Despite the popularity of Missouri Lakes, it’s still in a remote part of Sawatch Range and the Holy Cross Wilderness with rugged ridgelines, alpine meadows and lakes. It’s a nice hike to a beautiful spot, which I had hiked for sunset earlier in the summer, but was met with perfectly clear skies (no sunset colors), strong winds (no lake reflections), and a bunch of leftover winter snow (just not as picturesque, in my opinion). I hiked out before before the sun had gone down.

With Fall in the air, I was looking for a mellow overnight to essentially round out my high-alpine summer backpacking. I figured that I would head back up to Missouri Lakes for the night to try to get some redemption.

Sunset was socked in from the afternoon storms, but sunrise definitely worked out…

Also, if you’re planning an overnight at Missouri Lakes, don’t be an asshole – We saw three campfires the night we were up there. We were cold too, but…

Just because there’s a fire ring and someone else did it, doesn’t mean you should too. Be responsible.