Bob and Betty Lakes/High Lonesome/Devil's Thumb

Bob and Betty Lakes/High Lonesome/Devil's Thumb Run

Sorry about the long title, I couldn't figure out a better description for this particular hike.  It's all in Indian Peaks Wilderness Area, but that's an awfully big area.  Plus, those are some pretty great names, right?

This run started at the Hessie trailhead, just outside the town of  Eldora.  Did you know there was a town of Eldora?  I knew there was a ski resort, but it turns out just past the ski resort is a really cute little town that I wouldn't mind having a cabin in.  (It's an awfully long list of places I wouldn't mind having a cabin in.)  It follows one of the many branches of Boulder Creek and was a wonderful change from the parched run I did last weekend in Pike National Forest.  There were a ton of wildflowers, a roaring stream, hundreds of butterflies following me, and frequent views of the rapidly approaching, snow-capped Indian Peaks.  All it needed were rainbows and unicorns and it would have been a perfect scene for a velvet painting.  

After climbing and climbing (the hike started a little below 9000') I got to Bob Lake, and then Betty Lake, which are on a little spur off the main trail.  They both sit in a high valley that's absolutely breathtaking (and also literally breathtaking, since it's at about 11,200').  

Above is Betty Lake, the lower of the two.  Flowing out of both of them were surprisingly large waterfalls, and enough marshy-willowy areas to thoroughly soak my shoes.  Again, such a change from the South Platte area - here's a picture from that hike!

But back to Bob and Betty!  I thought I'd cut across back to the original trail, but just ended up tromping through about 100 yards of marsh, re-soaking my shoes and slowing me down considerably.  After about 20 minutes though, I found the original trail and headed up to Woodland Lake, which sits just below the Continental Divide near the Ralston Pass 4WD road.  I passed it, and headed up to the Divide, but first took a quick picture of dear old Bob and Betty as I ascended:

Once I got to the Divide, I joined the High Lonesome Trail, which follows the Divide on the West, providing great views of the Frazier Valley and points west.  Points west include views of the mountains around Steamboat, the Gore Range near Veil, Lake Granby, and the southern peaks of RMNP.  The trail is aptly named since it's all above tree-line and although you can see forever, there's no evidence of human existence whatsoever!  It was great!  After a couple miles of that I headed back to the Eastern Slope over Devil's Thumb pass.  I looked all over for the Thumb, and finally saw it once I had gotten all the way back down to Devil's Thumb Lake.  Not very thumb-like if you ask me, and as to the Devilish quality, I couldn't guess.  On the way back I had planned on taking another side-trip to Jackson Lake, but a couple of the gels I had stuck into the outside loops of my Camelbak had fallen out, and I didn't want to risk bonking (running out of fuel) so I just took the straight shot back to the Hessie trailhead, completing the loop.  On the way back I went through some beautiful fields of wildflowers - some of the reddest  Indian Paintbrush I've ever seen, and yes, more butterflies and waterfalls.  Here's some of the wildflowers there:

All told the run (frequently just a hike) was 17 miles and took about 4:45.  For you scoring at home, you'll find that's not a very fast pace, but I wanted to enjoy it and take it easy before my big race in Grand Junction next weekend.  It's a great loop though - I highly recommend it to anyone who wants a good run, or a really long hike.