S Fork Black Creek, Nuchu (Gore) range, CO. 5 days.
Aug 6, 2021 7:34:41 GMT -8
zeke, panatomicx, and 2 more like this
Post by cweston on Aug 6, 2021 7:34:41 GMT -8
July 28–August 1, 2021
There was already another less-detailed thread on this trip here.
This was TrailElder 's birthday trip, to which many were invited but it eventually ended up being him and me. The initial conception/inspiration was to possibly base camp at the meadow near the base of the S Fork Black Creek hanging valley, with day trips further into the drainage. However, since the 1934 Colorado Mountain Club expedition made basecamp there, decades of fire suppression, and the more recent beetle kill cycle, have made the 4-mile-ish bushwhack from this meadow to the upper basin a far more slow and torturous hike than it undoubtedly was in 1934. The forest is extremely dense and wet in this NE corner of the range, and bushwhacking can be excruciatingly slow. So talk quickly turned to the possibility of higher camps deeper into the drainage.
The upper basin of the south fork is only about 10 miles from the 4wd trailhead. Those ten miles break down as follows:
Real trail: about 2.5 miles
Abandoned trail (in good shape, but plenty of blowdowns to navigate): about 3.5 miles
Excruciatingly slow bushwhack: about 4 miles
Day 1 (about 9 miles, 3,000 ft gain)
We camped at the TH the night before, so we had a nice early start. We knew we'd at least make the S Fork meadow, maybe higher this day.
When we came to the abandoned trail, we were ridiculously fortunate in finding it right away. The USFS seems to have gone out of their way to obscure the beginning of this otherwise very healthy old trail, originally built in the 30s by the CCC. (The last time I did this route, we wasted an hour looking for this trail.) We hit the S Fork meadow around noon and took an extended lunch break. (TrailElder is a fisherman, so there were occasional fishing breaks on this trip, which were more like pleasant nap breaks for me.) We had thoughts that we might make it all the way into the alpine this day, on a couple possible routes we had in mind, but as we were soon to have reaffirmed, there are real miles and Black Creek miles. The theme of routefinding on this trip was "Well, I can see the next 20 feet."
We stayed mostly on the east side of the creek, which generally has better travel. Things were surprisingly dry this day, so we could stay low, in timber, near the creek, without endless tromping through wetlands. We eventually encountered a lovely waterfall that I had missed my last time up this drainage, and made camp at an adequate timbered camp near some small lakes that aren't on the map, in the late afternoon. It attempted to rain a little, but never really succeeded. We were camped almost exactly at the crux point where we would need to decide between two route options: continuing a direct assault up the S Fork to lake 11,640 in the upper basin, or climbing (directly from our camp) west onto a bench of tarns that give access to "boomer pass" (seen in my avatar pic)--the route to fabled Bubble Lake, in the next branch of Black Creek to the north. (We hoped to eventually link those two options in a lollipop, but the weather eventually had other plans.)
It was an oddly warm night, a feature that would persist throughout this trip, between the overall warm weather and the lack of truly clear nights. We both brought quilts and were very happy with that decision.
Black Lake (in a private inholding) from the abandoned CCC trail:
First big view of the upper basin country:
First unmapped lake:
First big view of the upper basin country:
First unmapped lake:
Day 2 (ca 2 slow miles, ca 1,000 ft gain)
We decided to continue directly up the S Fork, past the small lakes that aren't on the map, eventually to a larger lake that isn't on the map, directly below the headwall to the upper basin. This travel was slow, but now we were finally in open alpine meadow/talus. We were seeing constant bear, elk, and moose sign throughout the drainage, but never saw the animals. After a short fishing break, we tackled the super-steep headwall, which was mostly grassy and dry, so it could have been a lot worst. After a lung-busting climb, we beheld the glory that is lake 11,640, in a bowl a couple hundred feet below, with its undoubtedly infrequently seen (by humans) beautiful turquoise color. We picked our way down, mostly in boulders, and found a couple semi-flat spots near the shore. Life was very good. The afternoon was given to fishing and lolligagging. The weather threatened a tiny bit but never stormed for real. Any afternoon at this elevation with no storm in late July is a victory. TrailElder was in communication with the home front, and the forecast is not so great for the remaining days, but we're not worrying about that yet.
A family of mountain goats came through camp, but they were pretty skittish--you can tell they don't encounter humans up here much. (We're just over a ridge from the upper Slate Creek drainage, where I've found them to be very difficult to get rid of.)
Headwall to upper basin:
Unmapped lake and Guyselman Mtn.
Lake 11,640
Unmapped lake and Guyselman Mtn.
Lake 11,640
Day 3 (Zero day with exploration from camp) (Also TrailElder's birthday: a big one with a zero at the end)
Our main goal this morning was to scout the route to the pass NW of our camp at lake 11,640, leading toward Bubble Lake and "Double Bubble" (upper Bubble Lake). Which we accomplished after a leisurely morning. This is rough terrain. We admired the up-close view of the straight arrow couloir on Peak H. There is a huge moraine blocking the route (which could be climbed over but it would suck), but we identified an opening through and the route from there to the pass (below Peak G), so we were satisfied. That would be tomorrow's adventure. By 11:00, the clouds were building pretty steadily: we weren't going to avoid a monsoon storm today.
We got back to camp and ate lunch, and TrailElder geared up for an afternoon of serious fishing, for the trout who had eluded him so far. I washed my hiking clothes (a bit of a drying risk, given the storm brewing), and went full monte in the lake to bathe--a very invigorating experience to say the least. The storm held off until about 4:00, surprisingly, but once it started, it never really stopped until about 3:00 am. TrailElder coaxed me out of the tent with some birthday bourbon, and we cooked dinner in manageable rain. Mrs. TrailElder was warning of an increasingly poor forecast, so we were beginning to doubt that we'd be able to climb to almost 13,000 on our planned route tomorrow. It was an early retreat to the tents.
Ptarmigan:
Day 4 (7 miles? A lot of elevation dropped)
I crawled out about 5:30--we knew that if our plans were a go, we'd need an early start. The sky was not awful but not promising: most good-weather days in the high country in these parts in summer start with the sky completely clearing after dawn, which is was definitely not doing this morning. Given the sky and the forecast, we made the tough decision to drop rather than climb today, effectively eliminating Bubble Lake and the bench of tarns from the itinerary, unless the weather changed drastically.
The steep headwall was good and wet now, making the descent pretty ticklish. We both took a couple minor tumbles. By mid morning, it was raining steadily and the high country was socked in. We had clearly made the right call.
The steep headwall was good and wet now, making the descent pretty ticklish. We both took a couple minor tumbles. By mid morning, it was raining steadily and the high country was socked in. We had clearly made the right call.
TrailElder got serious about fishing the unmapped lakes and the stream between them--he finally cracked the code and caught some fish!
Lunchtime, we hunkered down in the location of our first camp. By now, there would literally not be a square inch of dry ground between here and the established camp we had seen at the S Fork meadow, about 2.5 very long and punishing bushwhack miles down valley from here. This was the point of no return: as we left from this spot, we knew that we weren't heading back to the high country again on this trip. The afternoon was given to finding the next very wet 20 feet, and lusting after that camp in the meadow. We ended up on the west side of the creek for a while, which, we affirmed again, is generally sub-optimal.
As we rolled into the meadow, now soaked to the bone, TrailElder heard boisterous voices, which was not a good sign. Sure enough, a group of five jocular, cannibis-enjoying young men were base-camped there. They were fun to chat with, but we had really wanted that camp. (To their credit, they did offer to share: both their camp and their weed. We declined both. We did enjoy their kudos for where we had been.) We searched in vain for any other dry patch of ground, before reluctantly forging ahead. We considered just going all the way to the truck, since camp possibilities are extremely limited in this dense forest.
Fortunately, TrailElder had made a good mental list of possible camps, and we eventually were able to tank up for a dry camp on a rocky promontory with a couple small level-ish benches for tents. By now (6:00?) it had mostly stopped raining, but the clouds had dropped low into the valley--it reminded me of being in the Cascades. Despite being dry, this ended up being a real nice camp, and we enjoyed our last evening out. It was lovely to be in dry-ish clothes.
Day 5: half-day out (4.5 miles?)
We uneventfully headed out the next morning. At one point, we apparently scared up a bull moose, which we did not see, but the five guys (who were just below us on the trail, also on their way out) did. Then it was the punishing drive down from the Brush Creek TH, a rendezvous with my car, and a nice lunch at Baker's Brewery in Silverthorne.
TrailElder was a great hike partner: we had great conversation and were very compatible in outlook, pace, ability, etc. His interest in fishing (which I do not share) built some downtime into the trip for me, which I really enjoyed. The weather had it's say--we weren't able to get to Bubble Lake, which is spectacular. Maybe another trip...
I've been a little deliberately vague about the details of the route here. I'm happy to share details by PM if anyone is interested. The USFS is very keen to keep this remote portion of the Eagles Nest Wilderness absolutely pristine, and it is indeed pristine. The entire Black Creek drainage is some of the most remote and hard-to-penetrate mountain terrain in the lower 48. It remains a place to which I feel intimately connected, and will hopefully continue to return to often. Shortly before this trip, my best friend lost his battle with pancreatic cancer. He had been doing quite well, and his death was sudden. Needless to say, I really needed (and got) some mountain healing.
I really enjoyed your fishing report. That's a really nice looking Cutt. I am considering packing in my new