Arrowhead Lake ~ July 14th, 2006

Location... Arrowhead Lake lies in the heart of Rocky Mountain National Park. You can see the lake and the  beautiful valley surrounded by rocky peaks by looking directly South from the Rock Cut scenic view, along Trail Ridge Road.

Besides Arrowhead Lake, the lush valley contains Love Lake, Rock Lake, Doughnut Lake, Inkwell Lake, Azure Lake and finally, Highest Lake. The lakes are connected by a series of streams, falling and carving their way down to the Big Thompson River in Forest Canyon below. The triangular and towering Mount Julian, Terra-Tomah Mountain, as well as the appropriately named Cracktop Mountain, surround the lakes and provide a stunning backdrop to the clear mountain waters. The ridge along the West side of the valley offers spectacular views. And you can gain steep access to the lakes themselves from several points along the ridge. Photographically, the opportunities seem to be about equal in both the dawn and dusk hours of the day. On this occasion, we chose to chase the evening light. And oh, what a treat it turned out to be!

The Route... Arrowhead Lake can be accessed by several different routes. We started at the Milner Pass trailhead along-side Poudre Lake and followed the trail towards Mount Ida for the first 3/4 of the trip. Then we dropped off-trail down and across the rocky ridge that runs West of the valley containing Arrowhead Lake. This route is about 6 miles one-way, not including dropping into the valley itself, and gains about 1800 feet of total elevation with a fair number of ups and downs. The trail is steep in places, but easy to follow for the first 3 miles. Then the trail becomes faint and intermittent, but this is about the point where we parted with the trail and trekked across trackless tundra and boulder fields. Good compass, map reading and GPS skills are a must for traveling off-trail.

The Photo Experience... I have been wanting to get to this location for a number of years. I had captured alpenglow on Mount Julian from a location near Trail Ridge Road, a number of years ago. And since that time, I've had many day-dreams of trekking across the tundra to see the scene up-close.

After departing the trailhead around 4:30pm, we worked our way up multiple switchbacks through the forest. Finally the trail climbs above tree-line and after several steep ascents, we were treated to our first views of Mt. Ida. The trail closely follows the Continental Divide, lying just to the Southwest, as it rolls, ridge after ridge, across the tundra.

As the trail climbs, views of Forest Canyon begin to unfold. Sunlight glints off vehicles moving up and down Trail Ridge Road directly across the thickly forested valley. Numerous tarns and lakes begin to come into view. The waters reflect the impossibly blue Colorado sky filled with puffy white clouds. Such views provide good opportunities for a short stop to rest and catch one's breath. And at nearly 12,000 feet, that is frequently necessary!

It took us about 2.5 hours to gain the large ridge West of Arrowhead Lake where the views are simply spectacular. The ridge slopes downward and dropped down along it's crest soaking up the majesty of the scene and trying to find the best vantage points for photos. By this time the sun was low in the sky and the light was turning to gold. Shadows filled the deep valley and warm colors tinted the clouds. We knew we were in for quite a treat, by the looks of the sky. 

I chose a place along the ridge, while Erik dropped down into the valley to the shore of Love Lake. I changed locations a couple of times, trying to find a vantage that would best display the "arrowhead" namesake of my subject. Then I set up my camera, composed and just sit back to watch the light. The clouds began to turn rosy pink, the mountains were aglow and the waters held impressionistic reflections of the scene. What a sunset!

After the light began to fade, I packed up and worked my way back to the ridge-crest. And as soon as I gained a western view, I was wowed again. The sun had fallen below the horizon, but left orange and pink remnants silhouetting Mount Ricthofen and the Nokhu Crags - unbelievalbe!

Erik made the steep climb back to the ridge, where he too admired the view. We unloaded some snacks to fuel up for the return trip. Then we got our bearing and then started back towards the trail. The slope of the ridge seemed almost endless as the light disappeared. We switched on our headlamp as we navigated the boulder strewn ridge back to the Mount Ida trail. Once on the trail, our pace quickened and we trudged downwards, arriving at the trailhead around 11:30pm. This was a long and difficult trip for me, but the scenic rewards far outweighed the effort expended. I already look forward to returning, someday.