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[bpv_UW]

This is the last in a series of RMNP hike reports that I've been meaning to post for months now. Hope y'all have enjoyed them. I thought about spacing them out a bit more, but I have a couple slow weeks here and didn't know when that would happen again. Anyway, onward...

This hike was the one I'd been anticipating most ever since starting to make our trip plans in late '04. I'd heard rave reviews, seen some awesome pictures, and was eagerly anticipating the chance to get off-trail a bit and hit a peak.

We knew we'd have to make an early start in order to get to the summit of Thatchtop and down ahead of afternoon thunderstorms (which had been striking like clockwork the past few days). We got off to a good start: up at 4:30am at Moraine Park and on the road before 5. Then came the fateful decision. The sky was just beginning to light up to the east as we headed up Bear Lake Road, and as it looked to be a beautiful morning, we decided to make a quick stop at Sprague Lake for some sunrise photos. We ended up staying longer than expected waiting for the best light, and didn't leave the lake until after 6am. We got some great photos, but delayed our hike starting time by over an hour, which would end up costing us later on...



By the time we arrived at the TH and set out it was around 6:30am. Our goal for the day rose directly in front of us, illuminated by the morning light. It seemed so close, yet we knew there was a long journey upward ahead of us.

[bpv_UW]

We set off at a quick pace, the little aches and pains from the previous days' hikes quickly subsiding, and presently arrived at Alberta Falls. The falls was nice, but I don't think as nice as Ouzel, which we'd seen a couple days before. We snapped a photo and continued upward.

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[bpv_UW]

Once above Alberta Falls the trail made its way around Glacier Knobs and periodically passed through open terrain where views of the surrounding mountains could be had. This is a shot of the south face of Flattop Mountain (I believe).



Soon the trail split. The right fork headed toward The Loch and the left toward Mills Lake. We headed left and were soon at the lake. Unfortunately, lighting was poor for photographs. Glacier Gorge was almost entirely in shadow this early in the morning, and the bright sky above Longs made it hard to get any good photographs. Here's the best we did.

[bpv_UW]

We paused for a few minutes on the rocks surrounding Mills for a quick break, but didn't linger too long. Heading back into the cool shade of the forest we made our way around the east side of the lake and past Jewel. The trail became a little more rocky and "rooty" in this area but nothing difficult. Occasional views of the surrounding peaks were possible through the trees. Chiefs Head Peak and the Spearhead towered what seemed like miles above.

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[bpv_UW]

We had begun counting steps once past the south end of Jewel Lake, as we'd read it was exactly .82 miles from here until the point where the "trail" to Shelf Lake broke off from the Glacier Gorge trail. Finding this was supposed to be the crux of the day, but I wasn't too worried about it, as I'd spent a good deal of time seeking advice and photos to help find this point. It didn't turn out to be hard at all. We reached a small meadow with some downed trees from an old avalanche. Glacier Creek was visible 30-40 yards to our right, across the meadow, along with two large, flat boulders that provided a fairly obvious crossing point. I recognized it immediately from the photos (I'm kicking myself right now for not taking one of it myself). We headed down to the boulders, leapt across the creek, and begun the STEEP climb out of Glacier Gorge.

Though sporadic cairns existed heading up the slope, there is not really much semblance of a trail. There are areas where it is clear people have passed before, but we basically found our own route. We just chose the path of least resistance, stayed as close as possible to Shelf Creek, and bypassed any cliff bands to the north. Eventually, we came across this beautiful hidden waterfall, where we took a much deserved break.

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[bpv_UW]

After the break we continued upwards, and the going changed slowly from picking our way around tree trunks/roots to picking our way around, through, and up rock and cliff bands. Again, with patience finding an adequate route was not too much trouble. Once near the top we crossed Shelf Creek to the south on some rocks and arrived at Shelf Lake. What a setting! Well worth the difficult climb...



Looking up toward the next shelf we could see the beautiful, often talked about cascade coming down from Solitude Lake. Unfortunately, much of it was not yet melted out. The Arrowhead rose up above the cascade to the south.

[bpv_UW]

We didn't break at Shelf Lake, instead heading directly around its south side toward Solitude. We stopped to grab a close-up of the beautiful cascade between the lakes as we ascended the remaining snowfield.



At the top we arrived at Solitude Lake, even more spectacular than Shelf.

[bpv_UW]

Now it was time for lunch, and we sat on the rocks next to the lake, enjoying the view, the solitude (no pun intended) and contemplating Thatchtop's south slopes. The weather was still OK, but it was starting to cloud up a bit more, and I was concerned with the fact that the incoming weather to the west was blocked by mountains. We decided to continue onward and keep a close eye on the weather. Thatchtop's south slopes are pretty much one long boulder-hop. It wasn't particularly difficult, but required a lot of concentration to avoid spraining one's ankle or knee. After 30-40 minutes of climbing it was after 1pm and we figured we were about 500 vertical feet from the summit. To our dismay, however, threatening clouds were beginning to creep into our view over the mountaintop. We paused briefly, considered our options, and decided to turn around. The mountain will be there for a long time, and we wanted to be too. Here's a shot of our view of the incoming weather; it wasn't conclusive but it looked threatening enough that we wanted to avoid it.



Before heading down we snapped a few pictures to record the awesome views that we'd basically been ignoring in our haste to ascend. Here's a shot across Glacier Gorge toward Longs...lighting wasn't great, but still quite a view.

[bpv_UW]

Looking directly south we had a unique perspective on McHenry's Peak.



We hopped as quickly as possible down the slope, as the clouds behind us continued to build. I grabbed a final shot looking northeast over Shelf Lake as we descended before putting away the camera.



At the outlet of Shelf Lake we met up with a group of teenage girls who we'd seen descending from Thatchtop's summit as we ascended. We stopped briefly to talk to them and learned they'd left the TH at 4am that morning, 2.5 hours before us. I remembered our detour to Sprague Lake that morning and began mentally kicking myself for the decision, knowing we'd have needed no more than another 30 minutes to make the summit. We passed them at the top of the descent into Glacier Gorge and made our way rapidly (though by a different route than we'd ascended by) down the very steep slope.

At the Glacier Creek crossing point we paused for a drink. My brother leapt across the creek and I went to pick up his pack to toss it over to him. This is when the fun began. Unbeknownst to me, he'd left the zipper open, and as I picked it up our one remaining camera (I'd dropped and broken our other one a couple days before) tumbled out of the pack, rolled (in what seemed like slow motion) down the rock and into the creek. I dropped the pack and dove headlong for the camera, but it rushed past my outstretched hand and off down the creek. I sprinted after it, and crashed into the stream to retrieve it about 10 yards down where it had gotten temporarily caught against a log. A couple seconds longer and it would have been gone. About this time it started raining...

Ahh, nothing like a little adversity to make the day interesting. To make a long story short, we got the camera dried out and it still worked fine. No harm, no foul. It was a damp hike back as it stormed on and off, but we were definitely glad we'd made the decision to turn around when we did. We were back at the TH, exhausted, disappointed, but most of all exhilarated after a great day out in the mountains, by around 3:30pm.

This is on my list of "hikes I'd like to re-attempt". Just an outstanding route by any measure.

-Brandon

[GLENNinPA]

Great photos & trip report, thanks.

That hike is #1 on my list to do.
Too bad you couldn't do Thatchtop, but it's certainly not worth the risk, besides I think you actually did the best part of the hike.

[John]

GREAT report and pictures!

[retlod]

Well done. I, too, would like to get back up to Solitude. Next time I'll try to bag Thatchtop while I'm there.

Thanks for the report.

[TempestT-37]

Great TR and some very nice photos

[melli2779]

I enjoyed your report & loved the pictures! Thanks for sharing!

[Allie]

Great report and pics.

Allie