Mirror Lake (+Mt. Ikoko) Overnight

Category: Colorado (RMNP)Chapin Pass Trailhead Elev: 11,020 ftMirror Lake Elev: 11,020 ftMt. Ikoko Elev: 12,232 ft
Dates: Sept 8-11, 2023 (Fri-Mon)Trip Report #: 646Partner: Nate Arganbright

Mirror Lake (+Mt. Ikoko) Overnight (~26 miles round trip, 3.5 days)

A late-summer long-weekend overnight trip through the remote northern reaches of Rocky Mountain National Park.

Intro

It was Nate's birthday weekend, the second weekend in September. The Rocky Mountain National Park mountain forecast looked good for the first half of the weekend, but Sunday afterward called for cooling temperatures and perhaps some snow. We decided to risk the weather, pack some warmer clothes and good books, and spend a few nights in the mountains for Nate's birthday weekend. 

Both of us had been intrigued by Mirror Lake, a remote alpine lake in the northern reaches of Rocky Mountain National Park. In fact, looking at a map, it appears as if Mirror Lake is the northernmost lake in RMNP. There are three backcountry campsites at Mirror Lake. We easily secured a backcountry camping permit. There are several ways to approach Mirror Lake, but we decided to appraoch via Chapin Creek, a valley without any developed trail that is a mini wildlife sanctuary of RMNP, untouched by the 20th century.

Here is our itinary:

The following page gives a map and plenty of photos from our 3-night birthday backpack to Mirror Lake. I had let Nate borrow one of my cameras for the trip, so I included several of the photos he took (credit given).

Map

Day 1: chapin pass trailhead to camp in chapin creek

~3 miles

Chapin Pass Trailhead, on Old Fall River Road.
A brief uphill section to Chapin Pass.
Sign at Chapin Pass. We went towards Chapin Creek.Photo by Nate.
Sign at the headwaters of Chapin Creek. There is no maintained trail for the next few miles until the intersection with the Cache La Poudre River.Photo by Nate.
Looking North into the Chapin Creek valley. This is a wild and remote section of RMNP.
Hiking north through the Chapin Creek valley.
There were several moose and elk tracks.
Our first (of many) moose sighting of the trip. Also notice the elk hanging out in the meadow on the right side of the photo.
Steph poking at a moose wallow.  A moose wallow is a pit the bull moose creates during the mating season, usually made by the dominant bull of the area. He makes it by pawing with his fore feet, scraping the ground. The bull then urinates in the wallow and lays down in the wallow, applying cologne in an effort to attract a mate.Photo by Nate.
We were planning to camp at the Chapin Creek backcountry site, but we could not locate it (we ended up finding it on our hike out a few days later), so we found a nice pad of dry pine needles and set up camp for the evening.
Location of our camp. Very close to where Chapin Creek and the Cache La Poudre River merge. The location of the Chapin Creek backcountry site is just south of our camp by 1/4 to 1/3 mile.
I had recently resumed a keto diet, so my food supply was primarily a pile of meat sticks. I had gotten Nate some of these Buffalo Bob's meat sticks for his birthday, and got some jerkey versions for myself, so that we could at least share something similar on the trip.
Nate enjoyed a few Coffee Crisps for dessert. My mom had gotten him these earlier in the summer. I don't know why you cannot get these in the States. They are quite good!
Enjoying the evening with a good book at hot drink.Photo by Nate.

Day 2: camp in chapin creek to camp at mirror lake & explore above mirror lake

~8 miles to camp, ~2 hours exploring

Ice in the cap of my water bottle. The temperatures must have dipped below freezing overnight.
Frost.
Bear scat. We never did see a bear on this trip, but we saw plenty of scat.Photo by Nate.
Tree pimple.Photo by Nate.
Hiking alongside the Cache La Poudre River.
Hiking alongside the Cache La Poudre River. You can see the burn scar from the 2020 Cameron Peak fire that raged through the area.
Entering the burn area from the 2020 Cameron Peak fire that raged through the area.Photo by Nate.
Location where we entered the burn in the Cache La Poudre River valley.
Charred trees.
Charred trees.
Charred bark.
Charred bark, curling from the heat.
Nearing the intersection with Hague Creek.
Trail junction. We now headed along the Mummy Pass Trail towards Mirror Lake.
The Mummy Pass Trail goes through the burn area from the 2020 Cameron Peak Fire.
Cute daisies in the burn area.
A grass of some sort in the burn area.
A grass of some sort in the burn area.Photo by Nate.
Hint of fall.Photo by Nate.
Some late-season fireweed in the burn area. Photo by Nate.
Charred steps.Photo by Nate.
Some intriguing circular marks.Photo by Nate.
Interting bark patterns. One of my favorite photos of the trip.Photo by Nate.
Steph hiking through the burn area on the Mummy Pass Trail.Photo by Nate.
Steph hiking through the burn area on the Mummy Pass Trail.Photo by Nate.
Steph hiking through the burn area on the Mummy Pass Trail. This is a cool photo!Photo by Nate.
The Mummy Pass Trail was closed at the Mirror Lake junction. It had not yet reopened following the 2020 fire.
Mirror Lake junction.
Mirror Lake. Mt. Ikoko above.
We camped at Site #2. There was a party camping at Site #1.Photo by Nate.
Our campsite at Site #2 at Mirror Lake.
Convenient water near our campsite.
Nate's lunch was packaged chicken, bacon, and siracha sauce on Ritz crackers.Photo by Nate.
My lunch was some miso soup (and a few meat sticks).
I read a few chapters in my book (Battlefield Earth by L. Ron Hubbard) while Nate took a nap in the tent.
After lunch/reading/nap, we went exploring. This is another photo of Mirror Lake, with Mt. Ikoko above.
Another photo of Mirror Lake, with Mt. Ikoko above.
A view south from the north end of Mirror Lake.
A beautiful unnamed lake above Mirror Lake.
A rocky basin above Mirror Lake. This area has numerous morraine-like features, so I am guessing there is some ice underneath creating the topograpy (and feeding Mirror Lake).
Mt. Ikoko. As far as I know there are no technical climbing routes up Mt. Ikoko. The rock looks a bit too chossy to be good climbing. Photo by Nate.
I found a splitter hand crack on my explorations.
I also found a cave that went back about 30 feet.
View out of the cave.
I also found a gigantic boulder that I climbed to the top of.
I named it "Split Boulder" for the giant split/chasm through the boulder.
The split.
Looking down the split from the top of the boulder.
View south from the top of Split Buolder.
A small lake in the basin above Mirror Lake. This lake has a sandy beach.
The small lake and Mt. Ikoko.
Mud cracks.
Scat near the lake. Bear?
I was getting a bit tired of meat sticks so I had a bunch of pistachios for dinner.

Day 3: scramble to top of mt. ikoko, move camp from mirror lake to chapin creek

~50 min to top of Mt. Ikoko from camp, ~7 miles from camp at Mirror Lake to camp in Chapin Creek

It was sprinkling lightly (you can see sprinkles on the lake surface) when we set out to scramble up Mt. Ikoko.
We scrambled up this slope above Mirror Lake.
View down on Mirror Lake while ascending the slope above Mirror Lake.
The 2nd class south slopes of Mt. Ikoko.
Nate on the summit of Mt. Ikoko.
Nate on the summit of Mt. Ikoko.
A view down at Mirror Lake (and the unnamed lake to its north).
A view into the basin above Mirror Lake. You can see "Split Boulder". Comanche Peak is across the basin.
A view north from the summit of Mt. Ikoko. The boundary of RMNP is not too far away.
I really wanted to continue north to touch the boundary of RMNP and then descend into the basin to show Nate the Split Boulder, but it looked like weather was moving in (I had a bar of service and was able to get this forecast too).
View towards Long Draw Reservoir to the west.
Descending the south slopes of Mt. Ikoko back to camp.
We found a USGS survey marker on the south slope of Mt. Ikoko, installed in 1937.
The survey marker.
Some nice gneiss.
Wood cut.
Late-season fireweed in the burn. We had decided to move camp closer to the trailhead to try to avoid too much hiking in the rain the next day.
Cool wood swirls.Photo by Nate.
Bug on dandelion.
It hailed a bit.
Vines on granite.
Wood split.Photo by Nate.
Just before we reached Chapin Creek, the rain that had threatened us the entire hike now started to come down hard. We quickly set up the tent and scrambled inside.
An afternoon and evening of reading ahead. We were treated to a symphony of animal noises dominated by the bugling of elk in the nearby meadows.
During a brief sunny spell between rainstorms, I walked around outside. This is where we camped.
Water droplets.
Nate's favorite freeze-dried dinner: Mountain House chicken and dumplings.

Day 4: hike out from camp in chapin creek

~4 miles

Hiking south towards the headwaters of Chapin Creek. Notice the fresh dusting of snow in the mountains. This was the first snow of the year (and pretty early, given it was still technically summer).
We came across a pair of shed moose antlers. It is illegal, according to Federal Law 36 CFR 2.1(a)(1)(i) to pick up shed antlers in national parks. In fact, the penalty for picking up an antler in these locations could be up to $5000 and 6 months in jail.  
Here is the actual wording of the law (Reference): 2.1 Preservation of natural, cultural and archeological resources.(a) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the following is prohibited:(1) Possessing, destroying, injuring, defacing, removing, digging, or disturbing from its natural state:(i) Living or dead wildlife or fish, or the parts or products thereof, such as antlers or nests.
Moose track.
Moose track.
Moose scat.
A moose.
A female moose and calf. 
A moose had probably laid down here for awhile.
Nate in a large moose wallow. A moose wallow is a pit the bull moose creates during the mating season, usually made by the dominant bull of the area. He makes it by pawing with his fore feet, scraping the ground. The bull then urinates in the wallow and lays down in the wallow, applying cologne in an effort to attract a mate.Photo by Nate.
Fresh snow as we neared Chapin Pass.
Fresh snow on Nate's truck.
A beautiful drive back over Trail Ridge Road. We had been a bit worried that Trail Ridge Road would be closed for the snow (meaning we would be unable to get back to Estes Park without a long drive around the south end of RMNP), but fortunately the road had not been closed.
A beautiful drive back over Trail Ridge Road.
Newt after three nights having the house to himself.
But he was happy to have me home.

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