September 13-15, 2008, Saturday-Monday Parika Lake 11400, 13T 420400mE, 4470500mN 15.6 Miles, 3168’ Never Summer Wilderness Arapaho National Forest, Grand County, Colorado I almost decided to work instead of going on this hike. Work had been really busy and there seemed to be no hope of catching up without some weekend work. But, fortunately, Bob talked me into the hike with some of the same logic I had used on co-workers over the years. What was I thinking anyway! We had planned to drive over Trail Ridge Road from Niwot. But two days of steady rain in the plains apparently dumped enough snow in the higher elevations that the Department of Transportation had closed the scenic alpine road over the Continental Divide. Trail Ridge Road ascends to about 12300’ on its winding route through Rocky Mountain National Park. Due to the closure we arrived at our destination by taking I-70 to US-40 to US-34. Bob met me at my house and we hit the road about eight am. We arrived at the trailhead at about 10 am. We initially parked in a paved lot just off of US-34 but noted a gravel road continued across the Colorado River to the forest about a half a mile to the west. Bob asked the driver of a van coming out if there was another parking lot at the end of the road. The affirmative answer had us back in the car. The gravel lot at the trailhead was just about full of vehicles. Hunting season was upon us and we surmised that a number of those vehicles must belong to hunters. We readied our gear and were on the trail at about 10:20. We hiked south about ten minutes to the first real sign and found that we were heading toward Bowen Gulch. We had planned to hike up Baker Gulch. The sign verified what we had suspected, the Baker Gulch trail was the other direction. We were back at the car and on the right track at 10:40. We noticed a trail taking off to the west of the road but decided to stay on the road. The road teed and went west and we soon passed the other end of the trail we had noted. If we were to take this hike again we would take that trail and probably shave a hundred yards off the hike. So far the trail was flat, probably varying less than 20 feet in elevation. The hike was on now and we soon passed the Arapaho National Forest boundary sign. The sign included the normal USFS information plus some information about the area restrictions. From the sun faded map we deduced, after much discussion, that camping was prohibited in the four sections along the east edge of the forest, which borders Rocky Mountain National Park. It was hard to deduce though from the faded map. We continued on after a brief scare that we would not be able to camp in Baker Gulch. Baker Trail generally follows Baker Creek on a steady ascent. At about 9300’ we walked in the first snow on the trail. At the trail head we had taken in some beautiful views of the snow covered Baker Mountain. The trail was dry and easy walking so far. In the shade of the trees the trail was covered in snow, but only inches deep. We followed the boot prints of at least a few hikers who had hiked up the same morning. Even though we walked in the snow the hike was relatively easy. But the snow was covering more and more of the trail as we gained elevation. By the time we were at 10000 feet snow covered more of the trail than not. At the Baker Pass / Parika Lake fork we went left and the other boots went right, toward Baker Pass. We found a dry area in the sun and took a snack break at 10200’, 2.8 miles into the hike, and thirteen hundred feet higher than the trailhead. As we ate some jerky, cheese, sausage and crackers we heard a machine. At first it was merely noise, but before long it was evident it was a tractor of some sort. We had entered the Never Summer Wilderness and Arapaho National Forest when we left Rocky Mountain National Park. So we knew that no machines were allowed in the area. Yet, we heard one. It sounded like it was grading a road. We guessed that it was working on the road along what at one time was called the Grand River Ditch. This irrigation ditch was dug mostly by hand in the 1930s and diverts water from Baker 1 Creek, at 10300’, over La Poudre Pass at 10179’ and into Long Draw Reservoir. The reservoir feeds the Cache la Poudre River and faucets in Fort Collins and farms east of Fort Collins. The ditch is still used every summer. The ditch may have a limited lifetime, however, because the National Park Service has been spending some of its time arguing in court that the water taken from Baker Creek is also needed for wildlife habitat in the high Colorado River valley. We bummed about the noise from the tractor while we munched our snacks. After twenty minutes we donned our packs and hiked on. The tractor had moved far enough that we could barely hear it. In a few minutes we hiked onto the Grand Ditch maintenance road. A machine had indeed been working along the ditch. There were fresh signs of dirt and rocks being removed from the ditch, and track marks along the gravel road. The machine was nowhere in sight and could no longer be heard. Baker Trail quickly exits the road and continues the climb toward Baker Pass and Parika Lake. The ditch traverses the mountain to Baker Creek. In maybe another quarter mile we came upon the fork in the trail: to the north the trail to Baker Pass (11253’); to the west, the trail to Parika Lake, about a mile and a half further and a thousand feet up. The snow was a half a foot deep when we started up the Parika Lake Trail. We encountered some switchback hiking and deeper snow as we got higher. By the time we were at the lake the snow was over a foot deep. Not a footprint was to be found until we marred the smooth white surface. We arrived on a hill on the east shore of the lake at about 1:40 PM. It was cold and breezy at the lake. As soon as I offloaded my pack I changed from my moist cotton shirt to a dry polyester sweater, gloves and a coat. The less than fair weather and the rigorous hike up discourages a lot of people from going up to a place like Parika, which makes it all the more appealing. We recalled the guy driving the van at the trailhead parking lot who had asked why we would want to go up here. We spent a lot of time taking in the visual treat. The big round bowl surrounding the lake to the west was pure white, broken only by the rugged rocks and patches of scrubby spruce, and framed by the crisp clear blue sky. To the east was a view too perfect to adequately describe. Longs Peak, some 20 miles to the southeast, rose above the snow-covered peaks and tundra in Rocky Mountain National Park. Dark green spruce forests filled the higher mountains below the snow line. And below the spruce, all the way down to the Colorado River valley were mountains of beetle killed pine, reflecting orange in the sunlight. On our side of the valley was the spruce covered Baker Gulch. Parika Lake is a couple of hundred feet above tree line. But there were some patches of scrubby spruce growing near the lake. I walked around the west end of the lake looking for a good place to pitch the tent. Where I had dropped my pack was about the best site, but I walked across the creek to some other areas searching for something better. I was looking for a place that might be out of the wind and sheltered as much as possible. I settled on the first place I had considered: where I had dropped my pack. A small hill with a patch of the scrubby spruce gave some protection against wind from the pass and peaks to the east. Bob lightly stamped out a flat square in the fresh snow for the tent and I set it up. By the time that was done I had become cold again so I put long pants over my shorts. Before we set up the tent Bob had walked up to a 2 crest east of the lake that overlooked Baker Gulch. The wind had blown the hill clear of snow and he laid down to take in the view. Before long he was also cold and coming off the hill. By then I had added some clothing and was headed up to the same crest with the camera. The snow was deep enough to make walking around more of a chore than it had to be. The 11400’ elevation did not help matters either. But Bob and I decided to walked around the lake, beginning on the north east side. We could see fish rising all over the lake, but every time we approached the water they quickly retreated toward the middle of the lake.