Approach to Missouri Lakes
My wife and I headed out from Colorado Springs on Friday night and drove the three plus hours to the trailhead - our trip was about cut short on Tennessee Pass when we missed hitting a bull elk by about 10 feet at 40 miles per hour. We arrived after dark and found a dispersed camping spot east of Forest Road 703 along Homestake Creek.
After a good nights sleep we arrived at the upper 4-wheel drive trailhead about one hour after sunrise. We headed up the trail and quickly arrived at the diversion dam and entered the
Holy Cross Wilderness. Over the next two miles we gradually worked our way up to the Missouri Lakes Basin through some of the most beautiful
creekside hiking around. At one point the trail passes through a narrow canyon and crosses Missouri Creek via a nice foot bridge.
Missouri Lake basin can only be described as "eye candy". The various
lakes and streams full of trout, boulders, and lush greenery surrounded by
towering cliffs is what wilderness is all about.
Missouri Lakes to Savage Peak
Holy Cross Ridge and Missouri Lakes from near the summit of Savage Peak
After soaking in the views for about a half hour we proceeded up to the saddle
on the east ridge of Savage Peak. The hike up to the ridge was relatively easy.
Once on the ridge we sat and enjoyed the
views! After a brief pause we
followed the lower portion of the east ridge staying 5 to 10 feet away from the
sheer cliffs down into the Missouri Lakes basin - great exposure if you like
that sort of thing. After climbing about 300 feet up the steep upper portion
of the ridge my wife Julie found a flat boulder with a view and told me to keep
going. Just before summiting I looked back down the east ridge at the
cliffs we
had walked along just an hour or so earlier.
I summited about twenty minutes after leaving Julie and enjoyed the
massive views in all directions. I soaked everything in for about fifteen minutes
and let all my worries drift away before heading down to meet Julie and begin
the remainder of the descent to Missouri Lakes.
Back at the lakes we enjoyed a light lunch and relaxed for about an hour. We
vowed to return to this lovely place before heading back to the trailhead. A little
over an hour later we were back in our jeep heading home - the only sad part of
the trip.
Disclaimer: Rather than submit duplicate or repetitive pictures I have linked to a few previously submitted pictures by other SP members to give some photo reference to the text.
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