October 20, 2024
Back to Sylvan Lake SP
It was late October, and we were nearing the end of “dry” hiking season in the Colorado Rockies. The aspens were bare. The bushes had turned orange and brown. And a recent snowfall dusted talus fields on the highest summits.
Still, there remained time for a few more adventures sans flotation. And so I trundled once more along the dirt roads of Sylvan Lake State Park, and into the vast tract of peaks and valleys between Eagle County and the Roaring Fork.
My chosen destination was Mystic Island Lake. I’d had a lot of success this summer with lengthy hikes to the alpine lakes within the Northern Sawatch and Gore Ranges. And with a name like Mystic Island … how could I not?
I spotted the lake labeled on a 3D map during a recent visit to the adorable Sylvan Lake SP Visitors Center. My mind flooded with fanciful ideas about what an intrepid hiker would find at the remote location … unicorns? Hippogriffs? Early-career Julia Roberts?
Into the Sawatch
I parked at the trailhead near Fulford Campground. This sat just down the road from another great hike in the park, to New York Mountain, I’d completed earlier in the summer. I shouldered my pack and headed down a dusty dirt trail towards Lake Charles, another (lesser) lake en route to Mystic Island Lake.
In fact, there are two approaches to the lake. The “Lake Charles Trail” ramps gently up through a lush valley, along East Brush Creek. The higher-elevation and more rugged “Iron Edge Trail” approaches along a ridgeline above the valley. You can use both trails to create a more interesting loop hike. But the 2000-vertical, 12-mile out-and-back along the Lake Charles trail was formidable enough for my appetite that day.
The trail followed the creek faithfully, occasionally crossing it. Soon it entered into the Holy Cross Wilderness which protects much of the area.
The trail rose very gradually. Occasionally well-maintained bog bridging helped me negotiate wetland areas. Views down-valley opened up as it rose past massive glacial erratics and negotiated small scree fields.
Along the trail to Lake Charles Mystic Island Lake
A couple hours later, I’d reached the lakes. Lake Charles was a bit small and underwhelming. But Mystic Island Lake did not disappoint. It sat in an alpine cirque, surrounded by rock dusted in October snowfall.
As part of the arid west, Colorado is not home to an enormous quantity of natural lakes. And very few of them feature much in the way of islands. But true to its name, Mystic Island Lake did sport a small, rocky island. It was close to one shore, and sported only a couple small trees. But it was indeed fully surrounded by water.
I lingered a while, soaking in the views. I ran into precisely zero other people on my hike that day. Pretty wild, considering how many miles I covered and how expansive the views were at times. Colorado is just chock full of excellent hikes. Some are extremely popular. Others are empty!
Moose Encounter
An hour or two later I’d returned to my car. The skies had darkened, and flurries came on and off again. Driving out from the Fulford Campground Area, I glanced down at the marshy, braided waters of Brush Creek. I spotted a big, brown, awkwardly ambling cervid—moose!
I stopped the car, and peered between the trees down towards Brush Creek. A bull moose waded in the marshes, a couple females nearby. He spotted me, but didn’t run off. We were a very comfortable distance apart. What a treat!
