Little Pawnee - Pawnee - Toll (& Blue Lake) LOOP

Other times I've done portions of this route: 
Category: Colorado (Indian Peaks)Elevation: 10,300-12,979 ftRock Type: Gneiss & Granite
Dates: July 6, 2023 (Thu)Trip Report #: 625Partner: solo

Route: ~10 miles round trip, ~4000 ft gain/loss, 3 summits & 4 lakes, rock up to 4th

A fun half-day traverse in the Indian Peaks.

Intro

I had finished up a morning of meetings and work, and had nothing on the docket for the afternoon. I felt the need for a dose of mountain exercise. So I nabbed a timed entry permit for Brainard Lake (there was just one left!) and decided to do an ascent of Little Pawnee to Pawnee Peaks, one of the classic short traverses in the Indian Peaks. The forecast called for a 50% chance of afternoon rain, but I decided to chance it.

Fortunately (especially fortunate because I had forgotten to pack a rain jacket), the rain never materialized, but it did cloud up with some interesting muted skies. The traverse between Little Pawnee Peak and Pawnee Peak was quite fun and exposed 3rd, with a few short 4th class sections. My initial plan had been to finish the loop by regaining the trail at Pawnee Pass. But on top of Pawnee Peak, I was compelled to head north towards Mount Toll to tag another summit. I looked  for a good way to descend the north side of Toll (supposedly there is a 4th class way to avoid the 5.6 of the North Ridge) and continue the traverse over Paiute Peak and Mount Audubon to tag a total of five summits, but I could not locate a descent I was confident about and I was also a bit concerned that the rain would at some point develop. So I decided to head down the snow slopes to Blue Lake and regain the trail there.

This was a fun traverse with 360° views for the entire ridge section. Mountain exercise does wonders for the soul. My round trip time was 5 hours and 23 minutes from the Brainard Lake parking lot. I'll be back for some longer traverses in this area in the future.

This page contains a map, stats, and lots of photos. Enjoy!

Map

 Brainard Lake Trailhead to Little Pawnee Peak (2nd/3rd)

Brainard Lake Trailhead: 10,300 ftLittle Pawnee Peak: 12,466 ftSplit time: 1:50Cumulative time: 1:50

Ascended East Ridge (3rd) of Little Pawnee Peak.

Brainard Lake parking lot. A lot of people just come here and have a picnic lunch with a view.
Brainard Lake.
Pawnee Pass trail. I left the trail and headed north just before Lake Isabelle.
This photo was taken just after I left the trail and headed north towards Little Pawnee Peak.
Ascending towards the ridge of Little Pawnee Peak.
On the ridge, now headed west towards the summit of Little Pawnee Peak.
Nearing the summit.
Silky phaceila or something like it.
On top of Little Pawnee Peak.

Little Pawnee Peak to Pawnee Peak (3rd/4th)

Little Pawnee Peak: 12,466 ftPawnee Peak: 12,943 ftSplit time: 1:02Cumulative time: 2:52

Ascended East Ridge (3rd/4th) of Pawnee Peak.

Looking towards Pawnee Peak from the top of Little Pawnee Peak.
A 4th class downclimb.
A tuft of hearty Fairy Primrose.
Ridge between Little Pawnee Peak and Pawnee Peak, taken looking west towards summit of Pawnee Peak.
Ridge between Little Pawnee Peak and Pawnee Peak, taken looking west towards summit of Pawnee Peak.
Ridge between Little Pawnee Peak and Pawnee Peak, taken looking west towards summit of Pawnee Peak.
Ridge between Little Pawnee Peak and Pawnee Peak, taken looking east towards summit of Little Pawnee Peak.
Ridge between Little Pawnee Peak and Pawnee Peak, taken looking east towards summit of Little Pawnee Peak.
On top of Pawnee Peak.

Pawnee Peak to Mount Toll (2nd)

Pawnee Peak: 12,943 ftMount Toll: 12,979 ftSplit time: 0:31Cumulative time: 3:23

Ascended South Slope (2nd) of Mt. Toll.

View of Mount Toll from the summit of Pawnee Peak.
At the saddle between Pawnee Peak and Mount Toll.
An interesting plant at the saddle between Pawnee and Toll.
On top of Mount Toll.

Mount Toll to Blue Lake to Brainard Lake Trailhead (2nd)

Mount Toll: 12,979 ftBlue Lake: 11,355 ftBrainard Lake Trailhead: 10,300 ftSplit time: 2:00Cumulative time: 5:23

Descended Southeast Slopes (2nd) of Mt. Toll down to Blue Lake, intersected trail and hiked out.

VIew down to Blue Lake from the saddle between Pawnee Peak and Mount Toll.
Blue Lake.
Descending snow. I had brought spikes (but no axe) and the spikes were kind of useful to have since the snow was a bit steep in a few sections.
Looking back up at the snow I descended. You can make out some vague ski tracks.
Blue Lake.
Ice breaking up on Blue Lake.
Build up of cumulus clouds to the east. The pattern the last couple of days had been thundershowers developing east of the mountains while the mountain weather remained fair.
Marsh marigolds.
Mount Toll above Blue Lake. I had climbed the left (south) side and come down snowfields below the south side of Toll.
Trail.
The trail was a stream in places.
Parry's Primrose.
The Mitchell Lake parking lot. Usually this is open for parking by July 1, but they still had not opened it this year yet, so the only parking was at Brainard Lake.
Back at the Brainard Lake parking lot. A nice evening. I'm glad I never let the forecast for thundershowers dissuade me from getting in some needed mountain exercise.

previous and next adventures