RMNP west side question

[Brian Thomas]

Advice/answers needed: I have a backcountry campsite on the west side of RMNP and am trying to put together an itinerary and need to know what kind of terrain I may expect to encounter. Plan to bushwhack north and then northeast to Nakai Pk and onward to Sprague Mtn, out and back to Stones Pk, through Sprague Pass, and possibly an out and back to Snowdrift Pk, then return to camp via Tonahutu Creek Trail. I have been within a few hundred feet of the summit of Snowdrift but never to any of the peaks north of the trail. Any advice on the difficulty and quality (or lack thereof) of this route and/or suggested add-ons is appreciated, with favorable weather I could stretch this to a 20+ mile day. Thanks!

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[cougar]

Steve Knapp posted a good trip report on this same loop on listsofjohn

http://listsofjohn.com/tr?Id=2272&pkid=1589" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[andrewrose]

I was in this area yesterday- really quite beautiful. As for the terrain, one you are above treeline, you should find mostly tundra, with the exception of talus between Sprague and Stones, and talus toward the top of Snowdrift. Below treeline, it'll be bushwhacking, but it isn't too bad with not much dead fall and most of that being smaller trees.
As for add ons, you can do as Steve did and add "Bushwhack Hill" at the beginning. Not great views as it is pretty heavily treed, but it is a ranked peak if that matters to you. Mt. Eleanor is the unranked and unofficially named highpoint se of 12497 and lies on the continental divide. Stapps Peak is the unranked peak ne of Stones, at the end of that peninsula of land before you'd descend into the madness of Forest Canyon. From Snowdrift, you can continue wsw to Mt. Patterson, another ranked peak. Nisa Mountain is unranked and lies SW of Patterson, but again is below treeline and not too high in the good views department.
If lakes might be of interest, Chickaree Lake, Wonderland Lake, and Murphy Lake would be high on my list. Granite Falls is very pretty and worth checking out if you come back down that way too.