Ice Lake Basin Photo Trip

This weekend I went to the San Juan mountains outside Silverton, CO with hopes of capturing some great wildflower images.  A few years ago I read about Ice Lake Basin’s gorgeous scenery and impressive wildflower display. Due to a below average snowfall last winter and unseasonably high temps this spring/summer most reports indicated it just isn’t that good of a year for wild flowers. If this was a “bad” year, I can’t wait to go back for a good year!

I was supposed to leave Colorado Springs at midnight and get to the trail head around 6:30AM Friday morning but my son Ben woke up Thursday afternoon with a 102.8F fever.  I decided to wait until Friday to see if his fever went down – I don’t think Katie would have appreciated me leaving her with a sick infant and a wild toddler so I could go backpacking. Ben was doing much better on Friday so I left at noon.  I put my pack on and hit the trail at 7PM. Fortunately the storm I drove through the previous hour had subsided.

This trail is approximately 3 miles and 2,000 vertical ft to get to Ice Lake in the upper basin (there’s a lower basin also). It took 40 minutes to get to the lower basin and another 45 minutes to get to the upper basin with a full two night pack with camera gear. I only stopped once in the lower basin to take a photo. I really wanted to set up camp in the upper basin before dark or another round of thunderstorms.

I actually took this pic with my phone on the way back down - this is the head wall of the lower basin. The outlet of Ice Lake is flowing through the rock crevasse in the middle of the shot.

Another snapshot of the lower basin (from the trail to Island Lake). Those are the last trees that offer any protection from storms.

Home sweet home for the weekend

I made it to Ice Lake with enough daylight left to set up the tent and feed Milo a late dinner before dark. Not long after getting in my sleeping bag a thunderstorm built up on the mountains around the basin. This was THE MOST VIOLENT storm I have ever had the pleasure of riding out in a tent! It is important to mention at this point that Ice Lake is well above tree line so there is ZERO protection.  I laid on my camp pad pressed as low to the ground as possible as the storm just hung over the basin for hours  battering the tent with wind and heavy run while shaking my guts with booms of thunder. It would have been a very impressive show if I wasn’t wondering what it was like to get hit by lightning while hours away from medical help. At one point I turned my headlamp on to do a quick leak check – no one wants a wet sleeping bag or camera gear. When I shined the light on Milo his eyes were popped out of his head – if he could talk I’m guessing he would have said “what the F are we doing here”. On a positive note, my REI Arete 3 tent stayed completely dry (I love this tent)!

After racking up a solid 1.5 hours of sleep it was time to eat some food and put on my boots. The storm had cleared and made way for a great sunrise (clear eastern horizon and clouds still lingering over the mountains to the west).


Ice Lake Basin and the Golden Horn

I wandered around the basin and up to Island Lake for hours. There were plenty of dense wildflower patches and aqua blue water making for some nice images. Even into late morning there were still interesting clouds and no wind to ruin reflections or move flowers around – a perfect morning!

Paintbrush and the turquoise water of Ice Lake

Ice Lake Pano

Island Lake

Milo posing in the flowers above Ice Lake where there are a bunch of alpine tarns

Clouds rolled back in Saturday afternoon while I was exploring an interesting waterfall in the lower basin. When the thunder and lightning started picking up we were still pretty far below the tent so it was time to break a sweat. We made it into the tent just as the rain and hail started pounding the basin…glad I brought a book. It never really cleared up so we stayed pretty close to the tent. I was pretty bummed I didn’t get an opportunity to shoot anything interesting at sunset - there are some very nice views looking back down the valley.

Milo did get to swim in Ice Lake before the storms - or is that the Caribbean?

Time to get in the tent!

With a forecast filled with afternoon/evening thunderstorms (as is typical for Colorado summer) I decided to shoot Sunday morning then pack up and hike out rather than wait around for another sunset disappointment. I woke up before sunrise but it was very cloudy so I decided to sleep in. When I woke up again it was still mostly cloudy and consistently breezy so I broke camp and headed out.

I decided to take the dirt road cutoff between Ridgway and Cimarron (~40mi) – this is a very scenic drive but I don’t think it saves any time over going through Montrose. About 10 seconds after turning onto the pavement in Cimarron, I blew a tire (instantly flat to the rim).

Sad

I didn’t have my car manual with me and there was no phone/data service so I put the donut spare on and drove east on 50 a couple miles to get cell service. Turns out on a manual Outback you can’t disengage the all wheel drive (at least not on the side of the road) so you can't drive more than 10 mph. I was 40+ mi west of Gunnison. One $265 tow later I was in Gunnison. The guy from H&H towing put a plug in the ¼” diameter hole and sent me on my way. I probably could have done without this part of the adventure.

Getting There: From Colorado Springs, I drove to Canyon City to get on highway 50 all the way Montrose and turned south on 550 through Ridgway and Ouray over Red Mountain Pass. Approximately 2 miles short of Silverton, turn right at the sign for South Mineral Creek Campground (dirt road). There are a lot of unofficial and official campsites along this road. I forget the mileage (no more than 4mi) - drive until you see a right fork in the road with a small sign for Clear Lake. If you have a vehicle with decent clearance, take this right fork and drive to the first large switchback (less than 1mi) there is parking for 4-6 cars on the turn. The trail starts right at the point of the turn.

Route: The trail is well worn and easy to follow all the way to Ice Lake - approximately 3 miles and 2,000 vertical feet. If you want a shorter trip with a full backpack camp in the lower basin where there are a number of treed sites with easy water access.

Precautions: Thunderstorms can be nasty business in the mountains. As nice as it was to camp in the upper basin it can be an uncomfortable feeling when your aluminum tent poles are the tallest thing around and there are lightning strikes.