"Lumpy Ridge High Route"

Category: Colorado (RMNP)Elev: 7,850-10,068 ft
Date: September 25, 2024 (Wed)Trip Report #: 754Partner: solo

Route: Trail and Cross-country (~10 miles, 3200 ft gain/loss)

A high traverse of Lumpy Ridge.

Intro

It was a gorgeous fall day and I had cleared out my schedule for a "fall colors hike". I had planned on hiking in the park, perhaps in the Glacier Gorge area or up the Flattop trail to the divide. There are some aspen groves on the first mile of these trails. I guess all the leaf peepers had the same idea, since when I logged in to rec.gov at 7:01pm to get a timed entry for RMNP, all of the timed entries had been snatched up (within 1 minute after they posted!). So after a bit of thought, I decided to go to Lumpy Ridge (which has a few ho-hum groves of aspen) and see if I could travel the entire ridge from east to west. 

I headed up the Gem Lake trail, cutting off west when it seemed obvious and getting up high on the ridge. For the next three and a half hours I made my way all the way to Sundance and back down to the trail. I guess I had in mind pleasant open forest with kinnikinnick underfoot and fascinating rock features peppering the landscape, and glorious views down onto the Estes Park. I did find a few short sections of this (and they were glorious), but for the most part the theme of those three and a half hours was clambering over downfall, scrambling up or down an occasional easy rock face, and sidehilling. It was interesting and good exercise, but there are certainly more enjoyable hikes in the area. I did happen upon a couple of nice aspen groves high on the ridge, so that was cool.

The entire adventure took me 5 hours 15 minutes, moseying along yet never really stopping for more than a minute at a time.

Below is a map of my GPS track and some photos from my "Lumpy Ridge High Route".

Map

My GPS track from my Garmin watch. The coloring represents elevation (red = highest, blue = lowest).

Photos

Lumpy Ridge parking lot at 7:30am. Don't worry—it was full when I got back.
An aspen grove near the start of Gem Lake Trail.
View of Longs Peak and some other Rockies.
View along the ridge.
A hardy small tree growing out of a rock.
A nice parklike section. I had anticipated more of this.
Kinnikinnick. One of my favorite words. I had to use spell-check.
There were sevearl rock formations along the way.
View along the ridge. I went and checked out the aspen grove.
Aspen grove in autumn yellow.
Aspens in autumn yellow.
Aspens in autumn yellow.
Aspens in autumn red.
Aspens in autumn red.
A random yellow plant.
The highpoint of Lumpy RIdge is "The Needles" at 10,068 ft. It is one of the listed named summits of RMNP, so I was glad to tick it off my list!
The highpoint of Lumpy RIdge is "The Needles" at 10,068 ft.
Back on the pleasant Lumpy Ridge trail.
Some of the rock formations (The Bookend, Bookmark, Book). Lumpy RIdge is a popular rock climbing destination. I've climbed here numerous times.
Longs Peak.

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