The access for the Trailhead to Clear Lake is at the end of County Rd 41 ("The Closure"). From this point the distance is 10 miles and access is foot, bike, or horse. In Autumn, enjoy the wildflowers and Raspberries along the way. A scenic hike over difficult terrain to a beautiful high alpine lake living up to its name.

Clear Lake Geocache is for those who enjoy remote locations and finding caches in the high country. You will find the cache at 11,000 feet after a scenic 10-mile hike over varied terrain to reach this high alpine lake that lives up to its name. Trail access is from County road 41 beyond the "Closure". Permitted use is foot, bike, and horse.

07/15/2017 By Denali41
I’ve wanted to make the long hike in to Clear Lake since this cache was published, but other activities never allowed me to make the time commitment. Recently, a muggle friend mentioned that he hoped to get into this area and explore fishing in the lake. I jumped at his suggestion, so we agreed to overnight at his cabin in North Park and then get a really early start on the trail. Even with a dawn beginning, it was an unusually warm morning; we were soon stripped down to T-shirts for the hike. The heat rose to the point that I drank four liters of water during the long hike in and out. Wow! Lets see: four liters–that’s more than 8 pounds of water that I carried in my pack including the other stuff. Be prepared for many, many miles of traversing open terrain with no shade for this approach! Bring plenty of fluids.

As we hiked, I recalled the thrill so many years ago of my hike into nearby Kelly Lake for the cache that had recently been placed there. I expected to get the FTF on it, as no official log had been recorded. When I reached and found that cache, I was surprised to see a signature on the log sheet. The finder had not yet recorded his/her find, so I ended up in the second-find position. I wondered if the same would happen at Clear Lake.

We arrived at the lake and Ward set up to tempt the lake’s cutthroat trout with his selection of dry flies.
I continued up the talus to the cache coordinates and commenced a long search for the cache. With some tenacity I eventually located it and held my breath as I opened the log book. YES!! I am the {FTF} on this great cache. I sat and admired the marvelous scenery around me, especially riveting my attention toward the highest peaks along the Rawah Range boundary of Jackson and Larimer Counties. I had climbed all of these mountains years ago, and it was a wonderful experience to view them from a new perspective. Meanwhile, my friend Ward caught and released more than a dozen nice cutthroats. Black ants were the “dry fly” so attractive to these beautiful fish on this particular day.

Thanks for this cache. It resulted in fine adventures.

08/19/2016 By Alpine Reviewer
Published