Blue Lake Hike (3.5 hours)

This is a post for a hike to Blue Lake from Telluride with some friends back on July 5th. This was my last big hike with Sandy and Steve before they moved to Alaska! Stella and their dog Mako had a lot of fun especially once we got to the lake. This hike takes about 3.5 hours round trip from the top of Bridal Veil Falls and we spent about 30 minutes at the top soaking up the views making the total trip 4 hours. A beautiful hike with about 2,ooo feet of elevation gain and 5.25 miles long.

Crested Butte Weekend Camping Trip

Jared & I decided yesterday to head to Crested Butte for the weekend. Left stormy clouds in Telluride around 2 pm and arrived to sunny warm weather in the Butte around 5. It's a cute town - similar to Telluride. We ate at the Secret Stash and had an awesome pizza! After dinner, we headed to a free campground (near the Oh Be Joyful trail) outside of town on the river (which Stella loved). We all snuggled in the tent, enjoying our first family camping experience. Ate breakfast the next morning while we packed up and headed to Mt Crested Butte - similar to Mtn Village. Headed back to downtown Crested Butte and enjoyed coffee at Camp 4 Coffee and then found a car show on main street followed by a farmer's market. Woohoo! Fun spur of the moment trip. Stella was a little overwhelmed and slept the whole way home. So did I but that's no surprise :)

Navajo Lake Overnight

Dave & I started out in the morning on Kilpacker Trail in the Lizardhead Wilderness Area. Our goal was to go hike 2 of the 3 fourteeners near the Navajo Lake Basin. What we soon learned was that carrying 50 lb packs with you quickly decreases the distance you can hike in one day. We still completed over 10 miles on the first day before camping, but decided against the climb of Mt Wilson. We headed back to the Kilpacker Trailhead the next day. We will figure out how to pack lighter and attempt some 14,000 foot peaks soon.

Hope Lake Trail - 3 Hour R/T

After a 20 minute drive up Hope Lake Road from Trout Lake we arrive at the Hope Lake Trail Head. Jess and Stella lead the way... as usual.




After traveling through an Evergreen forest we come to our first river crossing. Jess and Stella handle the cold water well!


After about 40 minutes of hiking and crossing Rock-Slide Pass we come to our first clearing looking out over San Miguel Peak which stands at 13,752 feet tall!!




Jess and Stella are eager to keep moving up the many switchbacks to about 12,000 feet where Hope Lake is waiting at the finish. As we climb the switch backs we noticed some steeper sections that will be usful shortcuts for our trip down.




We reach the home stretch climbing up an open meadow of wildflowers right below Hope Lake. We run in to some hikers along the way and can't resist to have them take our picture over looking Trout Lake below. (the start of our hike)



We made it!!! This beautiful lake is our finish line (actually halfway since we do have to hike back down to our car) and looks so inviting. After a long hike in the sun you do feel like jumping in for a refreshing dip, but watch out because the water temp is about 45 degrees!!




I can't resist a quick dip. I think I may be able to join the Polar Bear Club after this!

Silver Lake Hike - 5 hours

Silver Lake

We start our hike by climbing up from Bridal Veil Falls at the end of town. The view is amazing once you get up to the top of the waterfall, but this is only the beginning of the hike.




From the private residence on top of Bridal View Falls we hiked East into Bridal Veil Basin crossing the river and headed South up to the top of Ballard Mountain.



We cross more waterfalls and streams climbing up the steep terrain. Stella stops at every stream for a drink along the way.

We came out into a clearing which was the final leg of our hike... soon Stella would be swimming!

Another beautiful hike in Telluride!

JUDD WIEBE TRAIL- 2 hour hike

Bruer and I hiked the Judd Wiebe Trail on June 28th with the dogs. Jess and I got a brand new addition to the family. Her name is Stella and she loves hiking the backcoutry of Telluride. This hike with Bruer was one of her first hikes.

The black dog bringing up the rear is Bruer's dog Mako and Stella is leading the way!

It is a tall climb up to the first peak before the trail leads back down into a ravine with bridge crossing. Below is the bridge crossing before the Judd Wiebe leads back up to the highest point of the loop.


We reach the top and Bruer can't help but take a picture of the view overlooking town. Then, back through another Aspen grove and back to town.

Down into the Aspen grove with one last glimpse of town before the easy hike down hill back home.

Finally Blogging Again!

A lot has happened since I started this blog and Jess and I will do our best to try and add posts for each trip we have been on since October of last year! I lost the password, forgot we had a blog, and then didn't tell my wife we even had a blog. So, please do check back and we will have some updates shortly.