A Colorado Journey

Chapter 7:

We got up this morning, on our way to Vail for just the one night. However, before that, we decided to do something a bit more physical, and decided to do the hike to hanging lake. Now, I’m not what anyone would call a seasoned hiker, not to mention, this hike is pretty physically demanding (large elevation gain) over rocks, and at a decent elevation, and even after almost a week of being up in the mountains, the lack of oxygen did hit us sea level dwellers a bit.  If you ever get the chance to visit Hanging lake, you may encounter the overhead sign saying “Hanging Lake Parking Full”….ignore that sign.  Just get off the exit, go into the lot and wait.  People are constantly leaving, so even if you have to wait a few minutes for a spot it is much easier than constantly doing loops on the i70, since the u turns are quite a ways away from each other (10 miles or so in each direction.)

The hike is basically over terrain like this

filled up two water 1L water bottles with Colorado‘s finest

I scooped the water out from the very bottom of  3 foot deep rock pool

Going up!

Under attack again….

Finally, after 1.8 miles, we arrived at Hanging Lake.

Really a beautiful sight to behold. The color of the water is incredible.

Remember the two 1L bottles of water I filled up? This gave me a chance to use my new toy, and something I recommend any outdoorsman to have in their arsenal..
It’s a Steripen. It is a UV light that purifies water and makes it safe to drink, essentially rendering any bacteria or virus harmless. It’s $80 on amazon, and on a single set of decent AA rechargeables, it will purify 400L of water (45 seconds per liter.) Worth every penny. Remember, this PURIFIES water, it doesn’t filter it. If the water is nasty, this will make it safe to drink, but it will still taste like crap.

The rest of the day we spent walking around Vail village, enjoying the town, shops and restaurants.  I was here in May while passing through during my Moab trip, and this place was deserted.  Not a single person in sight, almost no restaurants open, no shops were open, but now…it’s a bustling town with hoards of people…they take the term “tourist season” to a whole new level.

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