Hanging Lake

Hanging Lake - joshuahicks

It's a place I've wanted to go for years. But, you know, there are places you can drive to on your day off, and there are places you can fly to on vacation. Then there are places you never go because they're somewhere in between. They're too far away to want to drive there for a day trip, but too close to justify a vacation. Hanging Lake is one of those places.

I didn't realize, when I moved to Colorado, that a lot of the beautiful places I loved when I was a kid would be on that list, actually. It was easier to go on long road trips on summer vacation to see the Rockies than it is to find the time to visit them now that I live here.

Having lived in Hawaii, I should have seen it coming. People who have been on vacation in Hawaii often ask how awesome it was to live there. Not. It was not awesome. It was expensive and the only houses I could afford to buy didn't have central AC, so it was hot. Just living there left me so broke I could barely do anything. You vacationers went to Hawaii to do things. I could not afford to do things.

Living in Colorado presents basically the same problem, but with a different currency: time.

Papa and I were finally motivated to go on this hike, 3 hours from my house. One of the ladies I went backpacking with wanted to go. She's from Texas. She moved to Colorado for school, which is pretty weird because my college is mostly populated with sensible people who live nearby. She's graduating in December, and wanted to see Hanging Lake before she goes back to Texas. Funny how it takes something like that to motivate me to do something I've been wanting to do for myself for years.

The lady we went with is a few years older than me, and was homeschooled when she was a kid. It's no surprise that we bonded while backpacking. We're both studying biology and, besides, we shared a tent.

We didn't take the kids. Hanging Lake trail is almost 2 miles long in one direction, and gains 1050 feet in elevation. About halfway up, we saw a woman being evacuated on a stretcher (with a single bicycle wheel to aid in the descent. I had never seen one of those before). Day Hikes Near Denver says, "Close to the one-mile point, you'll climb a steep staircase of rock complete with handrails. While the handrails are helpful, it would be easy for a child to slip over one. So, we'd recommend that you keep your smaller children on the inside of the steps as you ascend and hold their hand. It's a sheer drop on the other side of the handrail." ... I can't even imagine.

The hike was beautiful and fun. I'm glad we went with a friend. If you go, don't overlook the little offshoot trail called "Spouting Rock". I think people go to Hanging Lake with an end point in mind and maybe don't realize what they're missing. At the lake, you can see a lake. There are falls on the other side and the water is remarkably clear. There are little fish swimming around in it and it's mesmerizing, but it's not terribly interactive. DO NOT WALK ON THE LOG!

But at Spouting Rock... you can walk under a tall waterfall and yell at your hiking companions because the sound of the rushing water hitting the rocks is just too loud for normal communication. It's maybe not as strikingly beautiful, but it is more fun.

I took lots of pictures of the lake, but none of my pictures do it justice. It really is beautiful. I guess I was a bit disappointed that it had a boardwalk built around the edge, like so many popular hikes do. I know, these things are necessary, to preserve the natural beauty and biodiversity and all. They just aren't attractive. I was also sad to see some garbage washed under the boardwalk... *sigh* humans.

All in all, I highly recommend this hike... but maybe not for your kids (though I did see kids on the trail who were... doing okay I guess).