ColoradoCool Apparel featured hike: Blue Lake Trail, San Juans

First things first, if you haven’t spent anytime in the San Juans you have done yourself a major disservice and should rectify it ASAP. Everything on the Western Slope is more spread out compared to the east side of the Rockies, there are less people and you are surrounded by mountains, making great outdoor livin' pretty easy to find. The San Juans have a certain aesthetic quality that is different from the Eastern Rockies, a lot of the peaks have these big, jagged rocks on top that just look so tight. Being somebody who always likes to add a little something extra to my designs, I love that extra element. They really make for some cool scenery, almost looking cartoonish at times as they point at these hard angles in all these different directions. Geology has never been my speciality but it's certainly done some great work down there, plenty of must see spots.

Now we got that addressed, onto to our specific destination, the base of Blue Lake Trail on Mt. Sneffels. We dipped down here after stopping by the Black Canyon. Even after those ridiculous views, there was no let down here. The Blue Lake trail is very popular and therefore pretty busy, even in the more secluded San Juans. It might be a little surprising, but the reasons for it being busy are pretty clear. The camping spots near the base of the trail were really great, lots of space with lots of trees providing a lot of privacy. We couldn't see or hear anyone else from our camp spot. We were pretty stoked with our site, however, we did a little more exploring before leaving and found a few spots where you could see the peak of Mt. Sneffels over the trees, which really added a lot to the views. So, if one of those spots are available, try and snag it. 

The trailhead is just right up the road from several camp spots and the hike to the lake is about 3.5 miles (to lower Blue Lake). It is a moderately difficult hike for frequent hikers, but you have constant excuses to take breaks. The views of the peak of Mt. Sneffels, the meadows filled with wildflowers, the occasional WhistlePig (Marmot) and waterfall had us constantly stopping and taking in the views, making for a longer hike than expected. 

For real though, the 3.5 mile hike did take us longer than we expected. We hike pretty often and it was gorgeous so we saw it as a positive, just something to keep in mind. Still not sure if the trail is mismarked or if we were just stopping that much to soak up the views, but either way give yourself a little cushion if you want to get back to camp before dark. Weather started to move in as we got started up the trail (always pack for weather in the San Juans, it can change quickly) but we knew pushing through a little rain would be well worth it and we were not wrong.

We were rewarded mightily for our perseverance, many people had headed down due to the weather so it was much more open than it would have been. In addition to that, twenty minutes after getting to the Blue Lake it cleared up and became progressively more and more spectacular. We didn’t have to be up there long to understand why a handful of people just hiked their gear up the trail to set up camp as opposed to camping at the trailhead, it is amazing up there. Next time, we're hiking our gear up for sure. To be honest, it was hard not be a little disbelieving as we looked around at the enormous, jagged peaks towering over the lush greens and the vibrant, glowing blue lake while trying to keep in mind we were at over 11,000 feet. I seriously laughed and just shook my head a few times, never seen anything like it. 

As it was getting late and we had a fairly young puppy, we did not hike up to the second Blue Lake, but I’m sure it is well worth it. Apparently the color of the bottom blue lake is even cooler from above. It is very easy to understand why so many people hit up this destination. You’re gonna wanna spend awhile enjoying the scenery, so make sure to bring some grub and whatever other treats you might want to enjoy. There is plenty of space up there to kick back and enjoy the views. There are more meadows with wildflowers, space to sit next to the water, lots of nice green trees surrounding one side and big rocks surrounding the other. It wasn't easy walking away from this place, but it was a temporary goodbye....next year when the puppy is older we'll be back to hit both lakes and summit Sneffels. 

Cheers.....until next time Sneffels,

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