side of Lake Isabelle on the return.) It was a delicious way to spend a summer day in the wilderness.
(Next trip report: 1990_0804_TenmileRange.htm)