EPIC VIEW DAY!
Even though the Sheriff Campground is located up the hill from the reservoir and in the trees, it still ended up being cool and damp throughout the night. Fortunately, the sun was out without a single cloud in the sky. After getting back on the trail, I quickly decided to stop and dry out my tent—I wasn’t too into lugging a wet tent along with four days of food up the extended climb.
This gave me a chance to soak in my own rays of sunshine and warm my bones up. The route I selected continues around the backside of the Devil’s Causeway, a prominent feature in the Flat Tops Wilderness and one of the major highlights along the Northern Colorado Trail. I was super happy to have great weather in the forecast today, as I wanted to make it over the Devil’s Causeway and eat lunch with the amazing view the area provides.
Before reaching the Causeway, the East Fork Trail passes by Causeway Lake, which offers great fishing opportunities. I saw a large trout where the trail crosses the lake’s outlet stream. There are also some camping options available here, which could be a great choice if getting over the Causeway early in the morning is necessary to beat afternoon storms during monsoon season.
The final climb to the Devil’s Causeway was a butt-kicker. Approaching 11,800 ft, I was sucking wind as I crested the final part of the ridge. But once on top, the views were magical. With only a couple of hikers up there with me, we traded turns taking photos before I found a great rock to sit on and eat lunch.
After passing the Causeway, the route stays on the plateau, following the Chinese Wall Trail before turning onto the Deer Lake Trail. Staying on the Chinese Wall Trail is a viable alternate to the route I took and actually makes it shorter—but again, my goal with this route is to highlight the amazing places in the region, and I feel the Deer Lake Trail is totally worth the extra few miles it tacks on.
Having taken my time throughout the day to enjoy all of the epic views, I arrived at my campsite just before Deer Lake right at sunset, which produced some amazing lighting while overlooking the river valleys below.
Itching to get to camp in time to see the sunset, I foolishly skipped getting water at a great source just before camp, which meant I ended up walking about an additional mile to get water from the Deer Lake inlet. Still, I’m glad I stopped to camp before Deer Lake, as all the campsites around the lake were occupied. It also turned out they all got some frost during the night, while my higher camp stayed completely dry.
