OVER THE RAINBOW: CORRAL CREEK, FALL MTN. & MIRROR LAKE

Hike dates: July 8-9, 2005. Trailhead: Corral Creek Trailhead, Rocky Mountain National Park Starting elevation: 10,000 feet; Highest elevation on the hike: 12,258 feet Route: Mummy Pass Trail from Corral Creek Trailhead to the Desolation backcountry site for the first night. On the second day, Mummy Pass Trail past Mummy Pass toward Fall Mountain. Climbed Fall Mountain (no established trail) and returned past Mummy Pass to reach the Mirror Lake Trail. Hiked to Mirror Lake before returning to the campsite. Total trip distance: About 18 miles. Weather/trail conditions: Mostly sunny in the mornings and overnight, mostly cloudy in the afternoons and evening, with intermittent thunderstorms. Trail mostly dry and completely snow-free, with several soggy spots near Mummy Pass.

There are only a handful of Rocky Mountain National Park trails that I have never set foot upon, and the Mummy Pass/Mirror Lake trail system is one of those trails. Corral Creek Trailhead, located near Long Draw Reservoir in the northwest part of R.M.N.P., is arguably the most remote trailhead in the park. I checked in at the Corral Creek kiosk, staffed in summer by park volunteers, to get my backcountry pass. My plan was to camp tonight at the backcountry site named Desolation, and use it as a base camp to set out in to this vast area I had never had the chance to explore.

Corral Creek Trailhead

Cache La Poudre River

The first part of the trail starts downhill, which was a rare treat, as it descends toward the Cache La Poudre River. Generally following Corral Creek, the trail heads northeast as it descends to the national park boundary at about one mile from the trailhead. From this point, the route leads south through an open valley along the Cache La Poudre River. This river is a playground for whitewater enthusiasts just west of Fort Collins, as the Poudre Canyon along Highway 14 is built up with many businesses to cater to people who come to raft or kayak on the river. However, the river remained wild and untouched from where I stood, much closer to its source in the Never Summer Mountains.

Desolation backcountry campsite sign

Trail through Cache La Poudre valley

After following the Cache La Poudre River for about one-half mile, the trail turns to follow its third waterway, Hague Creek. This stream begins on the west side of the Mummy Range near The Saddle, and drains in to Cache La Poudre at this point. The trail turns east here and follows Hague Creek through the first extended uphill section of the trail. After about ten minutes, I reached the edge of a broad valley and a trail sign indicating I had arrived at the backcountry trail leading to my campsite. Leaving the main trail and following a sketchy, muddy path through the meadow, I soon reached the single-site backcountry site named Desolation.

Hague Creek valley from the campsite

Evening sun and storm, Hague Creek

I was instantly impressed with the location of the Desolation campsite. R.M.N.P. sites are normally set in mature forests on purpose, and do not always offer great views from the campsite itself. This site, in contrast, was set in the trees just on the north end of the open Hague Creek valley, and with just a few steps I could stand on the edge of the valley and take in a panoramic view that reached all the way to distant Hagues Peak. I was also pleased with the absolute lack of human sounds, with only the natural sounds of Hague Creek and nearby wildlife reaching my ears. As I set up camp, however, I realized I was definitely not alone. An angry throng of hungry mosquitoes, which apparently been circling my head for hours, now feasted on me as I stopped moving. Frantically batting at the air, and running away from the site every few seconds to escape the swarm, I was also pleased there were no humans around to witness how silly I must have looked. It was a reminder that the west side of the park, which typically gets far more moisture than the east side of the park, is full of mosquitoes and their favorite habitat, damp meadows. I was able to quickly assemble the tent and get inside without letting in any unwelcome guests, and opted for a quick nap as raindrops began to fall and thunder echoed through the valley.

Rainbow, Hague Creek valley

Storm clouds, Hague Creek valley

The brief rain shower passed, and rays of sunshine once again illuminated the tent wall. I emerged to see dark clouds passing to the east down the valley, and as the sun reached the clouds, a gorgeous rainbow emerged. The rainbow seemed to begin and end just in front of me, as it spanned the valley and merged in to the trees at both ends of the valley. I had never been so close to both ends of a rainbow, and began taking pictures just before the short-lived rainbow began to fade. This was just the first of what would be an evening of a spectacular natural light show in the skies above the valley.

Setting sun and passing storm clouds

Sunset colors, Hague Creek valley

Waves of storm clouds passed overhead, and the evening sun continued to fade toward the horizon behind me. With each minute, the clouds changed shape and color in dramatic fashion. I continued to walk around the Hague Creek valley, taking in the natural sounds of an evening of solitude in the wilderness, and doing my best to ward off the mosquitoes. After a couple of hours, darkness was about to engulf the valley, so I returned to my tent. I slept fairly well for being at nearly 10,000 feet above sea level, and certainly slept much better than my last night in the bcakcountry, an agonizing sleepless night at the Boulder Field. I did wake up at about midnight, and took a quick walk to the valley to witness a dazzling display of stars and planets. Without artificial lights of civilization to drown out the heavens, the stars stretched all the way to the horizon and were amazingly bright and vivid.

Mummy Pass Trail, early morning

Wildflowers on Fall Mountain

The next morning, I crawled from out of the tent to cool and clear skies. I returned to the main Mummy Pass Trail and headed east to my first goal of Mummy Pass. The view improved as I passed the Mummy Pass Creek campsite and ascended toward timberline, with the peaks of the Mummy Range, Never Summer Range and Routt National Forest all coming in to view. I reached Mummy Pass at some point (the exact location was not obvious) and continued east to find a good route up Fall Mountain. I elected to head further east and strike up the southeast side of Fall Mountain to the summit. Although this was a steeper approach than from the south or southwest, it allowed me easier access to the route without hiking through a lot of undergrowth. I headed up the steep, tundra covered slopes toward Fall's summit, enjoying the increasingly scenic views and endless wildflower displays. After reaching a false summit, I crossed a tundra meadow and soon reached the true summit.

View of Fairchild and Ypsilon Mountains

Fall Mountain summit ridge

Summit of Fall Mountain

View west from Fall Mountain

View south from Fall Mountain

There were about two dozen entries from the previous thirty days in the summit register, although no one had logged a hike to the summit in the last eight days. Fall Mountain is a summit that is remote and without direct trail access, so it certainly does not see too many visitors. However, the long approaches from both Corral Creek and Pingree Park do not require a strenuous elevation gain (in relative terms) and this probably intrigues enough hikers to reach this point. Regardless of how may hikers actually reach the summit each year, there was no one in view in any direction today. I sat on the small summit and took in the views of the dramatic dropoff to the north, the Never Summers to the west, the Mummy Range to the south, and the foothills and Great Plains to the east. After taking some photos, I decided to retrace my steps via Mummy Pass and then continue to Mirror Lake.

Wildflowers on Fall Mountain