Pristine

As we were approaching the last couple years of our efforts to climb all of Colorado's ranked 13ers, there was one summit we had been putting off because the simplest route appeared to be a tedious and long trek up a boulder/talus field and into a steep, unstable, rock-filled couloir.

When we did finally climb "Finnegan Peak" in 2011, we found what we expected in regards to the climb, but what we did not expect was this outstanding scene at New York Lake which lies below Finnegan Peak on the west side. What an amazing, "classic Colorado" scene! It takes nearly three hours of hiking a faint, cairn-marked trail to reach the outlet of this pristine lake, but it is certainly worth any travail. The reflective and pristine waters of the lake are a richly beautiful teal color. The lake itself stretches back nearly a half mile to the foot of Gold Dust Mountain centered in this photo. The white snowfields and deep morning shadows set the scene off and a splash of green is added by the conifers. The clear waters of the lake offer not only views of the rocks beneath the surface, but also trout swimming by feeding or sunning themselves. Both before we began our ascent and immediately after our successful climb, we had to pause for quite a while, cool our tired and beaten feet in the lake waters and enjoy this spectacular and pristine setting.