Backpacking Trip to the Indian Peaks Wilderness

My wife and I were fortunate enough to be able to sneak away for a long weekend this summer to the Indian Peaks Wilderness. This wilderness area is about 45 minutes west of Boulder and about 30 minutes south of Estes Park, right outside the Rocky Mountain National Park boundary.  I had a work trip to Boulder earlier in the week, so it made it a good choice for the last minute trip planning.

Our plan was to drive to Camp Dick, park and hike into the Middle St. Vrain Backcountry Zone.  We would camp at Red Deer Lake for two nights and then hike back.  Roundtrip would be somewhere around 17-18 miles gaining around 2,000 vertical feet in elevation to camp at around 10,500 feet.

During the winter of 2010-2011, Colorado saw near record snow fall, so I was a bit nervous when I called the first week of July to request the permit and was told there was still too much snow, but to continue to check back.  July brought warmer temperatures which melted the snow, allowing us to get a permit, but it came with warnings of wet, soggy conditions which translates to lots of bugs.

We were pleasantly surprised when we got there.  While it was a little soggy, and there were a fair number of bugs, it wasn't unbearable by any means and the crowds were very thin.  Indian Peaks is known to be very busy on the weekends, so we were very fortunate that there were not hoards of people.

For the most part, the Indian Peaks trails are well signed and easy to follow.  The trails were very well maintained.  The scenery was definitely National Park worthy, it is bordering Rocky Mountain National Park after all.  Due to the lingering snow, we didn't stray too much off of our planned route.  We ran into several hikers coming from beyond Red Deer Lake saying that there was way too much snow, which made it difficult to follow the trails and difficult to walk without crampons.  Taking all of this information, we decided to just relax at Red Deer Lake and enjoy the time off.

Leaving the parking lot at Camp Dick, we followed the Buchanan Pass Trail along the Middle St. Vrain Creek.  We made a brief stop for some lunch at Timberline Falls, then continued on up towards Red Deer Lake.  The topo map we had showed a Red Deer Cutoff Trail about halfway up the Buchanan Pass Trail, but we could never find it, so we continued down the Buchanan Pass Trail until you hit the main trail leading up to Red Deer Lake.

The wildflowers were in full bloom, painting the meadows with bright yellows, reds, blues, and a myriad of other colors.  We definitely timed this trip right for wildflower spotting.  Most of the first part of the trail is spent hiking under a canopy of evergreens, and thanks to the snow melt, slogging through a few mud puddles.  About 4 miles in, the trail opens up and you are hit in the face with a beautiful view of Sawtooth Mountain.

Middle St. Vrain Creek with heavy run off

Sawtooth Mountain

About 6 miles in, you cross over Middle St. Vrain Creek using a footbridge.  Part of the hand rail was broken, making Linda a bit nervous walking across the bridge with a gushing creek just a few feet below her. After crossing the bridge, you then start a pretty steep ascent towards Red Deer Lake and Buchanan Pass.  In a little over a mile you find the main trail leading to Red Deer Lake.  This gains 500 vertical feet in less than .5 mile.  It was still fairly snow covered, even in late July.  By the time we got to the top of the hill, just below Red Deer Lake, we were standing on about 5 feet of snow.

Red Deer Lake apparently is not frequented too much by campers.  There are very few trails around the lake with very few good campsites.  We did a lot of bushwhacking to find a good spot, but eventually found a great spot, right above the lake with plenty of room for our tent, and a good dining area.  We were close to the lake to make retrieving water fairly painless.  Additionally, I packed in my fly rod for the first time ever and the proximity to the lake made it easy to just pop down to the water and cast a fly every once in a while.  We even found a nice spot to put the hammock up with a great view of the lake and surrounding area.

Here are some of the pics from the trip.

What a beautiful sight.  The lake's nice, too.

My first fish on a fly rod, and in the backcountry!

A great place to chillax.

The iceberg kept crashing into the water all weekend.

Linda even picked up the fly rod.

What a gorgeous sunset.

On Sunday, we packed up and headed out.  This was a drastically different type of trip than any of my others.  We stayed close to the camp, relaxed, fished, and enjoyed each other's company and the beautiful scenery.  As far as backpacking trips go, this was definitely my most relaxing trip ever.  I'd love to do a trip like this again, soon.  I really enjoy spending time with my lovely wife and I'm truly blessed she enjoys to spend time with me doing this sort of stuff.

The hike out was all downhill and didn't seem to take too long, but we did take time to smell the flowers, literally.  Here are a few sights from our trip out.

I would definitely recommend this trip to anyone.  I'd like to go back sometime when we could explore some other areas, like Buchanan Pass and Coney Flats.

Family Summer Trip Day 12 - Spooky Gulch and Peek-a-boo Canyon

Today, we were going to make the short drive from our Bryce Canyon campground to the Escalante / Grand Staircase National Monument and visit a spot I last visited in 2007.  This was the origin of my trail name, CanyonMan.  It's about a 45 minute drive from Bryce Canyon to Escalante, UT.  From Escalante, you turn off Highway 12 onto Hole-in-the-Rock Road. Then, it is another 45 minutes or so down the bumpy, gravel road.

To give you a sense of what it's like finding this place, here's the directions to the trailhead:

Go 24 miles on Hole-in-the-Rock Road to Cat Pasture where you'll see a sign for Early Weed Bench.  Go 2.5 miles more and turn left on a dirt road.  Turn and follow this dirt road 1 mile to a parking lot.

From the trailhead, you drop down about 100 vertical feet to the canyon floor.  About 1/2 mile from where you hit the canyon floor, you get your first glimpse of the Peek-a-boo slot canyon, I recommend bypassing this and heading to Spooky first.  Continuing down canyon another mile or so, you will run into Spooky Gulch.  This is an extremely narrow canyon, but it's a great way to get your introduction to slot canyons, because there's no climbing to get into it, you simply walk right in, whereas Peek-a-boo requires a bit of a climb.

Entrance to Spooky Gulch

Entrance to Peek-a-Boo Canyon

There's several options to navigating these slots.

1. Go in and out of Spooky from the entrance and then walk back to Peek-a-boo and go in and out the entrance (what we did this time)
2. Enter Spooky, come out the back end, then navigate your way to the back side of Peek-a-boo and work your way down to the entrance (what I did in 2007)
3. Climb into Peek-a-boo and out the back end, then entering Spooky from the backside and come out the entrance (what a group of scouts were doing when we were there this year)

You could easily spend a day in this area.  There's a third slot in the area, Brimstone, but I've never done that one.  I hear it's a bit more challenging and there are areas which you can get stuck in, so I would recommend going with a partner if you're going to attempt these.

The whole family eventually made it to the back of Spooky.  Some were a bit more intimidated than others by the tight spaces, but we all eventually got back there.  Here's a few pics to give you a sense of how "tight" I'm talking.  If you're claustrophobic, this might not be the spot for you.  Believe it or not, we saw a guy that was probably 5'10" pushing 250+ pounds make it through, so you can squeeze.

We played around in here for a bit and stayed in the cool shade, it was probably 30 degrees cooler than in the sun.

We exited Spooky from the entrance and walked back to the mouth of Peek-a-Boo.  Here everyone, except myself and my daughter, opted not to enter.  Like I mentioned, it's a bit of a climb, so I understand. We helped probably 5 or so others get in or out while we were there.

Once you climb into Peek-a-Boo, it's not as narrow as Spooky, but it is otherworldly.  It almost looks like an alien planet.  There are multiple cris-crossing arches and passageways.  Here's a few shots from inside Peek-a-Boo.

LT and I spent just a few minutes in here, enough to give her an idea of what draws me to this place.  I always tell everyone, there's something special about the desert.  It just has it's own beauty to it.  It's not for everyone, but these places are phenomenal.

Family photo in front of Peek-a-Boo

We exited Peek-a-Boo, gathered the family for a photo.  See the pic above and notice the carved out area above us and to the left.  That's where you climb up.  It looks pretty straightforward, but is extremely worn and very slick.  It's not terribly difficult, but is a bit nerve racking if you're not used to climbing on sandstone.

It was extremely hot that day and we were running low on water.  A bit of advice, even though you are less than a mile from your vehicle, pack plenty of water.  We brought a liter each and were only out for 2 hours, but we drank every bit of it and my youngest was pretty parched by the time we got back to the truck.

If you find yourself in southern Utah or northern Arizona, I highly recommend spending some time around Hole-in-the-Rock road.  There are many slots in this area.  There's a really good guidebook on all the different hikes in the area.  It's the Non-Technical Canyon Hiking Guide to the Colorado Plateau.  I highly recommend picking this up.

Finally, if you're coming to this area, it's worth knowing why it's called Hole-in-the-Rock Road.  Check out this Wikipedia article on the Hole-in-the-Rock.  It's an interesting bit of history and you'll be amazed when you see what it looks like now and imagining what it would have been like in the late 1800's when it was being used by the Mormons.  They must have been some extremely hearty people.

Family Summer Trip Day 11 - Bryce Canyon

After spending a day and a half driving from West Yellowstone, MT through Salt Lake City, UT to Bryce Canyon National Park, we were ready to get out and stretch our legs and walk around.  Additionally, we had been in winter-like weather since Day 2, so, everyone was ready for some warmer temps.  For those that have never been to Bryce Canyon, it is unlike any other place on earth.  While there are many places that have sandstone and arches, none (or very few) have the number of strange formations known as hoodoos (see picture below).

The Hoodoos seen along the Queen's Garden Trail

We arrived at Bryce Canyon campground around 1pm and quickly set up camp.  I had not reserved a campsite because I was under the impression, based on the NPS website, that they didn't reserve tent sites, only RV sites.  Apparently, there are different rules for the two campgrounds.  Something like they take tent reservations in the South Campground, but not RV and vice versa in the North Campground.  We were fortunate and grabbed one of the last campsites in the North Campground.  It turned out to be one of the better sites in the park, I think.  FYI, be prepared to get dusty camping in Bryce.

After a quick camp setup, we headed out on the trail.  The plan was to do a short day hike down to the floor of the canyon and back up.

The descent to the Canyon floor.

For a quick view of Bryce and all it's beauty, this was a great hike.  From our campsite in the North Campground, we followed the Rim trail to the Navajo Loop trail.  Here we descended close to 500 vertical feet to the Canyon floor using a long series of switchbacks.  

On the Canyon floor, we joined the Queen's Garden trail.  You hike along the Canyon floor for about a mile, then you start heading back up 500 vertical feet to Sunrise Point.  Along the way, we saw things that reminded us of an old Bugs Bunny / Road Runner cartoon.

Where's Bugs Bunny and the Road Runner

In all, it was a short hike, around 3 miles.  We were back at camp by 4pm or so and ready to make dinner.  Tonight's dinner... foil dinners.  Mmmmmm.

Bryce Canyon National Park is fairly small and could probably be seen in a couple of days.  Our plan was to get up the next morning, though and head to the Escalante / Grand Staircase National Monument.

Family Summer Trip Day 9 - Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

It was a pretty hefty drive from West Yellowstone to the Canyon Area.  It was cold and rainy and it seemed like a good day to be lazy, but it was also our last full day in Yellowstone.  We were going to drive the next day to Salt Lake City, UT.  So, we packed everyone up and set out.  We stopped off near Yellowstone Lake and Grant Village.  A lot of the areas near there were closed off due to the Elk Calving season.  We headed up to the Canyon Area.  By the time we got there, it was lunch time, so we grabbed a quick lunch and then headed down to the Lower Falls and Lookout Point.  This is another special place in Yellowstone and the pictures can never do it justice.  The falls are gigantic, 300+ feet high and about 70 feet wide.  There's a path that will take you down to the edge of the falls, but we didn't make it down there.  We stayed along the edge of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

Everyone was a bit cold and tired, so we headed back to the cabin after this.

But first, one last stop to play in the snow...

Family Summer Trip Day 8 - Old Faithful Geyser Area

On Day 8, we headed to the Geyser Basin in Yellowstone to see Old Faithful and other hydrothermal activity offered in the park.  The day started off with a bang when we came upon a traffic jam near the Old Faithful entrance.  We pulled over to see what everyone was gawking at and spotted the large Grizzly about 100 yards from the road.  This would be the first of two bears we would see today.  The other bear ran right through the Old Faithful boardwalk area.  In both cases, the bears seemed extremely scared of all the people around.

Walking around the Old Faithful area is an awe inspiring sight.  There are so many different types of hydrothermal items such as geysers, hot springs and fumaroles.  There's the distinct smell of sulfur in the air as well.  If you go and you take kids, make sure they stay on the boardwalk.  Getting off the path is illegal and deadly.  It was amazing though to see the animals such as the buffalo and grizzly just walking around, seemingly unfazed that they could fall through the crusty earth at any time and be boiled alive.

We spent probably 2 hours just walking around the Old Faithful area waiting for the timed eruption.  While not the most reliable eruption, they pretty much have it down to a 15 minute window when it will erupt again.  So, we found our viewing spot, sat down and waited.  Sure enough within 5 minutes of their guesstimated time, Old Faithful started to bubble, gurgle and spew.  If you've never seen it, it's well worth it. This was high on Linda's to-see list and it was a great show.

After that, we headed over to one of the many restaurants around the Old Faithful Lodge and grabbed some lunch.  Shortly after lunch, we headed over to the Black Sand Basin area and then hike back over to the North end of the Old Faithful area and then over to Biscuit Basin.  It's an easy hike, but there's usually not a whole lot of people out there, which is nice.  About half a mile in, we ran into a small herd of buffalo hanging out by one of the hot springs.  We snapped a quick family pic and moved on by them.

At the far North End of the Old Faithful area, most people turn around, but you can take a small trail North towards Biscuit Basin.  We did so, despite the signs of "high bear activity".

It wasn't until we got to the Biscuit Basin that we found this sign.  Which prompted a visit by the Park Ranger, asking us if we had just come through there and if we had seen any bears. 

The boys got a good picture with them and the Park Ranger.

I walked about 1.5 miles back to the Black Sand Basin area and got the truck and came back to pick everyone up.  It was a fun filled day.  On the way home, I stopped off to try my hand at fly fishing, but had no luck.  The water was gushing with snow melt.

Family Summer Trip Day 7 - Tetons Taggart Lake Trail

Today was a much clearer day.  The sky was still cloudy, but the clouds were turning into the higher, white, puffy clouds and there was much hope that we would finally get to see the Grand Teton.  We had to check out of the Lodge today so we got a little bit of a late start, but we were on no timetable as we weren't supposed to be in West Yellowstone, MT until around 5:30, so we had plenty of time.  The plan for today was to hike up to Taggart Lake for lunch, then hike back and then drive up to Yellowstone.

We arrived at the Taggart Lake Trailhead and make the 4 mile loop to Taggart Lake.  There was a lot of people across from the parking lot looking at something below the road near the river.  We went over to see what it was and saw that there was a moose and her calf in the brush.  Moose are one of my favorite animals to see and watch, but definitely from a distance.

After the moose disappeared into the wilderness, we got packed up and headed up the trail.  This is a fairly easy trail, with only a moderate elevation gain of 300 or 400 vertical feet in 2 miles to Taggart Lake.  There's an option when there's not a lot of snow to go up to Bradley Lake which I believe adds a degree of difficulty and some more distance, however, we were told not to try it due to snow and ice.  

We still had some other difficulties to deal with.  There's one section through some new growth pine trees where the snow had melted and the trail was covered in about 6 inches of water.  The new growth was extremely dense making it near impossible to weave through.  So, we ended up sort of sidestepping and using the trees bordering the trail to allow us to swing out over the trail, but keep our feet on the high side as demonstrated by my agile daughter below.

Emerging from this stretch, we came upon a clearing with some small patches of rocks.  We found a black marmot, something I've never seen before.  He appeared to show no fear of us and wanted to show off his nice, shiny black coat.

Shortly after this, we found ourselves at Taggart Lake.  This was my first time here and it actually felt a bit like being in the backcountry.  We were directly below the Grand Teton and it was extremely quiet.  We only saw a couple of other groups on our hike.  .

We found a nice set of flat rocks and set our lunch out.  You can see the Grand Teton between my son and my wife.  What a spectacular view for a lunch.

After lunch, I set up the tripod in a tree and snapped a good picture of the family.  Unfortunately, the Grand got hidden by the tree.  I only wish I'd brought the fly rod.

The rest of the trail was fairly uneventful and not much to see.  There is a nice meadow and you get some good views of the city from above, but overall, I thought the North side of the loop was much nicer.  We did however see some sort of snake along the trail.  I wasn't aware there were snakes in the Tetons.  I'm sure it was a garter snake or something like that.

We were hoping to see some bears, but were not fortunate enough to see any.  But, there's always Yellowstone, which is next up on the trip.

Driving out of the Tetons, I took one last snapshot of probably my favorite mountain range.  They are truly special.

Yellowstone National Park is just a short 30-45 minute drive up the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Parkway.  There were huge snow banks from the snow plow on the side of the road the entire way.  When we got inside the park, Lewis Lake was frozen over.

Lewis Lake Frozen Over

We drove through the park from the South entrance to the West entrance to West Yellowstone to check into the house we rented for the next three nights.

The house we rented was called the Bear Tracks Inn.  Like I mentioned earlier, I found this on Vacation Rentals by Owner, which is a great site for finding houses pretty much anywhere in the world. The rate for the house was very reasonable and it was very clean.  It was a 3 bedroom house (perfect for the family of 6) and had a big kitchen which was great for making breakfast and dinner saving us a few dollars.  Dining in West Yellowstone is not cheap and the food is not that good.

The property managers run the Golden West Motel in West Yellowstone.  They are extremely nice folks and if you ever need a place to stay, check out their motel.  The owner of the home lives across the street and works in town at the local hardware store.  She came over and greeted us and told us how to get in touch with her if we needed.

The house is conveniently located in West Yellowstone and is less than 5 minutes to the West entrance of the park.  The one downside to the house was that it was located on one of the busiest streets in West Yellowstone, but I think I have more traffic sometimes on my street at home so it wasn't bad and it was very quiet at night.  It's within walking distance of a grocery store and several restaurants, but I didn't find any restaurant in town that I'd recommend.

We got settled in and made our plans for tomorrow, head to Old Faithful and the Geyser Basin.

Family Summer Trip Day 5 and 6 -Teton Village and Jenny Lake

After a long day of driving from Estes Park, we arrived late in the evening to the Signal Mountain Lodge in Moran, WY near Jackson, in the heart of the Grand Teton National Park.  We checked into our cabin and made some dinner.  The weather in the Tetons was cold and drizzly and the outlook was pretty much the same for the next few days.

Our plan was to stay two nights in the Signal Mountain Lodge and then camp two nights between the Tetons and Yellowstone in Lizard Creek Campground.  However, upon checking into the Lodge, we were told that the Lizard Creek Campground was closed for another week due to heavy snow pack.  This set off a big scramble to find a place to stay, near Yellowstone, over a weekend, in Summer, that would sleep 6 semi-comfortable and not cost a fortune.  That's a tall order my friends.  While doing laundry at the Lodge, I scoured the internet for deals on hotels, motels, and cabins.  I wasn't having much luck and the wi-fi at the Lodge was a bit sketchy.

Finally, around 2:30 am I found a place on Vacation Rentals by Owner (VRBO).  I'll tell you more about the place we found when we get to around Day 8 or so.

The next morning we awoke to what looked like a nice day, giving us hope for some clearer weather.  By the time we were all dressed and ready to go, the skies had darkened and the drizzle came back.  But we set out anyway, carrying all of our cold weather gear and rain parkas.  We were heading over to the Teton Village to ride the Tram to the top of Rendezvous Mountain.  We were told there was about 20 foot snow drifts on top and knowing we would climb to almost 11,000 feet, the temps would be be in the 30's and the winds would probably be gusting.

We arrived at the Teton Village and as hoped, the weather was improving.  It was still cloudy, but very little if any rain.  We bought our tickets for the Tram and hopped aboard. If you're ever up here, always check around at your hotel or in the newspaper for coupons for the Tram.  We got $3 off each person from the Lodge, but later found $4 off in the local paper.

With the greater than normal snowfall this year, apparently, tourism was taking a hit.  There was too much snow to hike on and not enough to ski on.  We were the only ones on the Tram headed up, so we got our own personal tour guide.

When we arrived at the top, it was a winter wonderland.  The kids had a blast climbing on the snow drifts and playing in the snow.  My oldest son even built a small snow cave as seen in the picture below.  My daughter decided to roll all the way down the hill and found out just how cold the snow actually is.  We also made some snow angels.  Us Texans don't get to see snow like this very often.

At the top of Rendezvous Mountain, there's a small cabin called Corbet's Cabin.  It's a great place to go in and warm up with some hot chocolate or coffee (plus some liquor if you'd like).  They also serve home made waffles.  These are served fold-over sandwich style with your choice of toppings including strawberry jam, maple and brown sugar butter, or Nutella (a chocolate/hazelnut flavored spread with a peanut buttery texture).  We got some with jam and the butter.  They were quite tasty.  My personal favorite was the jam, but my wife preferred the maple and brown sugar butter.  Both were really good.

We hung out on top for about 2 hours or so, then caught the tram back down and then headed over to the Jenny Lake area.

Our original plans were to take the boat across Jenny Lake and then walk up to Inspiration Point and Hidden Falls, but due to the heavy snows, they were not allowing the boat to drop off on the other side of the lake.  So, we set out on a short little hike around the East side of Jenny Lake.  We were just going to hike a few miles and then turn around and going back to the Jenny Lake Visitors Center.  The entire hike around Jenny Lake is around 7.7 miles and is fairly level.  

We hiked in about 1.5 miles admiring the views of Jenny Lake and the base of the Tetons the whole way.  The tops were still covered by the clouds.  I was pointing out to the family where Cascade Canyon and Paintbrush Canyon were and I was trying to describe the wildflowers you would normally see, but they were completely covered in snow.  Below is a panoramic view of the Tetons across Jenny Lake.

We saw a lot of signs of wildlife along the trail including tons of elk tracks, an eagle's nest and even a bear print where he had been digging.  After about 45 minutes, we turned around and headed back to the Visitors Center.  We made a quick stop over at String Lake.  There is a special place in my heart for this area and I look forward to coming back... many times and sharing it with my family.

String Lake is where I began my backpacking trip in 2008 and I was getting that itch again.  I plan to someday soon take my wife and kids into the backcountry in the Tetons.  I feel the Tetons are all about the backcountry.  The frontcountry here is beautiful, but it pales in comparison to the backcountry.  It's a lot of work to get into the Tetons backcountry, but the payoffs are huge.