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Expecting great views and photos on this hike, I started up from the Poudre Lake Trailhead at Milner Pass, at 6:00 AM (Monday, August 13th, 2018), heading for Mount Ida (12,889 feet) on the Continental Divide in Rocky Mountain National Park. The shot on the left shows the info-board at the trailhead. There’s also a mileage signpost just a minute up the trail that lists the distance to Mount Ida as 4 miles; note however, it’s actually 4.87 miles according to my GPS, so the round-trip distance is about 1.74 miles further than the sign indicates. |
| Roughly
1/2 mile
up the trail this warning sign is posted concerning lightning danger above treeline.
This is one of the reasons I almost always hit the trail at the crack of dawn, or even earlier for longer destinations.
Besides, the best scenic photography is almost always in the early to mid-morning time frame, before the sun is directly
overhead, or before the clouds start building up.
Note: the drawback to hitting the trail with little to no light in the morning is occasionally
getting on the wrong trail, like I did once last year, and again just this morning. The trail to Mount Ida is on the "left"
side of the parking lot, not the right. This mistake cost me 30 minutes. I felt better though, as I came down and passed
someone going up that had done the same thing in broad daylight.
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About a mile up the trail now, at 6:37 AM, I stopped to get a shot as the sun hit the mountains in the Never Summer Range to the west. Thanks to what now seems like a never ending drought though, along with Global Warming, it appears to be summer in the Never Summer Range.
At 6:42 AM, I came around to my fist view of Mount Ida, with its distant summit marked by the cliffs along the east face. At this point, it was becoming obvious that the smoke from the 100+ fires burning through-out the western US, pushed along by the current winds, was going to put a damper on my photos. Gray skies and distant scenery through haze just don’t photograph very well.
Only a couple minutes further up the trail, I looked to my right and realized I had just about walked right passed this bull elk grazing by himself on the downhill slope. There are so many elk around Estes Park, especially in the fall and winter, that seeing them gets kind of routine after a while. High up in the mountains though, like right here near timberline, an encounter still feels special.
Another hour up the trail, and above timberline now at 7:54 AM, I looked left and saw this little pika just sitting on a rock staring at me from 10 or 15 yards away as I walked by. You would think by its expression that it’s never seen a human before: or maybe I just looked weird. As I took its picture, the motionless stare continued - a little spooky.
Less than an hour from the summit now, at 8:12 AM, I stopped to enjoy the view on the east side of the divide, north of Jagor Point, with plush green alpine tundra and scattered ponds at the upper limit of timberline. Gotta love that smoky haze too.
At 8:41 AM, I was getting close and took this shot of Mount Ida's northeast face. This hike was really making me want to hike more of the Continental Divide Trail some time. I love hiking the world above timberline.
As I took the final steps approaching the summit, I got this shot of the little pair of summit cairns marking the top. It was 8:57 AM - the ascent had taken almost exactly three hours. Not uncommon with my early starts, I was the first summiteer of the day. As I started my descent, about 20 minutes later, the next two hikers were arriving.
The view looking down the east side of the divide into the gorge from the summit shows Highest Lake and Azure Lake, and smoke. I have always wanted to hike up to these lake from Forest Canyon, although the terrain looks rough from here.
Looking south and slightly west of the summit, I thought these were Grand Lake and Lake Granby. Looking at the map though, I think Grand Lake is hidden from view, and it’s Shadow Mountain Lake that’s the closer of the two. Lake Granby is the further lake disappearing into the smoke.
Looking southeast while eating a Cliff Bar, I took a shot at Longs Peak with Pagoda Mountain on it's right, or southwest, with the Keyboard of the Winds Ridge connecting them. While they are at least 12 or 13 miles away, this is still a terrible shot. Maybe someday I'll be able to redo this hike in better visibility conditions.
45 minutes after leaving the summit, at 10:03 AM, I got my last good shot of one of the many marmots running around with the pikas. It was close to noon when I got back to the trailhead. What a change from the morning. The temperature had climbed about 20 degrees, in the 70's now, which felt like an oven in the windless high-altitude sun. Also, instead of having the only car in the parking lot, the lot was full, with cars lined up waiting for a spot. I was glad to get out of there.
I forgot to turn off my GPS until I had driven a mile down the road, which screws up all my data, so all I can say is that the round trip distance was about 9.74 miles; my trailhead-to-trailhead time was around 6 hours; and the elevation difference between the trailhead and the summit is 2,139 feet.
On September 23rd, 2019, Suzy and I did another hike up to Mount Ida and got a picture of Poudre Lake worth posting. It was 8:11 AM when we left the trailhead, and the reflection on the lake stopped me just a few feet up the trail. I hope you engoy it as much as I did.
National Park Service - Climbing and Mountaineering in Rocky Mountain National Park
Rocky Mountain National Park: The High Peaks
U.S. National Parks Net - Rocky Mountain National Park Hiking Guide
