WHOA! What Remarkable Views!!

Several months ago my muggle friend Paul dropped me an email. He had just made the hike to the summit of Niwot Mountain (11,471 feet) from the parking lot at the entrance station to Brainard Lake and the great trails accessed on the loop road beyond that fee station. He suggested that I HAD to get to the top of this mountain, because the views from its high point of all the mountains in the Indian Peaks Wilderness plus the three “forbidden” peaks of the Boulder Watershed area were far better than anything he or I had seen from any other vantage/perspective. In my mind I tended to downplay the “far better” part, because in the past Paul and I had climbed every one of those Indian Peaks, either together or independently. What better views could be had than those intimate ones seen from those summits themselves?! Well, I finally consented to make the hike, and we did it on snow from parking to summit and return. Wow, was I WRONG in prematurely concluding that the views could not be better than some I’ve witnessed from more close-up locations! The panorama from Niwot is incredible; its indelible on the mind, far beyond my anticipations and far better than even those from Caribou Benchmark. I’m so glad I joined Paul and our puppies (my Orizaba and Chimborazo, and Paul’s Brisco) on this great snow hike.

Well, needless to say, this summit needed a cache that will attract people desiring a backcountry experience to such a superb place. It now has one. Park at the large parking lot below the entrance station and then take the road that branches left just before the station. No fee is necessary if you park here. Follow the road toward Left Hand Park Reservoir and leave the road at a point your mapping work suggests in order for you to gain Niwot’s NE Ridge. If you map correctly, it will be easy going up to the ridge, and no bushwhacking is necessary. Once on the ridge, follow nice alpine tundra all the way to the large rock wind wall configuration at the summit. Before searching for the cache, sit on a soft rock and admire what should really be the primary goal for the efforts you’ve made–the remarkable views.

After you feel initially sated by what you see, find the cache. It’s a bit difficult, because almost everything in the cache vicinity looks similar. Use the spoiler photo. The cache is quart sized and is wrapped in black tape and hidden beneath a number of rocks. It’s about 18 feet toward the NW from the outer western base of the rock wind break at the summit. The coordinates should be accurate, but consider going a bit beyond 18 feet and looking back toward the wind walls. Find the cache just to the left of a patch of alpine tundra, and just right of a rock that has an orange coloration on the face of the rock that is adjacent to the hiding location. You can see these features in the spoiler. PLEASE replace rocks over the cache very carefully, so you do not break the container.

After signing the cache log and delicately re-hiding it, find that soft rock again and sit and appreciate where you are–the BEST place to see the incredible reach of the Indian Peaks from Rocky Mountain National Park all the way to their southern terminus. That should be your primary objective of your hike. The cache should be secondary!

Now–a winter find? The hide location is in a place that should be scoured free of snow by the strong winter winds, but I can’t assure that this will always be the case. So you are taking a chance if you make a snowshoe ascent to the summit of Niwot Mountain with the goal of finding the cache. If you do, and find that snow has accumulated at Ground Zero, all is not “lost”. The extraordinary views are still there on clear days throughout the winter season, so you still should have a highly memorable experience! If you do make a winter attempt, be certain to check Colorado Avalanche Information Center before you leave, to learn of avy potential in the area.