July 9, 2020

By Tim Briese

6.2 miles, 1600’ elevation gain, 6:55 roundtrip time

Teresa and I drove over Independence Pass and parked at the trailhead along Highway 82 at the first sharp switchback below the west side of the pass. The elevation here is about 11,500’. I had seen lots of vehicles parked at this trailhead almost every time I had driven by over the years and knew there must be something here worth seeing. My internet research confirmed that Lost Man Lake is a beautiful place to visit. We headed up the valley on the nice trail that goes through extensive stands of willows for a while along the upper reaches of the Roaring Fork River, with scenic peaks lining each side of the valley. There was an exuberance in our spirits on this beautiful sunny July day. We steadily climbed up the valley, stopping often to take photos of wildflowers and the surrounding scenery. We stopped to visit with several other hikers, socially distanced of course in this pandemic year, and found that most of them were visiting from other states.

on the trail up the valley

We passed by West and East Geissler Mountains to the northwest of us and after a little over two miles reached Independence Lake, which rests in the valley at about 12,500’, which is where the Roaring Fork River starts. There were some banks of snow remaining, and we hiked across many other places where it had recently melted and the tundra vegetation had not yet fully sprung to life.

independence lake

west geissler mountain

From the lake we continued north up the trail to a 12,800’ saddle. 

the trail went up to this saddle

At the saddle we were treated to a nice view of Lost Man Lake in the valley below.

lost man lake

Some hikers turn around at the saddle but we wanted to hike on down to the lake even though that meant re-climbing 400 feet of elevation on the return. The lake lay in a beautiful high mountain cirque, with picturesque rocks and flowers around its shore. It provided a beautiful setting for lunch and for relaxing a while.

a nice spot for lunch

Some hikers went on past the lake and continued on the Lost Man Loop Trail which goes down a long valley and circles around to return to Highway 82 a few miles below the trailhead where we started. That would likely be an interesting adventure but a vehicle shuttle would be required. After a while we left the lake and hiked back up to the saddle and continued down the trail back to our truck.

on the return we bushwhacked up the grassy slope to the left, choosing to avoid the trail which went across some snow and talus to the right

There were a lot of people on the trail and at the trailhead now, including a young couple from Missouri that we visited with. They were exuberant about Colorado and talked excitedly about loving to move here. I suggested, half jokingly, that they go home and give notice and come back. Sometimes I wonder if they followed up on my suggestion.