Gabletop + Knobtop (Late Spring)

Category: Colorado (RMNP)Fern Lake Trailhead Elev: 8,150 ftSummit Elev (Gabletop): 11,939 ftSummit Elev (Knobtop): 12,331 ftRock Type: Gneiss &  Biotite Schist
Date: June 7, 2022 (Tue)Trip Report #: 544Partner: solo

Route: Starting at Fern Lake Trailhead (~13 miles, 4200 feet gain/loss)

Route GABLETOP: SE Slope (3rd) to SW Slope (2nd)

Route KNOBTOP: From Gabletop (2nd)

A fun solo link-up of two summits in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Intro

With the nice late-spring weather finally arrived to Rocky Mountain National Park, I felt like a morning of alpine exercise was in order. I was curious to check out the Tourmaline Gorge area and scramble to the top of at least one peak from there (the options are Gabletop, Knobtop, and Little Matterhorn). Timed entry was now in effect, so I got through the entrance gate before 5am and drove to the Fern Lake Trailhead. I then proceeded to hike past Fern Lake and Lake Odessa, then turned off the trail and hiked up into Tourmaline Gorge, from where I scrambled up to the summit of Gabletop and from Gabletop romped over to the summit of Knobtop. I had entertained the idea of making a loop out of it by continuing onto Little Matterhorn and from there dropping back down to the trail, but I saw enough sloughy snow and rockfall in the descent gully to convince me to just retrace my path back over Gabletop and down into Tourmaline Gorge and from there back to the trailhead.  The entire adventure took me about 7 hours car to car.

The following page gives maps and photos from the fun solo morning tagging two summits in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Time Stats

MAP

Photos

The first portion of the Fern Lake Trail follows the Big Thompson River.
Fern Falls.
At Fern Lake. I'm headed up into those mountains.
I hit snow on the trail between Fern Lake and Lake Odessa.
Lakte Odessa. Above is Notchtop, Little Matterhorn, and The Gable.
To get to Tourmaline Gorge, I followed the drainage upward. It was mostly snow, but I did find a single cairn poking through the snow so I was close to the summer route.
Tourmalie Gorge. On the left is Knobtop Mountain.
Looking up towards Gabletop Mountain's summit towers.
Knobtop Mountain.
Knobtop Mountain.
Little Matterhorn.
My shadow.
I headed up the 3rd class talus and boulders to Gabletop.
Looking at the summit of Gabletop.
On top of Gabletop!
View of Knobtop from the summit of Gabletop. I headed to Knobtop for my second summit of the day.
On top of Knobtop!
View from the top of Knobtop. That's Longs Peak in the distance.
View of Gabletop from the summit of Knobtop. Once I summited Knobtop, I reversed my route, so I headed back this way.
Cornices.
Tourmaline Lake and The Gable above.
Tourmaline Spire. This spire is on the ridge between Gabletop and The Gable. There are a couple of 5th class routes up this spire.
Lots of post-holing occurred on the way out. This one went through all the way to my thigh.
The Fern Lake Trail was engulfed by the East Troublesome Fire of Fall 2020. This was my first time seeing the area since the fire.
Warning sign.
Another remnant of the East Troublesome Fire of Fall 2020.
Mid-day traffic at the RMNP entrance gate. In July and August, the line stretches back to town at times, although timed entry has relieved that a bit.

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