Glacier Gorge in a Season of Transition

Glacier Creek above Mills Lake looking south at Chief's Head and Pagoda Mountains.

It's currently that weird in-between state in the Rockies where it's still basically fall except for some snow here and there, but winter could arrive at any moment. Seizing this window of uncertainty, Amy and I headed out for a casual hike in RMNP, specifically the bifurcating valley that is Glacier Gorge north and west of Longs Peak. This was also the opportunity for Amy to break in her new big stompy boots on some relatively easy terrain. Up to this point, she has been performing pretty impressively with lightweight boots, and I was curious to see how she'd do with more studdly footwear.

The day was beautiful and late when we arrived at the Bear Lake TH. We'd brought all the usual gear: snowshoes, axes, gaiters and whatnot, but most of this was immediately ditched since the temperatures were in the high 50's. We hiked admirably easy and mostly level trail for 2.5 miles up towards Mills Lake before we hit any ice or snow. Half a mile of somewhat slippery conditions brought us to the mostly-frozen, highly touristed Mills Lake.

Looking south from Mills Lake, Longs Peak and the Keyboard of the Winds makes an impressive bastion.	A bold Gray Jay or Whiskeyjack molested us at Mills Lake

We sat and had some lunch looking south at the massive west flank of Longs Peak. The lesser Chief's Head and Pagoda Mountain blocked the end of this arm of the valley. While we sat, we were invaded by three completely fearless Whiskeyjacks, a Magpie, and a Stellars Jay. Clearly the animals here are used to humans and expect handouts.

We continued on from Mills Lake on rougher, less-popular trail another 2.5 miles toward Black Lake at the head of the valley. The trail became significantly snowier after a mile and many of the steep sections had an interesting amount of ice. Nothing too difficult and Amy had lots of fun kicking steps in the packed snow.

The last half mile to Black Lake seemed to drag on interminably. The snow became quite deep in spots but we managed to stay mostly on top of it. We gained a high meadow with sparse trees and traversed west around a band of cliffs. After a steep bit of snow climbing past Ribbon Falls (frozen but audible), we arrived at the very windy Black Lake. Neat place! The ice was silver and surrounded by grey cliffs on all sides. The trail continues on, but I couldn't see an obvious path from where we were. High above us loomed the Arrowhead and the Spearhead, craggy, precipitous spires of rock. The latter, at least, is a major alpine rock climbing location.

Amy and the new red boots with Spearhead in the background	Black Lake at 2:15 pm just as the sun dipped below Stone Man Pass.
The impressive Arrowhead from near Black Lake	Five miles to go! Looking north from Black Lake down the length of Glacier Gorge

We had a quick second lunch as the sun dipped below Stone Man Pass (the time was 2:15 pm and this was the last sun we'd see for the day). Feeling cold, we set off for the second 5.5 miles of the day back toward the car and dinner. The descent went without incident. Part way back we noticed some sort of mammal running through the woods. It was too big to be a squirrel and too small for a fox though it looked a bit like both; long body with thick black and brown fur with small ears and noticable claws. We stopped and the creature came walking right up the path towards us and got within about five feet of Amy before pausing for several seconds and leisurely running back down the trail. It ran with the characteristic humping motion of a weasel or ferret. Cute, fearless, and definitely something I've never seen before. A bit of research when we got home revealed it to be an American Marten.

Longs west face in the fading light	The Mummy Range to the north in the purple sunset. Still 2 miles to go!

The sun had pretty much set by the time we got back to Mills Lake with 3 miles yet to go. We hurried up and donned headlamps with 2 miles yet to go. Feet screaming from the boots, we arrived back at the deserted, pitch dark trail head at 5:30. On the drive home we saw several elk.

Nice trip hard in a milage sense if not an altitude gain sense. I'm ready for winter now and am sharpening up my crampons and ice axe...

The Wilderness Journal

Neithernor