Blue Lakes Trail, Mount Sneffels Wilderness:
7/20/23, Thursday:
After a long day of travel, a flat tire, and having to park almost a mile short of the trailhead, it was 7:15pm. Greg and I got our gear together, fist-bumped, and started hiking. The road, then trail, brought us up along a gushing stream. The air, the mountains, the water, the woods—everything is beautiful. The air smells like pine.
About two miles in, we stopped to set up camp, well above the water and with just enough room for our two tents, but I can still hear the rushing water, and the view of Mount Sneffels is fantastic. The evening alpenglow on the peaks made the day for me. Its now 9:30 (11:30 Eastern). Time to sleep.
7/21/23, Friday:
After a sleepless night, Greg and I hit the trail around 6:30am. From camp, we headed up well-cut switchbacks, followed by level trail through a pristine forest, and then side-hilling on some impressively steep slopes.
Water everywhere!
After some final switchbacks, beautiful waterfalls and an encounter with a curious deer, we arrived at the lower Blue Lake.
It was scenery overload. We took some pictures as the alpenglow was lighting up the peaks and snow rising above the lake and surrounding waterfalls.
There were a couple water crossings to deal with, the worst of which was here at the lower lake, to be able to continue on the trail. We took off our boots and waded across barefoot, with quickly-numbed feet in the crisp early-morning air.
Lower Lake
The hike from here got very steep. The trail weaved up over a rocky know alongside some impressive gushes of water, then up through steep wildflower-laden slopes with tremendous views of the lower lake.
Eventually we came out into a small valley occupied by the middle lake, a pristine green bowl that seemed to grow longer as we passed above it. Fish were hopping around in this cold water, and on our hike down we would watch a fisherman catch one and let his golden retriever smell it before returning it to the water. “He’d be mad at me if I didn’t let him sniff it,” he said.
Middle Lake
There would be hoards of hikers and dogs coming up to the lakes later on this Friday, but for now we had nothing but solitude. After a traversing stroll over some more grassy slopes filled with wildflowers, we popped out into the upper basin. The water of the upper lake was incredibly transparent. We stopped on a knoll overlooking the lake and took our longest break of the day. The skies were blue, there was a light breeze, there was really no reason to leave for a while.
Upper Lake
Eventually it was time to retrace our steps. We did take some more detours during or descent–overlooks of the lakes, more exploring around the lower lake, and of course the waterfalls.
Greg’s highlight of the day was the three-tiered waterfall below the Lower lake. My highlight was the high overlook of lower Blue Lake; it felt like about as much scenery as could be packed into so small a corner of earth. Both of the other lakes had unique qualities as well: the deep turquoise color of the Middle Lake, and the extremely clear water and some floating “icebergs” in the upper.
One Last Look at Mount Sneffels