Vertical Aesthetics: Backpacking Indian Peaks

This last weekend I had the pleasure of backpacking in the Indian Peaks with my friend Austin. We headed out from Boulder on Friday afternoon to hit the trail. We were planning on hiking the Devil's Thumb Loop. The loop starts from the Hessie Trail head and climbs past the Devil's Thumb to gain the Continental Divide. The loop continues South along the Divide and then drops down to King Lake where it descends the King Lake Valley, back to the Hessie Trail head.

We stopped in the Nederland Ace Hardware to pick up our backpacking permit. The clerk selling us our permit, proceeded to give us a lecture about how we clearly were in over our heads and should be careful out there, especially with all the snow. This is an occurrence that happens all the time: I constantly get lectured on my inadequacies as a mountaineer by people who don't even know me or my experience level. Maybe I look more clueless than I am, but I generally find my judgement to be better than most people who feel it necessary to "spray" about ability and safety.

We hit the trail light and fast at about 4:30pm and we covered the 7 miles up to Devil's Thumb Lake in roughly 3 hours, including a "shiny time" stop at Jasper Lake. Our campsite was very scenic with the Devil's Thumb pinnacle towering over the lake. We ate dinner and I slept like a rock that night.

Then next morning we awoke to a crisp mountain frost, and enjoyed a leisurely morning with coffee and a good breakfast. It was great to sit around and enjoy the beautiful mountain morning. After breaking camp we set out to gain the Continental Divide, the steepest part of our journey. The steep section was short but sweet and it seemed we were on the Divide in no time, looking down at Winter Park on one side and the Great Plains on the other. The High Lonesome Trail which runs along the Continental Divide provides easy access to Skyscraper Peak. So, we stashed our packs and scrambled to the summit. I was shocked to find a summit log on the top what seemed to be a seldom climbed peak. According to the log, we were the first to summit since the Fall.

After picking up our packs, we headed down passed Bob Lake to Betty Lake where we made camp by noon. Big, white, puffy clouds were building already, so we were thankful to have our camp made in case of an afternoon thunderstorm. The sky threatened storms for the early afternoon, but we braved the weather and went on an afternoon hike over to King Lake. Upon our return the skies cleared. To enjoy the remaining afternoon we waded out to a large boulder in Betty Lake. We drank bourbon and talked about life in the afternoon sun. It was great. After watching the sunset with some pine needle tea, it was bedtime.

The morning hike out was beautiful and it went by quickly. We only stopped once for more "shiny time" at a great waterfall.

Thanks, Austin, for a great trip.