Hike up to Neva Lakes, Indian Peaks Wilderness





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A new weekend and a new hike up to Neva lakes in Indian Peaks Wilderness through Colorado Mountain Club. We got to the 4th of July trailhead a few miles deep on a bumpy road behind the town of Eldora at 8.15 a.m. There were twelve of us in the group. After the customary introductions and instructions from the trip leader, we started up the trail at 8.40 a.m. The initial part of the hike is through wooded forest. This is peak wildflower season and they were indeed in full bloom everywhere. There was blue skies, streams flowing past by, distant snow clad peaks and wildflowers in a variety of colors. We had to cross streams multiple times. In a little over an hour, we were above tree line in the tundra. We saw remains of an old mine.


After around 30 minutes, we were at a point where we had to break off from the main trail and find our way up towards the lakes. This involved navigating through huge boulder fields, talus, multiple snow fields, streams and bushes. 


To the biggest surprise of our lives, we found the remains of a plane wreckage strewn near a snow field (Later on we found out that this was from a plane crash that happened on December 24th, 1971. A 29 year old pilot was flying from Denver to Steamboat springs and he lost control in bad weather).  It was sad to see this in such a desolate place as no one could have possibly survived a crash at this altitude in such rough terrain. 


After around couple of hours climbing up, we reached the lower Neva lake. The Lake is hidden below Mount Neva peak. We took our time and had our lunch here. We hiked up the upper Neva lake. These lakes were partly frozen even during this time of the year. Blue icy lakes, partly cloudy skies and snow clad peaks all around made this truly spectacular! 


The hike down was again through back country where we had to find our way. We went through boulder fields, talus, snow fields, streams and open meadows. All along it was interesting to see droppings of a variety of animals. It was exhilarating and exhausting at the same time. Finally we found the main trail which took us back down the trail head. We reached back to our cars at around 4.15 p.m. 



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