This trail, while relatively short, was probably one of my favorites we have done in Colorado in a while. I’m also very happy we made a camping trip out of it. Camp spots are extremely limited though, and we likely got the best in the house because we showed up extremely early and staked out our claim before hiking further.

We hiked this with our friends Henry and Dana, though they were day-hiking. Dan and I brought our camping gear. The trailhead for this hike is at the end of a dirt road just up the mountain from another trailhead: Quandry Peak Trailhead, which leads to a 14-er (Quandry Peak). We were a bit worried because even at 630am, that trailhead was packed full of cars. I guess tons of folks climb that 14-er in a day. We got a decent parking spot on the road at McCullough Gulch Trailhead though and set off.

Almost immediately we started seeing so many wildflowers. The trail is fairly steep and requires just a little bit of light bouldering in places. You’re greeted with several waterfalls and sweeping views of the valley into the base of Atlantic Peak.

The first mile or so of the trail takes you through pine forests that eventually rises to a flat area where the first lake is. We hiked around the lake and found a gorgeous spot to camp with views to the south-east. Hiking around the lake did involve a little bit of scrambling up and down some rocks. Normally, I can do this easily, but my knee was still healing and the steep parts worried me a bit. Dana got a good photo of me struggling to get down a particularly steep part. Dan had to help me eventually by taking my pack.

Me trying desperately to get a foothold and not fall. Doesn’t look that steep from down here…Picture Credit: Dana Bustamante — Me trying desperately to get a foothold and not fall. Doesn’t look that steep from down here…
Picture Credit: Dana Bustamante

Campsite, looking out along the lake. Henry and Dana take a breather.

Aerial view of campsite. Picture Credit: Dana Bustamante — Aerial view of campsite.
Picture Credit: Dana Bustamante

After taking a short snack break, Dan and I dropped most of our heavy camp gear off at the campsite and filled our day packs with snacks and water (I still had more water than I should have at this point in the hike…more on that later). We started heading up the steep cliff to the north of the campsite, just over which promised to be more alpine lakes. The trail from here on has several spurs, so there are several ways to get up to the top. But the good thing about alpine basin hiking is you cannot really get lost. You’re in a bowl below very recognizable mountains on all sides, so just keep pushing.

When we crested the steepest part of the cliff, what greeted us is this gorgeous wildflower-dotted alpine meadow spanning the whole of the basin. There are several smaller hills inside the basin, but it is mostly wide open and amazingly colorful. Dana took several pictures of the wildflower gardens.

Alpine basin meadows at the foot of Atlantic Peak

Dan was a happy camper(hiker)! And oh look, there’s a dragonfly behind him!

We hiked even further up to the base of the peaks to see what other alpine lakes we could get a glimpse of. Some of them turned out to still be frozen!

Frozen alpine lake at the foot of Atlantic peak.

We tooled around for a bit trying to find more lakes and eventually came upon a hill where we sat and had some snacks. Again, by this point I had more water still than I should have but I was feeling ok. I think by this point I was just finishing my liter and a half. We ate and took some more pictures.

Another alpine lake. View from our lunch spot.

After lunch, we headed back down, taking a more off-the-beaten-path approach. Again, you can’t really get lost in this basin so we went over lots of boulder fields and down the side of some hills. Eventually we met up with the trail again and started to head back down to our campsite. I snapped this awesome picture before we left the meadow.

View of lower lake where we camped from way above on top of the hillside.

Henry and Dana took another break at our campsite before heading off for the day. Dan and I stayed behind and tried to find some shade in which to spend the afternoon, relaxing. The sun was definitely beating down at this point, and with no clouds, it was pretty rough staying out in it. Luckily, it is not too humid in Colorado so if you can find some shade it does not feel as hot.

We hung out with some marmots too, who were clearly trying to cool off out of the afternoon sun as well.

Dana found a lone columbine in the shade and sat next to it.

Dan and I waited to set up camp (our tent) for a while due to the heat. By mid-afternoon, I was starting to feel pretty shitty. I also started to (at this point, really bad) drink a ton more water than I had during the whole hike. I got a raging headache and took some ibuprofen, thinking it was mostly just altitude. I tried to stay in the shade as much as possible.

We had a view potential campers come by during the afternoon looking for camp site. I would say the one we picked out was probably the best in the whole area, and certainly out of very slim pickings. A larger group of 4 or 6 folks ended up hiking around the other end (south) of the lake to find a place to camp.

By late afternoon, the clouds began rolling in and it started cooling ever so slightly. In the event of rain, we decided to set up our tent.

When the shadow of the mountain comes over, it starts cooling off. Marmot really wanted to soak up that afternoon residual heat from the rocks.

By 5pm or so we decided to start making dinner. I was feeling ok at this point but still not 100%, after having drained a good four or five whole 32-oz nalgene bottles of water. I was starting to feel a little low on salts (electrolytes) and thought maybe I was just hungry, so we broke out my homemade dehydrated meals. We had a (too) spicy tofu curry with rice dish and a ratatouille dish with farro (farro goes great with ratatouille! who knew!). Both were excellent, but didn’t make me feel that great. In fact, I started realizing that I was probably severely dehydrated. I continued drinking lots of water and just tried to relax. We were completely in the shade by this point after dinner, so that was good.

It was close to 8pm and we had refilled all the water bottles so I could continue drinking more water.

The sun started to set, which was really pretty. The marmots were out still soaking up the heat on the rocks. Luckily, even though we were camping at a lake, the bugs were not too bad. We did get mosquito bites but not too much. And after our Washington hikes, I’m never complaining about minimal mosquito bites again.

Sun starts to set with golden light still on Red Mountain and Hoosier Ridge

Dan filling water for the umpteenth time from the nearby creek

After dinner, we also had some hot chocolate. Last hike with Dana (Beartracks Lakes), she had brought hot cocoa mix along and I decided we should absolutely do that, maybe with our whisky we usually bring for post-dinner relaxation.

It was great but my stomach was fed up with being dehydrated and the addition of food was probably the final straw. I should have been drinking way more water than I did on the main hike and I waited too long to drink a ton more and probably got too over-heated as well during the afternoon. I had to get sick so I tried to go way away from our camp area to relieve my stomach. The thing about dehydration is (and this has happened to me before), once you get sick, you start feeling better fast. At least as long you have been drinking tons of water once you realize you should have been all along. I did start to feel better right away.

The only downside was, I had drunk so much water that afternoon and evening that I could barely get any sleep because I had to pee like every hour.

The next morning was bright and mostly clear. We woke up relatively early (6 or 630a) and were greeted by a couple marmots. One of which chomped down that lone columbine for breakfast. The one Dana had so painstakingly not trampled yesterday while we were hanging out at camp. Oh well. Marmots have to eat too.

Even at this time of morning, at this elevation the sun seems extremely close. It started to get pretty warm as we sat there making breakfast. Breakfast was also a homemade dehydrated meal of eggs (those we bought in powder form), black beans, green chili, tomato sauce leather, bell peppers, and spices. Served with corn tortillas. Not too shabby. By the morning I was feeling much better, despite lack of sleep.

The second mistake of the trip I made was not immediately putting tons of sunscreen on my face. Even from the 7am sunshine, I got so sunburned and my lips were cracked and burnt for at least two weeks after the trip. But hey, I can’t really complain. We had such amazing weather, gorgeous views, and perfect camp conditions. I’d definitely go back to this trail in the future. Plus, those wildflowers!

McCullough Gulch Trail - Mount Evans Wilderness