“Basecamp” style trip suggestions? (CO, 4 nights)

I've done the bottom 3 on your list.

There is a basin near treeline on the right side of the Oh-Be-Joyful valley (I believe Democrat Basin) that I've camped in. Beauty blew me away. Day hikes from there could be Oh-Be-Joyful Pass on one side and Daisy Pass on the other. If you go over Daisy Pass, you could traverse over to Angel Pass and a few fairly high peaks. For your wife, I'd recommend just going up to the passes on 2 different days. And, along the same lines, you could take 2 days to get up to that basin, and camp in the main valley the first night before the trail splits. And, to the left of the split are some nice lakes (Peeler, Green, Blue).

I've also done the Flattops from Trappers Lake. I liked camping near Wall Lake up on top. And, the routes you can take up there are limitless. But, be aware that once on the plateau above Trappers, you are above treeline. Afternoon thunderstorms could be an issue later in the summer with no place to retreat unless you were close enough to the drop-down back to Trappers Lake, or one of the side drainages.

And, I remember doing that Fancy Lake loop years ago. Climbed a peak called Whitney Peak. And, I got up on the ridge leading to Mt. of the Holy Cross. This is also a very pretty area.

I really enjoyed our basecamp at Copper Lake in the Maroon Bells. Really nice day hikes in the area.

www.campfiresandconcierges.com/maroon-bells-colorado-backpacking/

If you like solitude, I would suggest a slight variation on that plan:

Hike in from Elliot Ridge (long drive to trailhead, but doable for city cars all but the last 150 yards or so as of August). Elliot Ridge is a spectacular ridge walk.



Take the trail down to Cataract Creek. As you approach the creek, leave the trail and travel a quick/obvious 1/4 mile down to the creek and lovely meadow camps. Total distance from the car is maybe about 7.5 miles.

Camp in upper Cataract Creek:





From this basecamp, it's only a little more than a mile downstream (on trail) to the Mirror Lake/Flapjack Lakes area. (Ask Lamebeaver about Flapjack Lakes) It's also only about 2 miles (at most) of relatively easy off-trail travel (if you're into that) to the pass between Cataract Creek and the basin west of Mt. Powell (Tributary of Piney River). This basin is spectacular.

Upper Cataract Basin:




I can give more beta on the off-trail route if you're interested. See also this TR from last summer.

It seems like you could retreat off the ridge if you had to, but honestly I didn't pay too much attention to that, because both coming and going we had clear blue skies.

The morning we hiked in, we were car-camped on the east shore of Green Mountain Reservoir. We broke camp (at whatever time--we didn't intentionally get up at the crack of dawn) and drove to the trailhead from there. I doubt we left the car any earlier than 9:00 or 9:30. We didn't race or anything on the trail--it was our first day--but we're moderately fast hikers. Elliot Ridge is gloriously easy hiking. We were to the Cataract Creek trail junction on Elliot Ridge by noonish.

If you're particularly concerned about it, you could sleep at the trailhead the night before in order to assure an early start.

EDIT: On further reflection, and looking at the map to jog my memory, I think retreat is not really an issue. The best retreat in most cases is to the west. To the east of the ridge, there are some long snowfields (running N/S) that might block retreat, and there is more of a complex plateau-like high-country landform, as opposed to the more direct drop off the ridge to the west. I doubt that it's ever more than class 2 travel down the west slope from the ridge trail. I think you'd have a fairly easy retreat: if not to immediate timber, at least off the ridge top and out of the most immediate lightning danger.

As a guy who is kindof a worrier by nature and thinks a lot about storms and retreat, I would say don't worry about it too much: you can pretty easily be off the ridge by afternoon with a decently early start, and if you did get caught in a storm, I think there are always retreat options. (That might be less true, though, if you continued on Elliot Ridge beyond the Cataract Creek trail to Maiden Peak as the ridge gets narrower and the slopes in both directions get steeper.)

Yes I can see that - should be a lot easier going in from the ridge!

Thanks for your advice. I checked out lamebeaver’s posts too, looks like plenty of stuff to checkout via day hikes in the general area.

You can see that pretty clearly in the first photo I posted above.

(You can also see The Corners prominently in all of the photos I posted.)

I hadn't thought about a basecamp high on Elliot Ridge.

Advantages:
Only about 5 almost level miles carrying a full pack
Very scenic camps, can definitely find privacy even in the unlikely event others are camped in the area
Easy day hike to Meridian Peak (or beyond) from basecamp.
Can still drop to Cataract Creek on a day hike

Disadvantage:
Camp is more storm-exposed

FWIW, an NPS ranger that I crossed paths with years ago in the Sangres told me that his strategy for BPing with his wife (who is not into gonzo BPing) is to select a basecamp within 5 miles of the car, and he goes back to the car on day 1 or the second morning for another load of gear, thus allowing for a luxury tent, luxury food, etc.

I know I am coming into this discussion late... but would it be reasonable to do a one night backpacking trip starting at Elliot Ridge, camp down by Mirror or one of the Cataract Lakes, and hike out to Black Creek Road (1700) the second day? Anyone know the current trail conditions on these trails? The most recent I can find are from 2019 and describe almost impassible trail due to downed trees between Surprise Lake and road 1700. (AllTrails) 


Thanks, Lenny