Comanche Peaks Wilderness and Northern RMNP (Colorado)

Trip date: June 02-03, 2018

This is a 2 day trip in the Commanche Peaks Wilderness and Northern Boundary of RMNP.  I had planned a loop starting at the Emmaline TH near the CSU Pingree Mountain Campus but I was unsure how much snow to expect so I didn't know how far I'd get.  Except for brief deep snow on the initial approach towards the treeline below Fall Mt and in the shaded Mirror Lake cirque, the whole trip was largely snow free.  
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I also stumbled across the Tom Bennet campground near the TH which I'd heard about before.  It would be a great place to car camp with great views a short walk away.  

Caltopo map here: caltopo.com/m/P92V

Day 1

I didn't know it at the time but I was looking at the horrible shortcut I'd pick the next day (steep talus followed by very slow bushwhacking).

This guy kept meandering towards me while I had my shoes off and was checking maps. I yelled at him quite a bit and he eventually got the message and went the other way. Shortly before this he fell on his ass on that small slope on the hill behind him. It was hilarious.

Looks like the high elevation areas in the Lost Creek Wilderness

The principle targets on the first day: Fall Mt. and Commanche Peak.

Approach to Commanche Peak from Fall Mt.

Looking down to Emmaline Lake

Looking towards the Mummy Range on the way up Commanche Peak.

First views into the cirque containing Mirror Lake and Mt. Ikoko (center).

Descent path off into the Mirror Lake cirque. It was pretty rough but not too bad.

Looking into the Mummy Range (center left) and along Trail Ridge (right) just before dusk.

Specimen Mt. in the Never Summer Range at dusk. (This is the far right hand side of the above photo).

Day 2

I left the bug net at home since the overnight temperatures in the Mirror Lake cirque were going to be in the low 30's. My feet appear to have largely escaped overnight (slightly exaggerated by getting out of sleeping bag but not much).

The Mummy Range at dawn.

A variant of the opening photo, this one including some of the Mummy Range as well.

This was the only time I was glad I brought microspikes for my shoes.

The Never Summer Range in the NW corner of RMNP

One last view of Mt. Ikoko and Mirror Lake

OK. One more. The red brush would feature prominently in the next few miles.

From here I'd loosely follow the trajectory of Mummy Creek and eventually move towards Icefield Pass between Skull Point and Rowe Mt. 

It's just the three of us out here. Where's the water you don't poop in?

One nice thing about travel in big mountains is that it's often fairly straightforward to scout your route from miles away. I would cross Mummy Creek and move up the base of Rowe Mt. To avoid the sagebrush (the dark region between the small snowfields) I'd move along the base of the Rowe Mt.

Looking northeast along Mummy Creek. Fall Mt. is on the left.

A closer view of the brush I wanted to avoid.

This game trail that ran straight through the brush sucked me in like a magnet. It was so worn I had to double check my maps that there wasn't supposed to be an official trail. Unfortunately the quality eventually deteriorated and I had to bail and head for the base of Rowe Mt. as I originally planned.

So this is why my shoe kept filling up with dirt. Gaiters won't help this...

Looking down from Icefield Pass onto the North Fork of the Big Thompson River. Lost Lake is the most well known lake in this cirque.

Looking back towards Fall Mt on the approach to Ramsey Peak.

Descending off of Ramsey Peak. This doesn't look too bad right?

Eventually gets pretty steep. The worst part was the bushwhacking below this. Easily my hardest yet.

Crossing the un-named fork of the South Fork of Cache la Poudre River. Yes, that's a fork-in-a-fork.