Synopsis:A hike through two beautiful alpine bowls, past a tarn, and onto the ridgeline at 12 Mile Creek, with a fantastic lake just one col over. This hike is a gem.
Access: From the lights in Golden, drive south on Highway 95 to the hamlet of Nicholson. Turn right on the Nicholson Loop Road, go past the Southside Store, and turn right on Canyon Creek Road. Cross the Columbia River and take the left fork. Just before the end of the road, turn left on the 12 Mile Creek FSR. Set your odometer to 0 here, and it will match the posted signs.
At 1.9 km, stay straight on the left fork. At 6.2 km, turn right. At 7.2 km, follow the curve right. (The 7 km sign is just after this curve. It's out by a bit.) At 7.4 km, curve left. At 7.7 km, watch out for a hole in the road. At 8.5 km stay right. There are two very rough spots on steep hills between 9 km and 10 km. High clearance is a good idea here. At 10.3 km, keep right. The left fork goes to the Flattop Mountain trail.
The road curves back to the north and crosses four avalanche paths. There is water flowing across the road at the first avalanche path, so check to see if you want to drive through it. At the second avalanche path the road is washed away in spots, and you need to head upstream a bit to get around the well-marked holes. At 14.2 km, the road turns up the 12 Mile Creek drainage. Follow the road to the very end, at 16.3 km, and park on the landing.
Trailhead: At the End of Road, the trail heads up through the cutblock on the uphill side of the road. It might be overgrown in spots, but just head for the top right hand corner of the cutblock.
Trail: Enter the uphill cutblock and head up along the right hand side of the block. At the top of the block, you will see a trail heading off at an angle into the forest.
Follow this well constructed trail. After 800 metres, you will need to cross, on a small log, a creek coming from the left. This creek comes from a beautiful lake in the south arm of the south fork; more on that later. Continue on the easy trail for another 700 metres until you enter the subalpine at the bottom of a bowl. The Nipple is above you on the right.
Look towards the back of the bowl, and you will see where the forest resumes. With your eyes, follow the line of trees to the left as it climbs the hill. The patch of trees at the top of that draw is where you want to get to. You have two choices. You can angle across the boulder field and work your way up towards the col, or you can stay low, skirt the boulders on the low side (there is a bit of a path here) and then ascend to the col on the west side of the boulders. It's your choice, depending on how much you like to cross boulder fields.
Once you gain the col, your motto is "keep left." The slope on your left is another boulder field; there is a trail that skirts the edge of the rock. It is an easy stroll for about 400 metres, and then it begins a steep climb to a lovely tarn. If you loose the faint trail, stay left, close to the slope coming down from the ridge.At the top of the last vegetated slope you will find a lovely little lake; closer inspection will show it is actually two lakes. This is a great spot for lunch, or even to camp. If you follow the inflow creek up the hill a bit, you will find it bubbles out from under a rock outcropping. This is a good water source to replenish your supply.
From the tarn, there is one last push up to the ridge. It's a grunt on loose shale, but you'll be there in about 40 minutes.
There is a good and easy ridgewalk to the north. The first fifty metres has some rocky outcroppings that are easy to get around, and then it is just strolling on the grassy ridge for a long ways. You can go all the way to Maclean Creek before the going gets a bit more difficult.
There is a great ridgewalk to the south as well, but getting there is a bit of a chore. The quickest route to the grassy ridge is to scramble up the steep shaly slope right next to the col; the gentler grassy slope starts just past the rock outcroppings you can see. The bad news is you have to ascend that steep shaly slope first (and descend it later.)If that ascent is not for you, all is not lost. Stand by those brown gendarmes near the col and look south; you will see a rocky hump across the slope. Drop down on the large boulders to the grassy area and traverse to the rocky hump; some sidehill gouging is called for. Once at the rocky hump, you have two choices: climb that steep shaly slope above you (not as steep as the slope at the col, but much longer) or continue sidehill gouging south (aim just below the small cliffs) until you reach the steep grassy slope, which you can grind your way up to the ridge.
Once on the ridge, it is an easy walk south, to where a higher ridge goes east and forms the southern edge of the Twelve Mile Creek basin. The highest point on the eastern ridge is a spectacular viewpoint, and very easy to get to. (Scramblers might want to continue further along the ridge to the true high point, but you'll need to be very comfortable with exposure to do that.)
From the ridge, you will be able to see the beautiful alpine lake in the bowl below you. The easiest descent to the lake is on a scree slope at the corner, where the east-heading ridge joins the main ridge. If you want to skirt the lake, the south side is probably a bit easier, although you will be doing more sidehill gouging. It is not recommended that you return to your vehicle down this drainage. The terrain is very rough and the windfall brutal. (This is the voice of experience talking.) If you do decide to exit this way, from the east end of the lake move right about 100 metres to the brown scree slope; otherwise, you are downclimbing a steep boulder field.