mt. ida (+ timber lake overnight) (Autumn)

Other times I've summited Mt. Ida:

Estes Skyline High Route (~50 miles, rock up to 5.4, 3.5 days) • Mt. Ida from Milner Pass (9.5 miles, 2300 ft gain/loss, with parents)

Category: Colorado (RMNP)Timber Lake Trailhead Elev: 9,050 ftTimber Lake Elev: 11,085 ftMt. Ida Elev: 12,880 ft
Date: October 6&7, 2023 (Fri&Sat)Trip Report #: 650Partner: Nate Arganbright

Mt. Ida (+ Timber Lake Autumn Overnight) (13.2 miles, 3820 ft gain/loss, 2nd, 1 night)

A gorgeous autumn overnight and scramble to a summit on the Continental Divide.

Intro

Autumn had arrived to Rocky Mountain National Park with a stellar indigenous peoples summer. The leaf peepers were flocking to the area to experience the gorgeous weather and spectacular fall colors. Nate and I decided it was a great weekend for an overnight in the mountains.

We decided on Timber Lake on the west side of the park. I had never been to this lake, and the Continental Divide was a mere mile and 2000 feet above Timber Lake, so we figured we could gain the Continental Divide for sweeping views of the surrounding mountians. A wilderness permit was available for the Timber Creek backcountry site. So to Timber Lake we went!

We left on Friday after work, drove 1.5 hours from Estes Park to the Timber Lake Trailhead via Trail Ridge Road, and hiked a few miles into the Timber Creek backcountry site, enjoying several stands glowing aspens on the hike up. On Saturday we packed up camp in the morning chill and hiked the remaining couple of miles to Timber Lake, where we enjoyed breakfast and coffee in the sun near the lake. Then we headed up the tundra slope to the southeast of Timber Lake, summitting Mt. Ida shortly before noon. (I had summited Mt. Ida three times before—in June and July 2020 on a "Estes Skyline High Route" with Nate and in June 2022 with my parents who were visiting all of the way from Canada.) It was a stunning fall day, sunny and calm, and with a fresh dusting of snow on the north sides of the surrounding peaks. We hung out on the summit for awhile, soaking in the views and deciding what to do. We had brought food for two nights, so we could continue along the Divide and explore a bit before returning to camp and enjoying another night out before hiking out Sunday; or it was early enough in the day that we could hike all of the way out, drive back to Estes Park, regroup, and climb at Lumpy Ridge on Sunday. We opted for a day at Lumpy, discussing what we would climb the next day and enjoying the beautiful views and aspens as we went.

The following page gives photos from our spectacular autumn overnight and summit in RMNP. Enjoy!

MAP

FRIDAY: Timber Lake trailhead to camp at timber creek

~3.5 miles

Timber Lake Trailhead.

5.3 miles to Timber Lake.

Aspen.

Aspen.Photo by Nate.

Aspen.

Aspen leaf on trail.

Aspen leaves on trail.

Hiking towards the Timber Creek campsite.Photo by Nate.

Autumn red.

I was surprised to see a sunflower. In October!

The trail to Timber Lake crosses an active landslide area. This landslide began in 2011.

Crossing the active landslide area. This looks like a washout to me.

View back of the active landslide area.

Our camp at the Timber Creek backcountry site.

Once the sun goes down it gets pretty cold in the fall. We ate dinner swaddled in sleeping bags and down jackets.

Nate's dinner: couscous.Photo by Nate.

SATURDAY: CLIMB MT. IDA, hike out

~9.7 miles

We spotted a few moose in a meadow alongside the trail shortly after leaving the Timber Creek backcountry site.

Timber Lake.

Some frost on the lakeshore.

Timber Lake.

Coffee and breakfast in the sun near the shore of Timber Lake.

View towards the head of the basin above Timber Lake. We headed to the saddle on the left side of the photo.

A thin layer of ice on the lake.

Heading up the slopes above Timber Lake towards Mt. Ida.

Lake Julian on the other side of the ridge from Timber Lake. There is no trail into Lake Julian so the best way to get there is probably to go via Timber Lake and then down this rocky slope in the photo.

Easy tundra slopes to the summit of Mt. Ida.

Ascending the tundra slopes.Photo by Nate.

Nearing the summit.

The summit.

View east from the summit of Mt. Ida towards Terra Tomah Mountain and Mt. Julian. The lakes below are Inkwell Lake and Azure Lake. The lake basin looks like a cool area to explore sometime.