This day we all started out feeling great, and eager to get above treeline for superb alpine hiking. The begining couple miles of cruising along Elk Creek was mellow and rather enjoyable. After passing the mouth of the valley leading to Peaks One, Two and Three, the trail does some serious climbing. Once nearly out of the canyon, there's a trail junction by an old small shack just opposite the canyon from the creek coming from Eldorado Lake. This trail heads north, and just east of an unnamed lake in a swampy alpine meadow. It had a good beginning, but after about 1/3 mile, the trail completely dissapeared in the meadow. So, we just headed north/northeast to where we knew we would intersect the Continental Divide Trail (CDT). And, viola! - we did. After hitting the CDT, we were above 12,500 feet until the turnoff for Verde Lakes. The cut off to Verde Lakes was not labeled, but by looking at the map, we knew we had to be there. The trail proceeded down a beatiful gulch, and then across the hill into the Verde Lakes basin. At the Verde Lakes we had a somewhat difficult time finding a campsite flat enough and large enough for 4 tents. We did find a decent place just southwest of the junction between the two lakes.

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