Summer Hike #8: Missouri Lakes

For last week's hike I decided to go explore the area around Vail.  It's only a two hour drive from Denver and supposedly boasts some of the most spectacular scenery in the state.  I'd driven through Vail on several occasions on my way to Utah, but had never stopped for anything longer than to get gas.  So this time, I was determined to get to know the area.

So, I asked my friend Kim to come with me and we set off one fine saturday morning to hike the Missouri Lakes trail outside of Minturn (Southwest of Vail).  The trailhead was a little hard to find, being tucked away in the woods far from the paved highway.  However, find it we did.

The hike was great.  You start at about 10,000 feet in elevation, so already you are only surrounded by stands of Subalpine Fir and pockets of Mountain Mahogany and other high elevation shrubs.  For about two miles you hike through thick forests until you get up into a large glacial bowl.  By then the trees are starting to thin and the shrubs are replaced by alpine tundra and large boulders from the glacial moraine.  Right when you get above the tree line, you arrive at the lakes, each nestled up against soaring, rugged cliffs.  And there are a plethora of them ("Jefe, what is a plethora?").  I think I counted 5 total. And they are beautiful!  Crystal clear, deep blue, with a majestic peaks reflecting in them.  What more could you ask for?  Well, maybe a private cabin and dock situated on one of them.  But let's not get greedy.

The hike is about 9 miles round trip with an elevation gain of about 2,000 feet.

Verdict: Highly Recommended.