Lost Lake hike

Week days are hard. We all need to work and mostly we are really tired by the end of the day... Every day... And most of the weekends no one really wants to leave the warm bed and go somewhere, right? But... if you do it, I mean waking up early and driving somewhere, you can find some amazing adventure... And the morning colors in the mountain are gorgeous, aren't they?

 

Even though I was up early and drove directly to my destination - Hessie Trailhead near Nederland, the parking lot was completely filled. That I didn't expect at around 7:45 in the morning. The staff said the road was closed before 7AM, actually. But... the good news was - park your car and take a shuttle, which leaves every 15 minutes and brings you to the trailhead. So I did... 20 minutes later I unloaded from the small bus and started on the Lost Lake trail, the easy hike I planned for this Saturday. 

The trail started a bit rough...

But not for long. Soon it was a well maintained trail with some ponds on the left side. Ponds with just amazing reflections of the spruces and mountain peaks. The beginning was really great!

Soon the trail changed and was running through the aspen woods, climbing up and opening a gorgeous vistas...

After not long some noise caught my attention. I mean the sound of the water splashing after falling from some height. I left the trail and just a few seconds later was staying next to the waterfall. I mean waterfalls, cause there were four of them there.

Huge bed of rocks where the creek was running fast ended with a cliff and the water was crashing down 10-15 feet, making a lot of splashes and looked just astonishing.

I climbed down the steep hill to find more waterfalls. How many? Maybe 10 or more grouped by two or three and cascading, bringing the water some good 50 feet to the flatter part of the creek. But before running relatively slowly, the stream was making torrents and waterfalls.

I returned back and again looked at the top of the rocky bed, where the current was fast, but not as crazy as just a few feet below. I decided to stay here longer on my way back and returned to the trail.

But the creek running along the trail wasn't nice and quiet. I mean it was incredible nice looking, nut not behaving nice ;) Though there weren't any big waterfalls upstream, but here and there whitewater attracted my attention and I was unable to just pass by.

The woods around the train changed too. The environment became harsher and tougher, the pine and spruces replaced aspens and the forest was much darker there.

After not a long hike the trail made another turn and I found myself looking at the lake. Yep, just like that, a second ago I was climbing a steep trail not expecting to see any water and next moment the big lake appeared in the opening. Nice surprise I would say ;)

The water was quiet and you could see the reflection of the surroundings in it.

 

Just look how big the lake is! Not really huge, but not small either.

I decided to look at the lake from some height so I started climbing up the steep slope and soon was able to see the whole lake just below me.

And the views to the mountain peaks were good...

As I mentioned before, most of the woods there were evergreens, but there was a small aspen grove brightening the thick dark green wall...

I was climbing higher and higher until I reached a big opening where I found some colors different from dark green prevailing there...

The lake looked gorgeous and I decided to stay there for a while. I also was a bit tired and had a breakfast burrito in my backpack. I thought it would be the best place to have it ;)

After refueling I climbed down the slope and walked around the lake, admiring the views...

I walked up another slope in hope to see the canyon I walked though and first I found a couple of old mines and an abandoned cabin not too far away.

From my vantage point I was able to see into the canyon. The old town of Eldora was just down below and it was a nice surprise for me.

I returned back to the lake and completed circling around it.

I enjoyed the colors of the water and the slope on the opposite side of the lake where I had my breakfast, I turned back and headed down on the trail...

On my way back down I decided to take another route and walked on the other creekside and found a few more rapids...

Finally I returned to the main waterfall I saw in the morning but now I was able to see it better. As I mentioned before - there are four of them on the top and some smallers cascading downstream...

 

I walked downstream, looking for the place to cross the creek. It wasn't easy but finally I found a promising spot, grabbed a broken branch to have some additional support and crossed the stream. The wooden plank I used was wet and incredibly slippery, but soon I found myself on the other side and was ready to return back to the trailhead...

The views from the edge of the hill were even better than in the morning...

I also met a few butterflies. It was impossible to pass by... The species with the wings almost black from the bottom...

And the top of the wings was rich brown with some cream hem and bright blue spots... They were feeding on the aspen juice and fighting for the best spots ;)

Small gray squirrel was working on the spruce cone and paid very little attention to anyone passing by...

That was the end of my hike and let's end it with the picture of the same pond we started... The light is different, the colors... but the reflections are still nice, aren't they?

Just over 6 miles and four and a half hours. 2000 feet elevation gain. But the trail wasn't really steep, so I wouldn't consider this hike as a heavy one. Also it wouldn't be even easier if I stay on a trail and not climb up around the lake or look for some adventures walking on the other side of the creek, more like wriggling through the forest, not following a beaten path...

Click here to see the trail on Google Maps.

Pictures were taken on September 17, 2022.