Michael Hodges (Smudge), and I had been talking about experiencing the mysterious Forest Canyon which is said to be one of the most isolated and harsh terrains in Colorado. We weren’t sure we believed all the hype about this area you can look down on from Trail Ridge Road so we decided to check it out. I’ve been trying to photograph Hayden’s Gorge for the last few years but every time something would stop me from coming away with a decent photo so we thought we would combine the two and hike into Hayden’s Gorge for sunrise via Bear Lake and then hike out via Forest Canyon to a car we left waiting at the Ute Crossing TH. It was just a 15 mile hike, how hard could it be?
We departed from the Bear Lake TH at ten minutes to midnight. We were up on Flattop in 2 hours and 5 minutes which was pretty slow for Michael and then hiked fairly quickly along the Tonahutu trail through the Big Horn Flats until we cut off trail to head towards Sprague Mtn. This is where the trip really began at about 2:47am. It was pretty marshy and then lots of rock fields which took us quite a while to get through. We then had the joy of climbing up Sprague which is one bear of a mtn. It just goes up and up very steeply and when you think you are at the top you realize you are at a false summit and have a lot longer to go. We eventually reached the area we were heading to on the west side of the summit of Sprague at about 4:15am. All around below us was just a dark black hole. We couldn't see anything. The batteries in my GPS decided to die and the map didn't make much sense as it lead us down into the darkness. We eventually agreed on the way to go and found that it was the right decision, leading us to Hayden Spire which we previously couldn't see. We then passed the spire and began looking for our way down into Hayden Gorge.
We spotted a route from Forest Canyon Overlook the day before but were having trouble finding it in the dark. We searched for about 30 minutes for the right place to begin our steep descent. Then things became a bit more challenging. It was all loose dirt and rock. We spread out so that as we pushed rocks down they wouldn't hit the other person. It was slow going. At about 5:30am we were down about as far as we needed to go from the saddle. We knew then that we had to take the eastern side of the basin to get down to Hayden Lake as the other side was full of cliffs. I'd tried the other side before on a previous trip but wasn't able to get down to Hayden Lake. This next section was one of the hardest parts of the entire trip, much more difficult than we had anticipated. It involved climbing up and over a long stretch of giant boulders which seemed to have been designed as a barrier to keep people from crossing them. At 6:10am we reached the northern shore of Hayden Lake. My hope had been to get to another lake North East of this position for sunrise as Hayden Lake itself wasn't in a great position for sunrise. The rock formations around Hayden Lake were stunning and there was also a beautiful waterfall coming down from the south side of the lake. The sun was already beginning to rise so I had to setup and take a few shots from here, none of which will likely be keepers. If I had been 10 minutes faster we could have gotten some nicer pre-dawn light, but we were still rock hopping then. After a few shots we headed towards this other lake and found an overlook from a cliff to take a few shots. We saw some really nice light on the mountains in the back ground and had a spectacular view of the area including the un-named lake I had been heading for. Below it were several tarns lit with reflected alpenglow, a rushing stream and waterfalls. Although the view was stunning there were really no good compositions for photography from this cliff, none-the-less I took some memory photos. After a little photography we both decided to take a nap as neither of us had slept, apart from a few minutes, since the night before. This little hike down into Hayden Gorge had been much more difficult than either of us had expected and we were beginning to feel pretty tired.
At about 8am after a little sleep, food and just enjoying the sunshine we decided it was time to get on with the rest of the trip. First we had to find a way off of the cliff and down towards the trees. We were amazed at just how rugged Hayden Gorge is. There are cliffs and rocks everywhere providing very challenging travel conditions for even the hardiest explorer. We thought it would take us just 5 minutes or so to get down in the trees but it probably took closer to 20 minutes to climb down rock after rock after rock and finally reach the forest floor. When we reached the bottom we decided to try and follow the stream as close as we could. The forest really wasn't too thick around here. There were fallen trees and some marshy areas but it really wasn't too bad. The next 40 minutes were probably the most enjoyable of the trip. We kept finding beautiful view after beautiful view looking up at Hayden Spires and other peaks from the stream and ponds along the way. The reflections were striking as were the flowers, dew filled meadows and sandy stream. One thing that really surprised us is that we saw no fish anywhere and almost no animals on our trip apart from a pika or two. Maybe they had heard the rumors about this place too!
When we reached the end of a small "lake" in the river we knew that this would be our last opening for quite a while. I put away the tripod and we prepared for the adventure to begin. It was 9am and we had no idea of what to expect ahead. We'd heard the stories but now we would find out ourselves if they were true or not. We continued to follow the stream but had to cross it regularly on logs as it twisted and turned back and forth. We regularly had to crawl over logs find ways around cliffy areas and found ourselves in marshes on a regular basis. The stream and valley continued to drop and drop with some less steep areas in between. It was really slow going. At about 10:30am we were exhausted and then the forest really began to get thick. There were fallen trees everywhere. You couldn't just walk around them you just had to find your way over them. We thought the terrain would have begun to level out but it just kept going down and down and down. It was really tough going breaking our way through the fallen and upright trees. We were covered in broken branches, moss that had been on those branches and dirt. Constantly, sticks were finding their way down the back of my shirts, pine needles and sticks made it into my underwear, shoe laces that despite being quadruple knotted kept coming untied. It was really pretty miserable. At about 11:15am we finally reached the Big Thompson. We had an easy crossing and we stopped to catch our breath, get some water and prepare for the next section.
The GPS said that it was just 1.5 miles to the car. That didn't sound too bad. It even said that if we continued at our present pace we should be there in about 30 minutes. We knew that it was going to take longer than that as we had over 3,000 feet of elevation to gain during this period. We fought our way through the forest for about 0.2 miles until we reached the start of the ascent. From there it was just cliffs and steep rocks covered in raspberry bushes, fallen trees and a tangle of undergrowth. We were about ready to turn around but decided to at least try. There really wasn’t any other option. We just repeated the rule we made coming down. No one is allowed to get hurt as there would be no way to get them out, so we moved slowly and carefully. The next period was the most miserable of the entire trip. I can't begin to describe how steep this ascent was nor how messy. I'm not even sure how to begin to describe it. Hopefully Michael will find a way to put it into words. After about an hour of climbing I was about ready to give up. Michael is in much better shape than I am and so he was still going but even he was beginning to show some signs of exhaustion. I let him lead as I was now too tired to try and find the best way through the mess. We both fell into thorn bushes as we climbed up and fought with fallen log after fallen log. At one point while crawling under trees my GPS found a way out which I didn't realize until later. (I'll describe the area if anyone thinks they are stupid enough to go down and look for it.) We slogged our way up and up stopping to catch our breath every 20 steps or so. I really was feeling exhausted and wondered if I would be able to take another step. Again, this was not just nasty choked terrain but incredibly steep...seriously steep and nasty, did I say that? As we climbed we noticed that the tree line on the far side of the valley had ended and we could see some of Tombstone ridge. We were above tree line there as well but we were still stuck deep in a nearly impenetrable forest! At about 2:30pm our forest eventually began to thin. Then the slope began to level off. Just another 5 minutes of walking and we were at our car which was parked a few hundred meters above the Ute Crossing TH. Our journey was finally done. We had covered 15 miles and it only took us about 15 hours!
We had expected this to be a difficult trip but neither of us anticipated just how difficult it would be. I can't imagine hiking down into Forest Canyon from Trail Ridge Road. It is so steep and filled with cliffs that it would not only be incredibly dangerous but absolutely stupid. The journey across Hayden Gorge and Forest Canyon is doable but not for those who are looking for an enjoyable hike. This is one trip that I think both of us have agreed we will not attempt again. We've both done a lot in the mountains and are fairly experienced but this is the limit of what we think any sane or slightly insane person should try.
As a side note, I've been struggling with insomnia for weeks but following this I slept 11 hours solid. That was the best part of the entire trip. :-D Also, here is a link to additional photos from our trip.
Erik Stensland
Aug. 22, 2009