Indian Peaks Overnight

From the time Callae, Ed and the boys arrived, we began discussing an overnight hike. Emma and I had purchased our gear earlier in the summer (new overnight backpacks, sleeping bags and mats, a tent and cooking stove) and were ready to go; the Rounds had brought their equipment from California, and so we began to discuss the destination. We didn't want to hike in RMNP because campfires are forbidden everywhere. We didn't want to go too far as we had young children carryng packs, and we wanted to camp in a beautiful location near water. Dan, our local expert at the Never Summer Outfitters in Grand Lake solved our problem and advised us to head for Columbine Lake in the Indian Peaks Wilderness, about 4 miles from the Junco Lake trailhead.

At the last minute, Paul surprised us all and decided he wanted to come along. Ed had an extra sleeping bag and Paul borrowed Michael's daypack; we had an extra sleeping mat, so we managed to accomodate him.

When Ed and I stopped at the ranger station in Granby to pick up our overnight permit, we received conflicting information from the ranger: (1) campfires were prohibited at Columbine Lake, but (2) we could make a fire if we located a fire ring used by former campers. Dan had told us we could definitely make a fire at the lake, and so we decided not to abort. We took a country road from the town of Tabernash and travelled 11 miles in to the trailhead. We set off up the trail, and after about half a mile encountered some abandoned cabins.


About two miles in, the terrain opens up and the Indian Peaks appear in the distance. Columbine Lake sits at the base of the mountains.


Alongside the trail, a very short distance away, we encountered a female moose who seemly completely unperturbed by our presence. She posed nicely for the cameras.


The last section of trail before we reached the lake was fairly steep, but George was undaunted by the effort, smiling, as usual, as he climbs the slope.



At last we reached the lake, it was as beautiful and pristine as promised, with clouds drifting over the Indian Peaks at the far edge.




After a brief circuit of the lake, we set about scouting a campsite. We did find an old fire ring, although the former campers (or perhaps the forest service) had done their best to disguise its remnants. With some misgivings, we made camp and set about collecting firewood -- after all, with five kids and darkness coming, we couldn't very well spend the night with no campfire. Here's a picture of the very cushiony meadow where Emma, Paul and I pitched our tent. That's Paul winding up to throw the frisbee to Peter.



That night, we made a roaring fire and I broke out my new Primus camp stove to boil water for pasta. Callae had brought along a pre-made sauce and lots of grated cheese, and after mixing in the cooked pasta, she placed the aluminum lasagna pan over the cooking grate Ed had brought along. A half hour or so later, with the garlic bread nicely roasted in the fire, we ate one of the finer meals I have ever eaten (or maybe it was just the mountain air). Wine and roasted marshmallows and camp stories around the fire. What a life!

Later that evening, the sky began to light up with brilliant white flashes, but there was no sign of lightning and no sound of thunder. We could only surmise that a storm system beyond the mountains was active, and that the Indian Peaks kept it at bay: the sky on our side of the mountain was completely clear and full of dazzling stars. Emma, Paul and I decided to leave the rain flap off of our tent so we could see the stars from our sleeping bags -- a lovely idea, except that in the morning, all the dew had settled onto our sleeping bags and the interior of the tent was damp. Poor Emma slept barely a wink and I didn't do much better. Paul slept the profound sleep of the innocent.

In the morning, after hot chocolate and coffee, sausage and pancakes, Henry was pushing for us to scale the mountain behind the lake, and so Callae, Ed, Emma and I began the hike up the slope while Paul watched over the camp site with Peter and George. The views from this trail were very fine. We had no idea what to expect as Dan hadn't told us about this part of the trail and it wasn't listed in our guidebooks. There were many switchbacks and some steep climbing to the saddle. Here's a typical view of the lake below, with another ridge of the Indian Peaks rising beyond our basin.


Emma was a total trooper and kept insisting that she "had to do" whatever I was going to do. Here she is climbing up from the saddle with the new expansive views toward Winter Park behind her. To our surprise, we found ourselves at another 360 degree view summit.

At this point, we were above 12,000 feet and there was still snow at this elevation. Henry and Emma took great pleasure in sliding along its surface -- playing in the snow in August. That week it was in the upper 90s back home in Chapel Hill.


We climbed to the top of that peak behind Emma and Henry, and from there, the view opened up even farther, allowing us glimpses of Junco Lake below and Lake Granby in the far distance. Truly spectacular.


A storm appeared to be moving in from the direction of Winter Park, so it was time to hightail it down the mountain. We broke camp and prepared to head home, tired but exhilarated from our first (and certainly not last) overnight camping trip in Colorado.