Escaping The Nutshell

2013-08-11 Long Lake outlet

You can see the GPS tracks for this entire hike.

The video shows: Waldrop Ski Trail (0:00-0:04), South St Vrain Creek (0:05-0:21), Indian Peaks from Waldrop Trail (0:22-0:34), Mount Toll from Mitchell Lake Rd (0:35-0:50), Long Lake outlet (0:51-1:04), Moose at Long Lake (1:05-1:45), Long Lake (1:46-2:01), Moose again (2:02-2:21), View from Niwot Ridge Trail (2:22-2:59).

We started hiking at 8:55 from the Brainard Lake winter parking area near the entrance station. Going along the north side of Brainard Lake Road, we turned right onto the Waldrop Ski Trail, following that all the way to Mitchell Lake Road.

Going down Mitchell Lake Road, we turned right onto Long Lake Road to the Long Lake Trailhead. We headed up the Long Lake Trail to the outlet of Long Lake, crossing the bridge over the outlet. At Long Lake we saw some moose lying in the shade of the trees, which we got on video.

We turned right onto the Jean Lunning Trail, then left onto the unmarked Niwot Ridge Trail. From Niwot Ridge we headed cross country over the tundra, hitting our high point on a knobtop (11,591 ft) at 11:51, then over to Niwot Mtn getting there at 12:08. From the Niwot Mtn summit we descended northeast to the Lefthand Reservoir 4WD Road which we followed back to the parking area, returning at 13:27.

The total distance traveled for this hike was 10.05 miles, and the altitude difference from lowest (parking) to highest (Niwot Ridge) was 11,591 - 10,085 = 1,506 feet.

2013-07-21 Elevation profile: Niwot Ridge Trail Loop