Pfiffner Traverse Day 2: Knobtop Mt, Ptarmigan Pt, Flattop Mt, Hallet Peak, Otis Peak, Upper North Inlet (RMNP, Colorado)

8/27/2018

Trip date: Aug 14-20, 2018
This day: Aug 15, 2018

Looking towards the Continental Divide from North Inlet, RMNP. The pretty mountain in the center is northwest toe of Mt. Alice in Wild Basin. Chiefs Head Peak is the pointed/sharkfin shaped peak on the left.

Why does my stuff always explode in the middle of the night? Note: This camp wasn't strictly legal but I had to settle due to weather conditions.

Looking backwards towards Haynach Lake Valley and Nakai Peak.

Another view of Nakai Peak.

Looking north towards Sprague Mt.

Looking north.

Looking SW towards Snowdrift Peak

Trail started to get crowded (ie: I saw 5 people that morning) so I left the trail and decided to pickoff the smaller peaks along the divide. Knobtop Mt. was first, then the flat area behind Notchtop Mt.

The other side of Snowdrift Peak. This one is looking directly across Snowdrift Lake (out of view in the foreground on the left)

Overlooking Notchtop Mt..

Looking west from the divide. Elephant grave on the far left.

A final view of Snowdrift Peak. I need to get there at some point.

Notchtop and Joe Mills Mt. a bit farther south.

Looking north climbing up Flattop Mt.

Flattop barely felt like a peak (I guess this is obvious). On to Hallet Peak.

Looking into Tyndall Gorge between Flattop Mt. and Hallet Peak.

Looking north back towards Hallet Peak from the south.

Looking into Chaos Canyon between Hallet Peak and Otis Peak

The mini, double island in the middle of the lake (Loch Vale) far below me in this picture is special. I encountered this for the first time a couple winters ago on my first winter attempt to Sky Pond.

Closer view of the Island in Loch Vale

I crossed the frozen lake to the island in a near white out. I put on another layer to deal with the wind and checked my primary winter thermometer: are my boogers frozen? They were. This means it's about 15 degrees F or lower and I'd better have a good plan especially if the sun is going down. In many ways, I think that sitting there on that frozen rock was the start of making smarter plans (both pre-trip and on the fly) that allow for bolder adventures. I realized there was a real chance that I wouldn't make it to Sky Pond. This guess turned out to be right. I was determined and returned successfully several weeks later for my first snow-camping trip ever--and first backpacking trip in 15 years. It's fun to go back and read what I wrote then. I've learned so much since then (what the hell was that blue tarp doing there??).

Looking north from a bit beyond the Andrews Glacier.

On the descent down Hallet Creek

I know, I know. This elk looks stuffed. I assure you it's just his natural personality.

I ate a quick dinner next to Inlet Falls before moving to my planned camp a couple miles away.

Looking back at Taylor Peak. I made it within ~1000 vertical feet of the summit of this one (not last little hump in elevation plot at bottom of this page). This would have put the daily vertican gain/loss total of ~6000' so I bailed to ensure I'd still feel strong the next day.

Looking towards the divide. Hallet peak is the pointed mountain on the right.

5 Comments

Susan Kniebes

9/8/2018 04:35:37 pm

For information about and photo of something interesting on Sprague Pass, see page 1376 of Vol. III of our book on Larimer County Graves.
For biographical information on Joe Mills of Joe Mills Mt. fame, see pages 1323-11326 of same volume.
I think you've already read this, but for information about a tragic death and burial in the area of Hallet Peak, Flattop, and Tyndall Glacier, see pages 1133-1141 of same volume (chapter on J. P Chitwood Grave).

davide

9/13/2018 10:26:13 am

looked like a good adventure that lead to a real appreciation of how the mountains have informed you.

RyanP

1/15/2020 10:03:23 pm

Nice trip report; thanks for writing this! It’s inspired me to plan a section hike for late this upcoming summer (or perhaps early Fall). One question: Can you give any tips on roughly where I should think about camping if I want to camp between Lake Nanita and the descent into East Inlet? Do you know if Lake Catherine has decent/adequate campsite availability? I really want to do a 4-day section hike from Milner Pass to Roaring Fork TH (late summer), and am thinking day 1 from Milner Pass to Renegade Campsite, day 2 to Lake Catherine (or somewhere in that region, hopefully not far off the main route), day 3 to Upper Lake, and day 4 to Roaring Fork TH (with a couple of easy peaks on the way out). Hiking from the designated campsites in North Inlet (Pine Marten, etc) all the way to Upper Lake (mostly off-trail) seems like too much in a day for me; hence I’m trying to figure out potential campsite areas a little further than those designated campsites (and one thing I still don’t know how to do is figure this out by looking at a topo). Thanks!

Travis Briles link

1/17/2020 09:57:04 am

Hi Ryan-

The area typically gets it's first snow by early Oct so take that into consideration if you start in early fall.

It's generally pretty easy to find places to camp along the route. Just look for places on the topo map where there aren't a lot of contour lines (typically spaced for 40'). Check the satelite imagery to check that it's not actually a talus field and you should be fine. I don't remember the section between Lake Nanita and the unnamed pass at 11,380' being especially implausible in terms of finding a decent camp.

You'll need to follow RMNP regulations for camping. Check the bottom of my RMNP page (located under "places" tab in header) for some maps. In general I'd strongly recommend the cross country zones for backpacking in RMNP over the sites. https://www.bo-co-wandering.com/uploads/9/4/5/1/94512723/campsite_map_small-2016.pdf

I'm actually not sure where Lake Catherine is. That seems to be an unofficial name. Maybe this one?:https://caltopo.com/m/HMTL

You may also find my overview map of RMNP useful (note that the cross country zones mapped there are only approximate): https://caltopo.com/m/TNT4

That lake is within the "Upper North Inlet (3M)" cross-country zone. It requires +/- 300' of elevation change to get to it from the route. This is not where I camped. Note that the entrance to North Inlet proper is supposed to have a rough bushwhack according to Lisa Foster's book. I'd probably avoid that route. The views from the primary route are likely better anyway.

The problem that you've picked up on is that the there are simply no legal campsites between between Lake Nanita and Upper Lake. There are no cross country zones near Fifth Lake near Isolation Peak Pass and Paradise Park is off limits to camping entirely. So basically the shortest itinerary possible is what I did on my Day 3: https://www.bo-co-wandering.com/trip-reports/pfiffner-traverse-day-3-upper-north-inlet-north-inlet-isolation-peak-pass-paradise-park-rmnp-colorado

You could try to come up with a bypass in this area but I strongly discourage it. Day 3 was my favorite day of the whole trip and this is largely because it feels so wild. Missing the area above Fifth Lake, Paradise Park and Upper Lake be a real shame. Get in shape and tackle it directly. You won't regret it. (Note that descent down to Spirit Lake is a pretty rough bushwhack. The descent into Paradise park is similar, but significantly easier).

Also, I'd highly recommend picking up Skurka's guide for the Pfiffner Traverse. He describes PT section hikes including one that is very similar to what you're describing (but unfortunately would miss Paradise Park). It has really good route info. You may have noticed that I've been more cryptic for the PT posts than my other Trip Reports. This is largely out of respect for Andrew's efforts in putting the guide together.

I'd be happy to answer other questions.

Cheers,
-Travis

1/18/2020 01:37:02 am

Wow, thanks for the detailed reply! Thanks for the tips about campsites. I've done some off-trail backpacking, but it's always been to areas that I've pre-read (in guide books or trip reports) to have good campsite potential. I've backpacked in RMNP before, but only at the designated sites.

Yes, that's Lake Catherine (I got the name from the Lisa Foster book). It sounds like I shouldn't need to go all the way over there to find good camping though; thanks. And I agree that that off-trail route via North Inlet is probably worse than Skurka's primary route (I recently bought his guide).

I may go Northbound instead, and end at Bear Lake instead of Milner Pass. That doesn't sound quite as fun since I've done the Flattop/Hallett/Taylor area several times before, but it would probably make the trip significantly easier overall (I would camp at Upper Lake on night 1, Lake Verna on night 2, and July on night 3). But if I can convince myself that my body (knee mostly) can handle it, I'd prefer to do basically the same Southbound route as your first three days!

TriP Reports

Pfiffner Traverse Day 2: Knobtop Mt, Ptarmigan Pt, Flattop Mt, Hallet Peak, Otis Peak, Upper North Inlet (RMNP, Colorado)

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