Kelly Lake

Well...they can't all be winners. :) For our second backpacking trip of the year, we decided to try something new - Kelly Lake in the Colorado State Forest State Park. This hike starts in the same spot as another lake hike we like (Clear Lake), so we were already ready for kind of a sucky start to a hike. It starts out on a dirt road that just bakes in the sun. What we weren't expecting, though, was horse traffic.

When we got to the trailhead there was a large group of several people and several horses. We asked if they were just starting or just finishing, and they had just finished a multi-day trip. That group didn't account for all of the horse trailers in the parking lot and when we looked at the trail registry we saw that there were a couple more large horsepacking groups of 8-10 in the area. (I can rant on why that's a bummer, but basically it boils down to: horse poop, flies, trash, and trail damage.)

This area looks a lot different than the last time we hiked here. Where there used to be tall pine trees providing shade, there is now a wasteland of downed trees. It looks like this area was a victim of beetle kill, and they have proactively chopped down all of those trees. Not only is it not great to look at, but it also meant no break from the hot sun for the first half of the hike.

The last couple miles of the trail are steep and rocky. We were going pretty slow, and Christine was feeling super tired. I took as much stuff from her pack as I could to make the climb easier. It wasn't until the next day that we figured out she was sick, not just tired. She slept almost all of Saturday and didn't feel like eating much. Seven miles into the wilderness isn't the most convenient place to find out that you're sick. Thankfully, she started feeling a little better on Saturday evening and I didn't have to carry her down to the car on Sunday. :)

I did a little fishing and some hiking Saturday with Banksy to a saddle above the lake while Christine rested. We got an early start Sunday to make the nearly 7 mile hike out ahead of the afternoon sun. It's a nice lake, but I don't think we'll be back any time soon. The combination of a long exposed hike, lots of bugs, and more people than I'd expect in the backcountry (at least a dozen) will move this pretty low on my list of hikes to repeat. Iy might be a better one to hit in the fall.

Banksy had a great time playing in the snow.

American Lakes

Between our various injuries, an aging dog, and increasingly busy schedules, backpacking trips have been very light the last few years. We made a plan back in the spring to change that and blocked out some weekends on the calendar for camping.

For our first trip, we returned to an old favorite: The American Lakes. This is a special place for us. It's the first place we ever went camping together, and we've been up there almost every year since. For this edition, our friends Julie and Nathan joined us for the afternoon. Compared to previous years, there seemed to be a lot more water along the trail. This was great news for Banksy, who enjoyed having plenty of water to drink, and streams to stomp through.

Of all the times I've been up there I've never seen fish in the lower lakes, but this time we saw many. I'm wondering if they stocked it at some point. As it turns out, I actually forgot to pack my fly reel. (I guess I'm rusty at this whole backpacking thing.) I ended up tying a leader directly to the end of my fly rods and fishing tenkara-style, and surprisingly I caught a couple.


I don't remember the last time we hiked to the upper lake, Snow Lake, but we went up this time. It must have been a good snow year, because it was still partly covered in snow. Banksy saw a stick out in the water and couldn't stop himself from rescuing it from the icy cold water.




The evening colors are amazing here.


In the morning we walked up to a nearby snow field and had some fun sliding down. Banksy mostly had fun getting in our way and trying to tackle us.




For our first backpacking trip of the year, and first in a while, we all survived pretty well. Looking forward to another next weekend.


More photos here:

---

This was our first time up to these lakes without Kuzca, and our first backpacking trip without her in a very long time (since 2007 I think). :( We miss her, but enjoy remembering all of the great trips we shared. Here she is on a previous trip to this area.