Gore Range - Elliott Ridge to Flapjack Lakes

Had a few chores to do, so I didn’t get to the trailhead until about 11:00. Fortunately, it was a beautiful day with no sign of rain as I headed of from the Elliott Ridge/Elliott’s Ridge/Elliot Ridge (depending on which map you’re looking at) trailhead. As I headed towards treeline, wildflowers were in abundance. The beautiful weather continued, as the ridge undulated gradually up and down a hundred feet or so in the distance. After hitting treeline and cresting the first rise, The Eagles Nest came into view, along with Meridian Peak, Mount Powell and several other jagged unnamed peaks that make the Gore Range such a wild and special place. My research on Google Earth and Acme Mapper had led me to believe I could take a “shortcut” to the lake, and this was true. Unfortunately, the final descent turned out to be much steeper than I had anticipated, and I ended up basically zig-zagging down a cliff face, carefully choosing my path to keep from getting rim-rocked. When I reached the lake, my GPS indicated slightly under 6 miles, but I was exhausted. I set up camp, cooked dinner and grabbed my fishing rod. The cutthroat trout in the lake were quite active, with some of the smaller fish leaping 6” out of the water to catch flying insects. Speaking of insects, the mosquitoes were intense! After catching and releasing one small cut, I retired to my tent, where I read and played my Irish whistle until it was time to go to bed. No campfires are allowed within ¼ mile of lakes in the Eagle's Nest Wilderness. I never sleep really well the first night out, and was awakened by a couple of light showers, but I did get some sleep. The next morning was again clear, so after breakfast, I grabbed my rod and made my way the 10’ from my tent to the lake. I caught three decent-size cuts and threw a few smaller ones back. Time to head out. I broke camp, cleaned the three fish and put them in a freezer bag with some cold filtered water. As there was no way I was going to make it back up the cliff face, I saw from the map that if I made my way due south (or south south-east) I should run into the Mirror Lake Trail. From the Southeast corner of the lake, I found a very faint trail, and following this, I hit the main trail within a ¼ mile. Now, it was just a long slog up the many switchbacks to the ridge. The scenery was beautiful, but this added another 2 ¼ miles, and by the time I made it back to my truck I could feel blisters forming on my feet, one on the pad of my left foot and the heel of my right. The trip back was uneventful. This is one of the prettiest hikes I’ve taken. The flowers and scenery were truly breathtaking almost every step of the way. Pictures are here: Trip Pics