Where the hell are you going?

It was a nice and sunny Sunday in August and I wanted to go for a nice hike someplace cooler than downhills. And as usual I was torn between two opposites - didn't want to drive for a long hours but also wanted something gorgeous. And I found an ideal place - Echo Lake (surprise-surprise). Fits the requirements just perfectly - just over an hour to get there and at an altitude of 10,500 feet it is cool enough to bring some relief... And... also everything around there is just beautiful - water, woods and mountains... everything you can dream of in one place!

But when I got there I had a better idea (there is what I thought) about hike to be. I decided to walk a bit further and see the Chicago Lakes... The trail was starting just at the parking lot and was beckoning to me ;) "Good idea" I thought at the moment without realizing that it is not a good idea to start the hike without knowing what to expect from it ;(

 

The trail starts easy and nice, going along the lake, but soon enough you are walking on the edge and have a steep slope on your left and almost vertical cliff on your right. Actually, not that bad, it just looks scary :) The trees are tall there and cling to the rocks.

 

All you need to do is hike down 400 feet and cross the Chicago Creek. After the crossing you follow the wide road and walk uphill. If I am not wrong, it takes about an hour or so to reach Idaho Springs Reservoir.

Idaho Springs Reservoir is a big lake at an elevation about 10,500 feet - pretty much like Echo Lake. By this time I was tired (going down and up 400 feet on a relatively steep trail is not that easy). If you go take a time and have some rest here. Look at the trout in the water, sit down, have some snacks - congratulations! The easiest part is behind you ;) (but I didn't know that yet)...

I passed the lake and the road brought me to the gates where the hike really begins. There was the sign, notifying that you are entering wilderness and you shouldn't make a campfire, walk dogs without leashes and no camping within 100 feet from the trail. Oh, no groups of 15 or more are permitted ;) Wasn't a problem for me - I hiked alone (less than 15), had no dog (no worrying about leash), had no intention to camp or cook a dinner (honestly, I didn't even have a lighter or matches on me that day). So I filled out the registration form and entered the wilderness. Trail there is running on the meadows and between tall old dry trees. Someplace it's flat and nice, someplace it's rocky and uneven. Not too steep in the beginning, but it's going up and up all the time and it tires you quickly.

 

As I just mentioned there are many dry trees there so no shadow and a lot of sun. Plenty of wild flowers  though. The trail crosses the creek back and forth a few times so the grass is lush and really green.

The trail changed and now it was rocky and wide. But there were many mushrooms next to it and they looked very nice and colorful.

Actually by this point I was tired but it was too late to stop and turn back (actually not ;) ) so I continued on the trail that now ran through the woods. I just hoped to see the lake soon.

But, surprisingly, the trail doesn't bring you to the lake. It weaves between the trees, between huge boulders, jumping up and down and climbing up and up all the time. And the lake stays far on the left and down from the trail. The path brings you to the bridge between lower and upper lakes where the flowers are growing on the rocks, the water is dripping from the stone walls and the lake attracts you but stays away. 

By this time I was able to move only on my willpower. I literally ordered to raise the feet and made the next step... and the next... and the next... But, finally, I climbed up the bridge and found myself on the mountain plato with the second (smaller) lake just in front of me. The view was absolutely breathtaking and everything looked gorgeous. The prize for a few hours of hiking I should call it...

There is about a 100 feet elevation gap between lower and upper lake but when you look from the plato it doesn't feel this way. But look at this 360 degrees panorama - can you see it now? (click on image if you want to enlarge it).

So I was at 11,700 feet and left 4 hard miles behind me. I moved down 400 feet and up 1600 and was really tired. And I still needed to go back which should be challenging. But... I had no choice and needed to return back, so I decided to have some rest first.

There are a lot of grass and flowers on the place and this is not surprising - there is plenty of water and enough sun so high altitude tundra is blooming.

 

After a while I started moving back, but before going to the trail I wanted to climb down to see the lower lake. I found an almost invisible trail and followed it to the lake. It didn't take long to get there and soon enough I was sitting on the granite rock and dipping my feet in the cold (I mean it) water. Scared a couple of curious trout I put my boots on and... started climbing up ;)  Right, that's funny, I ended up significantly lower than the trail I needed to take back and now I was cursing myself and using more willpower to return back on trail.

Hiking back was much easier because now the trail was running down ;) I was moving relatively fast and didn't stop to take pictures. But it was impossible to pass by forest squirrels and not to try to capture them. Those are not the same as I used to see in Denver. They are not red but gray and more careful. Mostly they were looking suspiciously at me from a distance and gossiping... Only one was brave enough to go close and look at my eyes before flicking its tail and disappear into the woods.

I had a feeling that the movie was going backward... I ran through the forest, passed the dried trunks and the rocky trail changed to the flat one. I crossed the creek and found more mushrooms. Everything was like it was in the morning, just the order was opposite ;)

Easy part again ended at Idaho Springs Reservoir, now I needed to climb 400 feet on a steep trail to reach Echo Lake and that was the really hard part. Honestly, this hike was the most difficult I performed. 6 hours, about 8 miles, 2,000 feel of total elevation gain. I swore next time I will choose something easier and... I always did ;)

Pictures were taken on August 08, 2010.