Out of Our Rut: More Mountain Passes and Hikes in BV

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We have enjoyed our drives to several of the mountain passes over the Continental Divide that are fairly close to Buena Vista but we haven’t gotten to all of them. Our next goal was to head up to Cottonwood Pass. This pass is due west of downtown BV. It is a much busier pass from a traffic standpoint because there are no vehicle length restrictions like the road up to Independence Pass about 20 miles to the north. Although it’s not really clear where all the people are headed to or from as they head over Cottonwood Pass. On the other side of Independence Pass is Aspen but the only town I recognized on the west side of this pass is possibly Crested Butte. It won’t matter since we have no intention of drive much beyond the pass. We had picked what we believed to be a nice day from a weather standpoint but as we proceeded up, it looked like there were substantial clouds. It’s only a 21 mile drive so we continue on and hope for the best.

Cottonwood Pass

View Looking East from Pass

Even with all the clouds, even the views from the parking lot for the pass were rather remarkable. It helps that we are at an elevation of 12,126 feet. This is the highest paved road over the Continental Divide although Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain NP does rise to an elevation 57 feet higher but not at the divide. Many visitors will simply snap some pictures from the parking area and grab a shot of the sign. A few others will take the hike up to the Summit Overlook. It’s about a half mile hike and gets up to 12,300 feet.

View to the West

Viewpoint to Left, Continental Divide Trail to Right

We had already decided we would opt for the even less traveled route from the parking area and continue up the Continental Divide Trail. We knew being at this high of elevation would be a bit taxing on the lungs but we figured we could go out the 1.5 miles or so and complete what AllTrails calls Cottonwood South #1978. This 3.1 mile out and back will gain 728 feet elevation and top out at 12,575 feet for one of our highest hikes to date. We get a sense of where we are heading seeing a “hill” across the way. We were able to see some of the switchbacks that would get us to the top before we would continue over and down the opposite side. There were really good views of the road on the west side of the pass. Even from this distance, we could hear some of the large trucks struggling with the load as they tried to make it to the pass. At one rocky portion of the trail, we spotted motion in the rocks 30 feet off the trail. We stopped and discovered it was a pika. These are small and don’t stay still for long. Plus it blends in with its surroundings very well so getting a picture was a challenge.

We're Heading Up There

Road from the West

Pika

We finally reach the top of this hill and are again greeted with a view to the east. We were somewhat surprised at how many wildflowers were still in bloom. We work our way around the knoll and start our journey downhill. We come upon another rocky spot and see another pika. This one was closer to the trail and was hard at work harvesting some plants to help it make it thru the long winter months just around the corner.

Large Flowering Plant

Pika Prepping for Winter

Proceeding down the trail, there are mountains as far as the eye can see. Since we are well above tree line, we can even see how the trail snakes up and over the next peak. Off to our right is a small pond - Cow Lake according to the map. A through hiker was coming from the opposite direction. She asked us how far to the parking area at the pass. She was hoping to get a ride into town for a shower and to replenish her supplies. We made it to the saddle point where AllTrails has this trail segment ending. We can see some smaller ponds to the left. They sure look like a spot where a moose should be hanging out but we don’t see any. The trail seems to go on endlessly but we aren’t accustomed to this elevation so we turn around and head back.

Heading Down the Backside

Overlooking Cow Lake

Looking Back to East Side at Saddle Point

Closeup of Pond

We pick a spot near where we last saw a pika for our lunch stop. Before we finished we hear a clap of thunder not far away. As we crest the small hill, we can see that it is raining back towards the parking area. We tried to increase our speed to make it back before we got soaked but there is only so much we can muster. At least when the precipitation did hit, it wasn’t rain but graupel - sort of a cross between snow and sleet. It came down hard enough that the little things hurt when they hit exposed skin. We were rather wet but by the time we made it back to the car, the parking lot was nearly empty. I guess most people knew to stay out of the weather. It was still an enjoyable hike and worth the effort.

Looking at Continuation of CDT

Heading Back

Dark Clouds Ahead

Rain Approaching

A couple nights ago while eating dinner (sweet and sour pork), I had a crown come loose. Fortunately it didn’t hurt and didn’t seem damaged in anyway but it was a Friday night so it would be a few days before I could try to get it dealt with. Monday morning, we called around to several dentist offices and found one in Salida that had a cancellation and could get me in later that day. The dentist checked things out, cleaned up the crown and glued it back in. If only all the problems we encounter on the road were so easy to fix.

After the recovery day, we set out for yet another pass on the Continental Divide. Marshall Pass is a bit more of a challenge to get to. It’s only about a 45 mile drive from camp but the last 14 miles is on a dirt road. Generally a decent dirt road but it does require a bit more care than driving to Monarch Pass which is only about 8 crow miles to the north. We have some geocaches along the way and a couple of them will be in a Colorado county we don’t have yet. The road was in good shape and wide enough for two vehicles for most of the route so it wasn’t like some drives we have taken where you really need to pay attention to oncoming traffic. Along the way, we pass a beautiful lake down below the road that seemed to have camping and a fair number of people there.

View of Marshall Pass Road from Geocache Location

Overlooking O'Haver Lake

Clouds Shrouding Mountain Peak

We had done a better job of picking a good weather day and had a rather pleasant drive to the pass. Just before getting there, we spotted a large bull moose across a meadow from the road. It was about 600 feet away so even with my long telephoto lens, I couldn’t get a shot like the ones we saw in Rocky Mountain NP. There wasn’t nearly as many people here as Cottonwood Pass but there were more than I was expecting for how remote the place is.

Rock Cut for Road

Moose Across Meadow

Closing in on Marshall Pass

We took the obligatory picture at the sign for the pass and then headed out for one more geocache. It helps that we were just under 11,000 feet but the climb up from the car to the cache still took our breath away. We found the cache, took in the amazing views and headed back to the car.

We Made It

Heading Up Another Continental Divide Trail Section

We decided the lake we had seen from Marshall Pass Road looked like a good place for lunch. Given the number of people we saw there, we figured we could find a way to get there. The side road to O’Haver Lake Campground was only three quarters of a mile but gains 200 feet and was in terrible condition. It wasn’t clear if it’s always like this or if a recent rain had washed out some of the gravel. I’m glad we had the Jeep and weren’t pulling a camper.

On Way to Lake

Once there, we found a spot to park and have lunch overlooking the lake. There were numerous people fishing - probably for some trout provided from one of the hatcheries we visited. There were a couple of guys fishing out in the water with some sort of inflatable raft. But this wasn’t one you sit in out of the water but with your legs dangling in the water. When one of them was close enough to shore, we asked how he moved around in the lake and he lifted up a leg to show us a flipper. It looked like an interesting way to fish.

O'Haver Lake

Caught a Small One

Looks Like Rain Back Towards Marshall Pass

When we drove up to Cottonwood Pass the other day, we saw multiple parking areas for trailheads of many other trails. We did some investigation and decided to give Ptarmigan Lake Trail a try. We knew it wasn’t going to be an easy hike for us. The 6 miles round trip wasn’t too bad. The potential issue was the nearly 1500 feet of elevation gain - starting at 10,600 and topping out at 12,100. From the elevation profile, it looked to be a rather consistent 9% grade all the way to the lake.

Ptarmigan Lake Trailhead

Most of the early part of the hike is in thick forest and quite pleasant. At about the half mile mark is a clearing with a large rock field. It appears the rock slide that created this was some time ago since most of the path had fairly stable rocks to hike on. But the terrain is quite uneven and there are numerous rocks that are not planted very well. If not careful, this could be an easy place to twist an ankle. This rocky area was nearly a quarter mile long and at one point we spotted another pika. This one was much more photogenic and sat still enough for me to get a really good picture of it.

Rockslide Area

Pretty Views Along the Way

Mushroom

Finally a Good Pika Picture

The next 1.5 miles we’re back in woods although as we continued up, they tended to thin out a bit. A couple of woodpeckers were spotted in the forest and we watched them for some time as they thoroughly checked out the one tree they seemed to like. There were a couple of small clearings where we could see some of the nearby peaks that seemed to surround us.

Woodpeckers at Base of Tree

Almost Above Tree Line

Around the 2.5 mile point, we came out of the woods and had several small ponds. We knew they were not Ptarmigan Lake based on our trail maps so we still had a bit further to go. I suppose if we stopped our hike at these lakes we would have still consider this an excellent hike.

One of the Lower Lakes

The Other Lower Lake

Astounding Views from Above Tree Line

We still had another half mile and nearly 350 feet of elevation to go while crossing over the 12,000 foot point. This was by far the toughest portion of the hike. The air was thin, my legs were tired and I was starting to get hungry. We pushed on and crested the last rise to be greeted by Ptarmigan Lake. About 10 acres in size, this lake is nestled a bit of a valley at the base of Jones Mountain rising 1000 feet above the lake surface. It was the perfect place to finally take a break and enjoy our lunch. There were several people that had carried up their fishing gear so they could try to catch some lunch. I’m just glad we brought our lunch with us.

A Bit Further to Go

Looking Back Down the Valley

We Made It! Ptarmigan Lake

We took it easy and looked around this lake and back over the valley below us that we had just climbed. It’s hard to imagine a place more idyllic than this. Too bad it takes a fair amount of effort to get here. There were other hikers that came and went as we were soaking in the beauty.

Flowers at High Altitude

Another Ptarmigan Lake View Before Leaving

Another Side Lake

Quite the View at 12,000 Feet

We passed one couple just as we were starting down and they were coming up. I’ll guess they were in their early twenties and had run up the trail along with their dog. They didn’t stay up there long because they went whizzing by when we were at the lower lakes - ah to be young! We didn’t rush our return trip either. The complete hike took nearly 5 hours and exhausted us but it was well worth the pain.