Jen and I traveled East of Denver for a backpacking trip that we hoped would be better than the first one. We took I-70 and ended up in a small town North of Breckenridge. From there it was a short drive to a trailhead for Boulder Lake (which is where we originally wanted to go. We never found that trail). We drove back and forth for about an hour trying to understand our map/directions. It was pouring rain, we kept running into dead ends and private property signs. The trailhead was nowhere to be found.
Finally we headed back to town, defeated. We found a State Park Ranger station and talked to them about where we should go, trying not to get mad for all the B.S. directions we'd gotten so far. They directed us to a reservoir and an easy-to-find trailhead for Upper Cataract Lake. We found it within an hour (after stopping for a delicious lunch at a local diner/dive spot) and headed out on the trail with thunderheads looming in the distance.
2.5 miles of fairly steep trail left us tired and ready to stop when we hit Surprise Lake. We were only halfway to Cataract but the rain was starting to come down and we'd already gotten such a late start that we set up camp here.
Surprise Lake had some beautiful lilly-pads, dragon flies and jumping fish. It was quiet and peaceful.
On our first night we took an evening hike without our packs.
Jen making a couscous, bell pepper and sausage concoction. It was extra tasty after all the hiking and trail mix. We also brought along a couple o' boonts for good measure.
Cleaning my pot...
In the morning we got up and decided to hike another 2.5 miles to Upper Cataract Lake. The hike was mellow and mostly flat. We wandered through Aspen and Pine groves, over streams and guess what...NO DOWN TREES!!!! Imagine that.
We made it to Upper Cataract and we were shocked. This crystal clear lake sat at the bottom of a mountain peak and had abundant, lakeside grassy camping spots in the trees. We wished we could have made it on the first day to spend the night here! It was absolutely beautiful.
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