Heavenly Lakes and Heart of Darkness Part I

Thu September 30, 2010

Rocky Mountain National Park has a road called the Trail Ridge Road, which goes above treeline for several miles. At its Forest Canyon Overlook, you can see several lakes in a side canyon. Many people stop and stare at them, but they get few visitors, since there is no trail to them. I have seen these lakes many times and have been wanting to get over there to walk around them. I finally got my chance last weekend. We started at Milner Pass, hiked up Mt. Ida, down along the Forest Lakes, across Forest Canyon and up to Forest Canyon overlook. After Mt. Ida there was no more trail. We started early and the moon had yet not set.

Moon Over the Never Summer Mountains

After summiting Mt. Ida we climbed down a rocky slope to a saddle. We could see our ultimate goal, a few miles away on the other side of the canyon. We also saw one of the lakes that can not be seen from the overlook, Highest Lake. It would have been a climb after the saddle so we did not visit it. Azure Lake, the second highest in the group was just below us, down a rocky slope.

The Route Ahead and Azure Lake from the Saddle

Azure Lake

After Azure Lake we had some rocks to climb over to get down to the next lake, Inkwell Lake. On one side there are cliffs which give an amazing view of the lake, but you can't get down them without a rope. We found a route near the creek between the lakes.

Inkwell Lake

The last bit of the creek is very steep and has several small water falls and cascades. We were able to scramble down along the side of the creek.

Double Waterfall by Inkwell Lake

We took a short break on the shore of Inkwell Lake to rest and take in the view. The water in the lake is very clear and cold.

View from the Shore of Inkwell Lake