June 24, 26, 2006, Friday evening - Sunday Bear Lakes 10343’, north 40° 46’ 35”, west 106° 38’ 00” 5.6 Miles, 1407’ Wilderness Routt National Forest, Jackson County,

Friday, 5 p.m. sharp. Phil and I put Titan in the backseat of the truck and hit the road. I-25 to CO- 14 at Fort Collins, through Fort Collins, and over Cameron Pass. As we continued down the west side of the pass we saw a couple of moose. We passed through Gould and Walden (the Moose Viewing Capital of Colorado) and came to Jackson County Road 12 West (CR-12W). We turned west on CR-12 and drove to Forest Service Road 640, and then to the trailhead for the Grizzly Helena Trail (Trail 1126) at Lone Pine Creek, at 8952’. Three hours after we left home we took the packs out of the truck and prepared them for the hike to Bear Lakes. We had to apply the bug juice as soon as we got out of truck. It was dusk and getting dark so we immediately started to hike northeast on the Grizzly Helena. We flanked up the steep south side of a ridge that rises to the west and separates Bighorn Lake and Lake Katherine, to the south, from Bear Lakes, to the north. In about 20 or 30 minutes we topped the ridge at 9177’ and began to turn back to the northwest and down the other side. It was pretty dark and according to the topo map this was the only flat part of the mountain near the trail for another half-mile. So we agreed to camp here for the night. We walked off the trail a couple hundred feet to a nice flat. We decided to sleep under the stars since there had not been a cloud in sight all day. It was a good choice. We broke out some homemade cookies and commenced to put our sleeping bags on a tarp on the ground. The moonless sky was full of stars, no wind and warm. It had seemed to be a good choice. The mosquitoes thought it was pretty ideal too and joined us - in swarms. The bug juice kept them off of us, but their constant buzzing had us setting up the tent within a half an hour. At 10 p.m. we zipped close the flap and escaped. Titan and I went to sleep and Phil read a book he had bought the day before. We got up about 7:30 in the morning, packed up and were walking down the north side of ridge by eight. The trail was open to motor cycles and the wet parts of the trail showed signs of their knobbies. Within 10 or 20 minutes we came to Bear Creek. Bear Creek had a substantial spring runoff rushing down stream and we could find no way to cross it on a log or across rocks. After a few minutes of searching up and down stream, we took off our boots and with bare feet we slowly picked our way across the creek. By the time we got to the other side our feet were sore from the cold water. After we got our feet back into warm socks and boots we continued the hiking, nearly due north. A hundred yards past Bear Creek, Ute Pass trail intersects the Grizzly Helena trail perpendicularly from the west. The forest along the trail there was a mix of aspen, fir and pine. The floor is quite rocky with very little under growth. A few hundred yards up the Ute Pass trail we hiked past an old mining claim. Two old log cabins still existed, neither with a roof, and one without a single complete wall. The actual mine was 100’ up the south side of Bear Mountain, above a boulder field. The trail follows the creek and after the mine it nearly became part of the swollen creek. A nice field of Colorado Columbines made a hundred yards of the trail quite picturesque. So far the hike was pretty easy, some up and some down, but steadily ascending. In the two miles from the trailhead we had gained only about 300’. However, at about the two- mile mark the trial starts to get steeper, much steeper than I had anticipated. The steeper trail continues up along Bear Creek to Ute Pass. Most of the trail above the mine is shaded by sub-alpine fir forest. The weather in the Denver area had been in the 90s for weeks, but the temperature on the trail here on the , even in the non-shaded areas, was comfortably cool. But the topography had me sweating and breathing hard in the many steep ascents. Soon we were walking over snowfields that covered the trail in places. We came upon a guy with his two huskies coming down the trail. Titan was, as always, totally excited. But the guy requested we keep him at bay because one of his dogs was “rather pissed off”. He had tangled with a porcupine while they were walking through a rock field on the way to Mt. Zirkel. The porcupine won and they had to cut their

1 wilderness stay short. His poor dog had a face full of quills sticking out like some weird cartoon whiskers. We talked for a few minutes, and found out the trail would get even more difficult to follow closer to Bear Lakes. We bade farewell and good luck to him and his dogs and continued up the hill. He hiked down. We were close to timberline and the fir trees, which had been hit hard by beetle kill throughout the area, grew in groups among the green grassy slopes. Yellow avalanche lilies grew nearly everywhere. Water was everywhere. About 10 am and at about 10300’ we entered another big stand of sub-alpine fir and more snowfields obscured the path. We lost the path, bushwhacked our way to about 10400’, and found a place to camp, just below Ute Pass and, as it turned out, less than a hundred yards from the trail. Phil picked out some dry ground between snowfields, and close to one of the many springtime streams that made up the headwater of Bear Creek. By the time we had our packs off and had began to unpack the tent, Titan had a stick in his mouth for one of us to throw. He had to wait. We set up camp quickly and had a quick bite to eat. After snacks and a dozen throws and retrieves of Titan’s stick we all zonked out for an hour. The mosquitoes were thick here too so the tent was closed for the hour. The nap was refreshing.

Although we knew about where they were, we could not see Bear Lakes from camp. After my power nap I walked up toward the ridge over which Ute Pass Trail crests. From a higher vantage point I thought I could get a glimpse of Bear Lakes, but no luck. The lakes lie in a hole on the other side of a rise between camp and the lakes. The tall fir trees on the rise block any chance to see the lakes. So Titan and I walked south, back down the slope and around the wetlands below camp. With the snow melt that was occurring the

2 wetlands were definitely wet. No trees grow in the wet area, but on the rises around the wetlands sub-alpine fir grows fairly dense. The twelve thousand foot peaks to the southwest, with their rugged gray rocks, green evergreens and white snowfields make a spectacular view. We climbed a snowfield at the south end of the wetlands and walked over many more snowfields on the forested rise, and finally dropped down to the lakes through snow free boulder fields. The walk was about a half a mile. Along the way we found the trail more than a few times, only to have it disappear again and again under deep snowfields. Bear Lakes are separated by only 50’ of stream. And though water was flowing through at a good springtime rate, the many rocks and boulders made it easy to cross the stream. Of course Titan found a way to get in the water more than once. Nearly completely surrounding the lakes, trees and shrubs grow down steep banks right to the water. The lower lake is very shallow and while relaxing on a big boulder on its south bank I saw a ripple from a rising fish. This smaller lake was pretty calm. At less than a few acres it is much smaller than the 10-acre lake feeding it. We walked around the north side of the bigger lake, through trees, shrubs and rocks to explore a bay that we couldn’t see from the stream that flows between the lakes. The underbrush was thick and green. The melting snow kept nearly all of the ground moist. A slight breeze kept the lake constantly churning with small waves. After awhile we walked back to camp using a slightly different route. When we arrived Phil was in the tent reading his book. Titan immediately went to greet him. We then collected some wood for a fire. There was quite a bit of downed wood, but we needed only enough for the evening. The campfire site we picked would make it easy to re- naturalize the area when we left. Titan and I walked back toward the trail to see if I could locate a bird with a particularly loud, repetitive and complicated song. I had heard the same song at Rainbow Lakes, to the south, a couple of weeks earlier: weeeeee, weeeeee ..eeetweedle deedle deedle, tweet tweet tweet, tweet tweet chirp! tweet tweet tweet, tweet Front door of the hotel tweet chirp! But we couldn’t spot it. We walked further to the north following the trail and met up with a guy named Dan. Dan and his wife and two sons were hiking to Bear Lakes, but, like Phil and I, got stalled loosing the path beneath the snowfields. We found an appropriate clearing in the trees and I pointed out where the lakes would be. We talked for awhile and then Titan and I returned to camp. Dan, his wife and younger son had driven in from Tennessee for the hike and to visit with his older son, who was going to school in Colorado. They had to decide whether to try to hike the rest of the way to Bear Lakes or make camp. Soon Phil and I were eating a dinner of 3 Beans Chili and Jerky. The 3 Bean Chili 1 was good, but would have been better had our communication been up to par. Phil asked if he should pour in all the boiling water in the pot, I thought he asked if he should use boiling water in the pot and said “yes”. We had 3 Bean Chili soup , with 7 cups of water instead of the 2 cups called for on the package. It was good anyway. Titan ate his dog food, as he always does. After dinner and clean up we hung around shooting the BB gun at a paper target, stickin’ for Titan, and generally doing nothing. As the sun sank lower behind the Continental Divide we started the fire. We sat around theorizing how to best burn the logs we had collected. The wood we had gathered easily lasted the evening, and we had more left over than we burned. Once again, stars filled the clear, moonless sky and the temperature was warm. But we retired inside the tent, again, because the mosquitoes were lovin’ it too. As Phil read and Titan and I went to sleep, the only sounds were those made by the many streams flowing from the snowmelt.

1 Natural High, Van Nuys, California 800-423-3170

3 In the morning we cooked up some blueberry pancakes. They were pretty good. Earlier in the month I had tried pancakes at Rainbow Lakes in a cheap aluminum non-stick pan. The results were much better in the Teflon pan from the cook kit I had received a few years earlier as a gift. The sky was clear with no wind and the temperatures were warm. The songs of birds rivaled the sounds of the streams. I suggested that we walk up to Ute Pass and check out the scenery. But Phil suggested a trip to Bear Lakes. I agreed; we packed some goodies and took off. It took us about a half an hour to get there. We hung around, ate some of the goodies, and let Titan do some stickin’ in the clear waters of the bigger lake. There appeared to be very few flat, clear places to camp around either lake. We theorized, though, that there might be some spots where the path comes in to the lower lake. We decided to Lower lake, above Middle lake, below walk there, find the path and check it out. Sure enough, there were some flat clear areas, but not many. And we could not find even a single old campsite. We followed the trail back toward camp, locating it every time after losing it under big snowfields. Most peculiar. As we were taking a break just off the trail by a springtime stream and eating some cheese and summer sausage, Dan and his wife walked down on the trail. They were on their way to Bear Lakes for some fishing. They had left their sons to sleep in late (it was already close to noon … Phil was envious). After the break we walked back to camp, using the trail nearly the whole way, but losing it again in the wetlands. After checking the map I noticed that there are three lakes in Bear Lakes. We had seen only the lower two! The third lake, a few hundred yards up a sixty foot hill to the south of the others, is bigger than both of the lower lakes. I guess we had an excuse to re-visit the area sometime in the future. As it were, we decided to pack up and hike back to the truck. We were packed and hiking within the hour. Phil saw Dan’s two boys on the way down. I missed them. Once again, we had to bare our feet and carry our boots across Bear Creek. The water was no less cold. It felt good on my hot feet, but Phil said it was still foot numbing cold. We put our boots back on and hiked up and over the ridge on which we had slept two nights previous. The forest floor under the thick aspens on the south side of the ridge, where we had walked in the dark, was insane with dense undergrowth of ferns, flowers and grass. This last part of the trail was a nicely refreshing end to the hike back to the truck. As we were drinking the traditional celebratory ice cold Budweiser and putting stuff in the truck a group of about six dirt bikes pulled up to the trailhead, surveyed the forest

4 service signage, and took off up the Grizzly Helena Trail. We could hear the bikes until we were in the truck and gone.

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