Mitchell Blue
Okay, so I’m trying to catch up on my photo posts from this summer, and realized I never got around to posting and photos from this short hike. Once again I return us to the Indian Peaks Wilderness for another outing, this time on a different route. This trail is a short somewhat easy hike that first takes you past Mitchell Lake, a nice easy hike for any fisherman wanting to fish still water and catch native cutthroats and brook trout. You can head further up the trail to Blue Lake that sits in a granite cirque under the shadow of Mount Toll. When we were there in late June, there were still bits of the ice pack floating about the lake. There was still a bit of haze in the air from the High Park fire outside of Fort Collins. It was a nice short trip into the mountains on a hot summer day.
- Parry Primrose grows along small streams and creeks.
- Parry Primrose, Marsh Marigold, and Mountain Bluebell enjoying the spring runoff.
- A white variation of the American Globeflower.
- View of Paiute Peak on the trail too Blue Lake.
- Mount Toll from just below Blue Lake
- Mount Toll again
- Blue Lake and Mount Toll in the background. Ice out on Blue Lake was only weeks before.
- Purple Irish moss
- Our common friend, the Yellow-bellied Marmot, or Whistle Pig, named for its shrill whistling when it spots potential threats.











