It was Nate's birthday weekend, the second weekend in September. The Rocky Mountain National Park mountain forecast looked good for the first half of the weekend, but Sunday afterward called for cooling temperatures and perhaps some snow. We decided to risk the weather, pack some warmer clothes and good books, and spend a few nights in the mountains for Nate's birthday weekend.

Both of us had been intrigued by Mirror Lake, a remote alpine lake in the northern reaches of Rocky Mountain National Park. In fact, looking at a map, it appears as if Mirror Lake is the northernmost lake in RMNP. There are three backcountry campsites at Mirror Lake. We easily secured a backcountry camping permit. There are several ways to approach Mirror Lake, but we decided to appraoch via Chapin Creek, a valley without any developed trail that is a mini wildlife sanctuary of RMNP, untouched by the 20th century.

Here is our itinerary:

• Friday - drive to Chapin Creek/Pass Trailhead, hike in ~3 miles and establish camp near the intersection of Chapin Creek and Cache a Poudre River
• Saturday - hike ~8 miles to Mirror Lake, establish camp, read a bit, go exploring in the basin above Mirror Lake (I went to the head of the basin and found a gigantic boulder I summited and named "Split Boulder" while Nate hung out at the lake above Mirror Lake), and enjoy an evening at camp
• Sunday - scramble up Mt. Ikoko from camp, move camp from Mirror Lake back to near the intersection of Chapin Creek and Cache La Poudre River (we got caught in a rainstorm just as we were reaching our planned camp and scrambled to set up the tent), and read books for a few hours in the tent
• Monday - hike out after rainy night, enjoying a few moose sightings along the way and a fresh dusting of snow on the peaks above

The following page gives a map and plenty of photos from our 3-night birthday backpack to Mirror Lake. I had let Nate borrow one of my cameras for the trip, so I included several of the photos he took (credit given).