Mitchell Lake - Blue Lake
In my continuing exploration of the Indian Peaks Wilderness area, Mitchell Lake and Blue Lake were the next two that I wanted to hike. After circling the Mitchell Lake trailhead parking area for about 15 minutes I was able to find a parking spot. Starting from the Mitchell lake trailhead, 10,500ft, in the Brainard lake recreation area Mitchell Lake is a short hike at 0.9mi. When I arrived at Mitchell Lake, 10,741ft, I was able to see a moose off in the distance, partly hidden amongst some of the foliage. The trail by Mitchell Lake was a muddy bog and I didn’t want to stay long.
From Mitchell Lake the trail becomes noticably steeper and continues towards Blue lake. After hiking for about 10 minutes beyond I was able to look back and see more moose in the Mitchell Lake area. As an aside, the first time I saw a moose was last year, 2016, while driving up Fall River road in Rocky Mountain National Park. As I continued up, the trees became fewer and shorter and I entered into the alpine tundra, the view reminding me of hiking fourteeners. While hiking towards Blue lake, Mt. Toll looms like a sentinal on the horizon and surprisingly there were a lot of people on the trail. Just below Blue Lake, there was still some snow and a little cairn. After hiking for 1:16:27, I arrived at Blue Lake and it was beautiful. Blue Lake is a tarn nestled in a cirque of mountain peaks: Pawnee Peak, Mt. Toll, and Mount Audubon. I sat and enjoyed the beauty, the cool, clean mountain air, and the bright sunshine. I hope to hike Mount Audubon in 2018.
Details:
Mitchell lake Elevation: 10,741ft
GPS Coordinates: 40.086978 -105.594270
Blue Lake Elevation: 11,329ft
GPS Coordinates: 40.088647 -105.617508
Total hiking time: 2 Hours
Mitchell Lake Trail head Sign
Trail head Sign showing the distances to Mitchell and Blue Lake.
Indian Peaks Boundary Sign
Now entering the Indian Peaks Wilderness area.
Mitchell Lake
Mitchell Lake 10,700ft. Mount Audubon, 13,233ft in the background.
Looking back at Mitchell Lake
Looking back on Mitchell Lake. There are some moose back there.
Mount Toll
On the trail looking at Mount Toll, 12,979ft.
Snow and a cairn
Snow and a man-made cairn below Blue Lake
Alpine tundra trees
Small trees in the alpine tundra, east ridge of Pawnee Peak in the background
Alpine Tundra
The alpine tundra with the east ridge of Pawnee Peak in the background
Blue Lake
Blue Lake 11,329ft. Mount Toll in the background.