Hiking around Big Meadows Reservoir

I stood there looking at the trail around Big Meadows Reservoir and thought to myself, "Piece of cake. Take us 30-45 minutes. We'll be back in the car and heading back to the river to fish in no time."

Looking from the trailhead, you can see all the way around the lake -- and that's what makes the length of the trail look deceptively short. But I didn't know that at the time. All I was thinking of was the family and I were about to enjoy a "walk in the park."

These two yahoos are part of my family. Daughter and son. The rock their standing on is the same rock I stood on as a kid, getting MY photo taken, and it's the same rock THEY stood on when THEY were little, with me taking THEIR photo, but now somehow the world is turned upside down and THEY are taking a photo of ME, and I must end this paragraph because we're wasting good hiking-story time.

Big Meadows Reservoir is in southern Colorado, 11 miles west of South Fork and before you get to Wolf Creek Pass. It is a 600-acre lake, which includes a campground (which is closed until 2012 for renovations according to the USDA Forest Service), a lot of wildflowers, good fishing, and a six-mile hiking trail.

It took us a couple of hours to hike, but it was so enjoyable I would have never guessed that it was that long. (Please understand, I'm new to this hiking and getting out to commune with nature thing, and even though six miles may not seem a lot to YOU, it sounds like forever to me.)



Every trip that I have ever taken to Colorado has included a trip to Big Meadows, but I'd never actually hiked around it. And now that I have, I'm putting it on our agenda for every time we return.

Hiking the Lake Fork Trail

We were an hour up the mountain when we realized we had no idea how much further the trail would go, and that we were out of water.

To be truthful, mom and dad had waterbottles, but son and daughter didn't. They started the hike thinking we were carrying theirs, and we were doing nothing of the kind.

You're responsible for your own water, was my thinking. Their thinking was, "Can we have some of yours?"

We shared, of course.



This was the Lake Fork Trail, located on Highway 160, halfway between South Fork, Colorado, and Wolf Creek Pass. The trailhead led up into a grove of Aspen trees, then took a turn to the right. The path led us to a bridge that crossed a mountain stream -- snow meltoff from high above. It was our first real trail hike, and we were immediately hooked.

The photographs I took of the stream could not do it justice, but just imagine: a fast-running river, cascading down through the mountains, around bolders, over rocks, making mini waterfalls and small pools. Not wide enough to kayake on but wider than you'd want to cross. Not a meandering stream, but a stream with purpose and direction.

The trail itself was very easy to follow. At times it went through a cover of trees that kept the temperature refreshing; at times it opened up with sloping meadows on one side or dropoffs on the other; and then there was the fallen rock, the scree, with the trail leading right through it.

And all the time the river kept flowing within earshot and eyesight.



It was at this point that I realized I was enjoying myself. Me. Mr. Lazy. And I couldn't imagine that this and other trails had always been there, waiting to be explored, but I just didn't have sense enough to know it.

While my wife took photographs of wild flowers, I imagined a new life of hiking on the weekends, taking photographs, discovering new places, coming upon plateaus with breathtaking overlooks.

I vowed that this might be my first, but it wouldn't be my last.



An hour into the hike, we decided to turn around and head back down. I assume that at some point we would have reached Lake Fork, but we had no idea how much further that would be. And when you're running low on water, it's better to be safe than sorry.



But we will return one day. We will be more prepared. And who knows -- maybe we'll find the end.

More than likely we'll find a new beginning.

Hiking Poage Lake - a love story

John and Toni were in love.

At least they were when they carved their names on an Aspen tree back in ’09.

I found the tree while I was hiking around a mountain lake high up in the San Juan Mountains, the same lake where I took my newly-wedded bride on our honeymoon 26 years ago. Back then we didn’t carve our names into any tree. We just took photographs of the beautiful lake and enjoyed the freedom of beginning our very own adventure.

Poage Lake is not hard to get to. Just drive past Beaver Creek Reservoir outside of South Fork, Colorado, go 15 miles up a twisty, gravel, one-lane mountain road for what seems like forever, and try not worry about the thousand-foot dropoffs that could make for a bad day if you aren’t paying attention.

At the end of the road is a parking place. You can’t even see the lake. But if you hike through the woods a bit – maybe 10 or 15 minutes – the lake opens up in front of you and it’s then that you notice how still and quiet everything is.

Somewhere a stream is running into the lake. Somewhere a woodpecker is notching out a hole in a dead tree. A fish plops out of the water, leaving only ripples behind. But other than those sounds, the area is calm and still.

Two fishermen are throwing out their lines on the other side of the lake. A young family with two toddlers are having a picnic. Two fathers and their two sons are fishing off the dam. And then there’s us – mom, dad, brother and sister – trying to walk the trail around the lake, sometimes stepping through knee-deep snow mounds, sometimes fording little streams, sometimes just sitting to relax and catch our breath.

I found the carved Aspen tree while we were sitting.

Maybe John and Toni were newlyweds. Maybe they were just high school sweethearts. Maybe they’ve gone their separate ways and ended up half way around the world from each other, with different mates, different lives.

One thing’s for certain, though. They were in love with each other on this mountain, in front of this lake, way back in ’09. And even if they’ve forgotten about it, the mountains know.

The mountains never forget.

Poage Lake 2011

How I spent my Summer Vacation

You would be an idiot if you had the opportunity to get away from the oppressive summertime Texas heat and didn’t take it. And seeing that I’m pert near no idiot, I did.

I’ve been going up to Colorado, specifically the Wolf Creek Pass area, with my family since the late 60s. We built a cabin there in 1971 (“We” being parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. We kids just played in the meadow and went trout fishing), and it’s been a summer tradition ever since.

When I married my wife, the cabin was where we spent our honeymoon.



As we got older, other priorities seemed to always get in the way of me taking my family up there to relax and enjoy the scenery, but not this year. We all trekked up there to the cabin (except for our oldest son, he had to work), and these are some of the places we went.

Hope you enjoy the photos.

If you're standing at the top of Wolf Creek Pass and look west, these are the mountains you'll see:



And if you decide to straddle the Continental Divide then play in the snow, there's plenty enough snow (even in early June) for everybody:



On the west side of The Pass, you can turn off at The Overlook and see this view that I guarantee hasn't changed in years -- except for the young man out on the ledge. The last time HE was here, he was in diapers:



This year we tried something different. We hiked a few mountain trails. This one led us up the side of a mountain...



... and this one led us around Big Meadows Reservoir:



Hiking will be on our agenda for sure in all future trips to Colorado.

If you would like to see a few more of my Colorado trip photographs, just head over to my Flickr account.

I'll end this post with some flowers, and hope you too have a grande Summer vacation.