Subject: TR: Comanche Peak, Northern RMNP, CO Date: Mon, 06 Jul 1998 19:36:36 -0600 From: Tom Greeene Organization: HP Newsgroups: rec.backcountry
TRIP REPORT: Comanche Peak Wilderness, Northern RMNP, CO 7/3-7/4/98
Last week, I realized that it had been over a year since I had done any backpacking in Colorado. The Colorado backcountry is "home" for me, and I was determined to cure a bad case of "homesickness" this weekend despite limited time. After poring over maps for a few hours, I selected a decent size loop through Comanche Peak Wilderness and returning across the far northern part of RMNP. The hope was for great scenery and avoiding the holiday crowds (and this route delivered on both accounts).
7/3
I managed to get the wife and all the equipment in the car early and we were on the road leaving Ft. Collins around 7:00 AM. The weather was clear, blue skies and the drive was generally pleasant though it took a little longer than expected. The road conditions on 44H are generally excellent though there are a few rough spots after turning off 44H at the Tom Bennett Campground. We reached the Beaver Creek Trailhead around 8:30 AM and decided this would be a good place to park as the return part of the loop finished nearby. There is a considerably rougher road past Sky Ranch that would probably take you all the way to Comanche Reservoir if you so desired.
We gathered up our gear and started up the Beaver Creek Trail around 9:00 AM. The trail starts by looping around Sky Ranch, then joining the road for a short time, and then making a fairly straight shot to the dam at Comanche Reservoir. It's about 4 miles from the trailhead to the dam over mostly flat terrain. At the dam, we met a few day hikers with their fishing poles and a group of backpackers whom had spent the night close to the reservoir.
We crossed the dam and found the beginning of the Hour Glass Trail (and the Wilderness boundary). The Hour Glass Trail climbs steadily for the next three miles starting at around 9400 feet and finishing around 12000 feet, well above the treeline. We crossed a few large snow fields around the treeline, but the trail was mostly snow free. A lot of mud and water in some places, but generally the trail conditions were good up to this point. Crossing the last snow field, we met a couple of guys with a llama. Turns out, they were geologists and they frequently backpack into different areas to do research. Where do I apply? :-)
Once above the treeline, things started to change. The map said the trail was undefined and it was. We were basically walking across a big, muddy alpine meadow. The weather also made a turn for the worse with rain and some distant lightning over the Mummy Range. I could see some blue sky to the west, so we decided to push on after putting on our rain gear. We found an old sign that indicated the intersection of the Mirror Lake Trail and turned in the general direction indicated by the sign (and the map) heading towards Mirror Lake.
Just as quickly as the weather had turned bad, it turned nice again. Standing at the northern border of RMNP, great views of the Rawah's, Never Summer Mountains, and Long Draw Reservoir opened up to the west. We also had a great view of Mirror Lake to the south as we stood on high cliffs at the end of the valley containing Mirror Lake.
At this point, we were only about a mile from Mirror Lake, but the valley is surrounded by cliffs on three sides, so we had to traverse all the way around and enter from the south. This required hiking over a 12,500 foot high ridge and then three more miles across alpine tundra. The trail varies from well cairned to non-existent, but it's not hard to follow the general direction. We met up with a brother/sister hiking pair from Iowa. They were a bit confused about where they were, but after a little discussion, we learned they were heading to the same place we were. So, we joined up and hiked together. It turns out, the sister drives 13 hours from Iowa every July 4th holiday and hikes for a few days in Colorado and then drives 13 hours back. Talk about dedication! We continued to descend down towards Mirror Lake and the valley on the west side of Mummy Pass. A large herd of Elk were below us in the valley and we could hear them rutting. At one point, we had to retrace our steps back up because we dropped down to early and ran into some cliffs we could not get passed. Eventually, we found the real trail and made it down to the Koenig campsite below Mirror Lake around 7:00 PM. After dinner and camp chores, I quickly fell into a much needed sleep.
7/4
We got up around 7:00 AM and ate a nice breakfast with eggs and toasted English muffins (Yummy!). We hurried up the 3/4-mile to Mirror Lake from the campsite to try to catch the smooth, morning reflections. Mirror Lake is stunningly beautiful, surrounded by high cliffs that are reflected on the surface of the lake. The wind picked up a little before we reached the lake, so the reflection wasn't as nice as it could have been, but still well worth the trip. We then hurried back and broke camp hitting the trail toward Mummy Pass around 9:00 AM.
The Mummy Pass Trail climbs about 800 feet from the junction with the Mirror Lake Trail to the top of Mummy Pass. The scenery is stunning, but the trail conditions were muddy to say the least (We were about to rename it Muddy Pass). We reached the top of Mummy Pass around 11:00 AM and enjoyed a quick lunch. I thought we were done gaining altitude since we were at the top of the pass. Unfortunately, the trail continues to climb through a small area on the ridge northeast of the pass. This actually turned out good as the wild flowers were kicking into high gear in this area. A beautiful display of color!
We finally reached the top and exited RMNP shortly after that. The trail then began to descend on long switchbacks over some large snow fields that had become rather soft in the noonday heat. Dropping below the treeline, the trail continued through a spruce forest for a couple of miles. At one point, we ran into a swarm of moths. There were so many it looked like snow was falling. The mosquitoes were also quite plentiful in this section, so we kept up a brisk pace. The Mummy Pass Trail eventually exits the Comanche Peak Wilderness and joins with the Emmaline Lake Trail. This trail is just an old 4x4 road at this point. We debated about hiking up to Emmaline Lake and spending the night there, but my wife had some things she needed to get done in town and the weather was looking pretty bad. So, we decided to bag it and head back to the car. The last few miles went quick as the trail was flat and we even found a short cut back to Sky Ranch that is not on the map. We reached the car around 3:00 PM and drove back to Ft. Collins through Poudre Canyon (and my what crowds in Poudre Canyon!).
Summary & Opinions:
This hike is definitely worth doing, but certainly doesn't make my all-time greatest hike list. The scenery around Mirror Lake is great, and this area seems to get little visitation even on holiday weekends (We saw about 10 people after entering the Wilderness area). All in all, a nice, little overnighter (though it could likely be extended) to get away from the crowds.
RTD: ~23 miles Elevation Gain: 4500 feet