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Blue Lake Traverse (Aka the JV Traverse)

4th, Trad, Alpine,  Avg: 3.1 from 14 votes
FA: unknown
Colorado > Alpine Rock > Indian Peaks > Indian Peaks Traverses
Warning Access Issue: Closed Area - City of Boulder Watershed DetailsDrop down

Description

This is a traverse of the Blue Lake Basin starting as far down on the ridge connected to Little Pawnee as you can. Peaks hit are Little Pawnee (via exposed E Ridge), Pawnee, Toll, Paiute, and Audubon. Aside from a couple of notches, the entire traverse is basically Class 2-3, but it is right on the crest nearly the entire time. I think this is an excellent junior league traverse if you're looking to get into something harder and more committing or just want a big day up high. It's above 12.5-13K but pretty mellow. This is exposed the whole way.

Tips:
Little Pawnee's E ridge is the crux and has the most techy moves in a couple of notches. Early/mid-season, they''ll have snow. Consider an axe or at least a sturdy branch! All difficulties on the ridge itself are passed on the N. Side.

Getting off Toll looks tough, but it's pretty easy. Take the obvious notch just down from the summit. Follow cairns, and use good route finding judgment. There is lots of loose stuff. Climb carefully. It is never more than 4th Class if you hit it right.

You're likely to find water between Pawnee and Toll before August. After that,  maybe not. Plan accordingly.

This is a very low commitment traverse. If you're over it, just pick a line back to the basin, and you're back on a superhighway in no time.

Location

To link the full ridge, start at the Blue Lake Trail, but where the trail makes an obvious "V" just east of a small heart-shaped lake, cut south cross country aiming for a couple of gullies on the North side of the ridge. I took the western gully, and it was mellow. Hit the ridge, and off ya go. The nice thing about this route is that it deposits you right back where you started.

Protection

Sticky rubber shoes and maybe an axe or spikes, conditions depending.

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

The trail off Audubon isn't exact, but It's a superhighway back to where you started.
[Hide Photo] The trail off Audubon isn't exact, but It's a superhighway back to where you started.
From the summit of Mt. Audubon, Paiute beyond to the right, Mt. Toll and Pawnee Peak to the left.
[Hide Photo] From the summit of Mt. Audubon, Paiute beyond to the right, Mt. Toll and Pawnee Peak to the left.
An overview of the traverse from the summit of Mount Audubon.
[Hide Photo] An overview of the traverse from the summit of Mount Audubon.
From the summit of Mt. Audubon, Paiute in center, Mt. Toll is the craggy peak to the left, and Pawnee Peak is the grassy knoll left of that.
[Hide Photo] From the summit of Mt. Audubon, Paiute in center, Mt. Toll is the craggy peak to the left, and Pawnee Peak is the grassy knoll left of that.
A view of the ridge to Mt. Toll from the summit of Paiute.
[Hide Photo] A view of the ridge to Mt. Toll from the summit of Paiute.
The traverse starts on the little bump just left of Mt. Toll.
[Hide Photo] The traverse starts on the little bump just left of Mt. Toll.

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Brian Hansen
West of Boulder, CO
[Hide Comment] The SE ridge of Audubon is a great alternative to the normal trail. One section of Class 3-4 at a notch and no people. Aug 6, 2020
Ryan Marsters
Golden, CO
[Hide Comment] Just noticed this was added. There are numerous great linkups in here, but for this particular area, I would recommend starting with Audubon SE ridge too.

Audubon SE Ridge to N RIdge Toll (venture right/west to a 20 ft tall, 5.4 dihedral on the NW face after the first bit to skip the 5.6) to the Pawnee Traverse. This seems to be a slightly more common way to do this basin. Also common to hit Kasparov and Navajo after Toll. Aug 21, 2020
chummer
  4th
[Hide Comment] I did this traverse after biking up Left Hand Canyon. It's a classic Colorado hike and bike and not really that hard compared to what the real hardcore types do. You can get water at the spring in Ward, and you basically coast all the way back to Boulder. I recommend it as a great, low commitment adventure. May 4, 2023
Patrick Gres
Golden, CO
[Hide Comment] Definitely recommend starting this one from Little Pawnee. I wanted to start with Audubon so we had the option of scrambling up the 5.4 variation of Toll's NW Face (wind was howling, so we went with the Class 3 gully instead), but it definitely puts you in a bad spot for the Pawnee - Little Pawnee Traverse. Every tower (except one) cliffs out on the East Side when traversing from Pawnee to Little Pawnee. This would be obvious coming from the other direction (you see the cliffs), but coming from Pawnee, we had to downclimb or backtrack/reclimb some pretty stout 4th Class terrain on almost every tower. Trying to stay ride proper from Pawnee to Little Pawnee isn't worth it unless you have a rack or want to set up several rappels. As far as ridge traverses go, Pawnee to Little Pawnee was more annoying than anything.

Also, there's some fun, exposed scrambling leading up to the North Face of Toll if you stay ridge proper rather than bypassing via nearby Class 2 terrain. Completely contrived but fun. Oct 2, 2023