Peaceful Valley/Saint Vrain Glaciar Trail Backpack - 16 miles

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A quick overnight trip into the Indian Peaks Wilderness with the family. Hiked in from the Buchanan Pass trailhead on Friday morning. A 3 hour hike got us 6 miles up the trail, 1 mile into the wilderness area. We camped in the beautiful meadows just before the trail that heads south to Red Deer Lake. The girls were, once again, incredibly fast hikers and capable campers.
After setting up camp, Kelly and Rach headed up to Red Deer Lake for an afternoon stroll while Leah and I hung out in the meadow to nap and read. A late afternoon thunderstorm cool things off and had Leah and I quickly set up the tents to stay dry while the flowers got their daily dose of water. 

In the frosty morning, we hiked up to Gibraltar Lake at the head of the valley. Awesome! The upper reaches of this drainage is the most alpine and gorgeous spot in the Wilderness Area. Big cliffs, huge snow fields, perched lakes, loads of flowers, granite boulders and marmots. Just amazing. Kelly was so smitten, she decided to become a mountain mama and skinny dip in one of the little tarns. Clear, cold water with 7 inch trout.

After a bit of scrambling around, scoping out all the routes to the top of the ridges, and a lunch, we headed back down valley to pack up camp and got back to the car by 5. 

Rach and I will head back up there next year to climb Elk Tooth and Ogallala Peak.
Location: County Road 92, Lyons, CO 80540, USA

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