Hammock or Tent... North Inlet / Tonahutu Trail, CO?

**Craig2112** · 08-01-2015, 14:55

I will be backpacking the North Inlet / Tonahutu Trail in RMNP, Colorado this September and am wondering if there are enough trees to be able to hang each night. The other 3 members of my party will be using tents. So, I'm thinking it may be easier just to bring my 1p tent and stay with the group. The little info I've been able to find suggest there should be trees but they might not be very close to the designated camp sites.

Does anyone have experience with this trail?

Also, any suggestions with regard to day hikes in the area to acclimate would be appreciated. Thanks!

**Seccleston** · 08-22-2015, 17:42

We did the north Inlet To Flattop Mountain to Tonahutu to the trailhead. It ended up about 40 miles, but the sites were incredible and the hammocking was great. Let me know if you need the sites we stayed at. Have fun

**Seccleston** · 08-22-2015, 18:33

Here are the sites that we used Hammocks on with absolutely fantastic hanging opportunity:
Big pool, North Inlet, July, Tonahutu, South Meadows. We did an awesome side trip to Lake Nanita.
Beware you have to use bear canisters. Backpacking last week by Pear Lake in the SW corner of RMNP we had a bear dragging one of our backpacks off, luckily he dropped it!

**Craig2112** · 08-29-2015, 07:48

Thanks Seccleston for the info! We don't have site reservations yet—we'll stop by the ranger station when we get to CO. I'll bring both my tent and hammock and see if the sites you mention match up with what we get. If so, I'll use the hammock.

I'll do some more research and may have a few more questions for you, if you don't mind.

Hope you weren't wearing the pack when the bear started walking off with it. We're definitely bringing our bear canisters with us.

**ringtail-THFKAfood** · 08-30-2015, 13:46

I hiked the North Inlet/Tonahutu over Flattop Mountain from Bear Lake in early August. The sites are all designed for tents, but you should be able to hang a couple of hammocks in all of them. Avoid Haynack.

**Craig2112** · 08-30-2015, 19:48

Awesome news, ringtail. I'm heading out to CO on Saturday. We're stopping by the ranger station Sunday/Monday morning to secure our sites. We're going to do a 2-day/3-night hike bookended by a couple day hikes. I'll be using my hammock!!!!

**Craig2112** · 09-13-2015, 15:54

Got back from RMNP yesterday. The trip was fantastic. We did a few day trip/acclimation hikes then hiked the Green Mountain Trail to the Tonahutu Group site. We base camped there and hiked with our day packs to Haynack Lake and up to Ptarmigan Pass.

On the way in, we saw a moose in Big Meadow. On the way up to Haynack I walked within 10' of a giant elk. My buddy walking behind me got my attention. When I turned around he was staring right at me. Got a couple great elk portraits.

Haynack was amazing. We had the place all to ourselves. Had lunch and walked all around the lake. We thought we saw a Lynx running around the lake, but upon further review of our photos it turned out to be a marmot.

I was able to easily find trees to hang at Tonahutu. And, since it was the group site we were able to take advantage of the fire ring.

Temps got down to the mid 30° the first night and high 30° the next two. Day time temps were in the mid 70°. At elevation, however, the sun felt very strong.

**happydensity** · 07-14-2016, 17:33

I'll be doing the RMNP "CDT loop" in a month and appreciate this info. I'll be staying at North Inlet Falls and Lower Granite Falls backcountry sites and It seems I may be able to hang at both.

**Craig2112** · 07-14-2016, 19:31

Above Haynack the trees started to thin but everywhere else were plenty of trees to hang from. Didn't do the full loop, so not sure about the other side. Enjoy! It was a great trip.

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