Emerald Lake Hike

I walk with Connie Allen quiet frequently who is one of the most adventurous women I know!! She is always coming up with a new adventure and thanks to Connie, I have gotten to do so much that I never would have even tried without her encouragement, one of those things being a hike to Emerald Lake. Now the adventurous part of this hike is the fact that you can only get to this lake by hiking or riding horseback and it is 24 miles roundtrip hike. Connie had told me that she has done it 6 times total and encouraged me to do it with her. At first I wasn't interested, but then it became a personal challenge to see if I could do. We planned it for October 1st, and we had 3 other women join us. Those 3 women were Robin Randolph, Barb McCarroll, and Karen Stevens, for a total of 5 women. Barb, Connie, and Karen all go to Vallecito Church with us. Chas Shafer also goes to church with us and he owns part of the property at the trailhead so he was able to get us in 2 miles, which knocked off a total of 4 miles (which we were very thankful for!) Here we are at the beginning of our hike......

This hike was in the Wiminuche Wilderness. Most people that hike this trail prepare to camp and spend the night instead of attempting it in one day like we did....

Here are shots along the route to the lake.....

We had 3 dogs that took the trip with us. Below is Chance and he was just too cute with his little back pack on with his treats in it!!

HELP! Barb saves Karen from the big boulder!!! LOL! (Not really)

We had to go through the forest several times.....

And then there were times when we were out in open fields......

We made it to the Emerald Lake sign! YAY!!!

This is Little Emerald Lake and see that stretch of land at the base of the mountain? That is a strip of land that separates the two lakes. The yellow/orange Aspens were so gorgeous reflecting off of the water......

And here's Emerald Lake!!




It's so gorgeous! It was like a hidden paradise

Whoo-hoo! We did it! We did it! It was a great sense of accomplishment when we made it there.

Barb tries out the water and says it is quiet "chilly"!

I did it! And it was worth every step! By far, it was the greatest physical challenge I had ever faced. We hiked 20 miles and went from 8,000 ft in elevation to over 10,000 ft. Going up hill was tough as we were losing air and going down hill was tough because our feet were so tired and it's rough on your knees and feet to keep your "brakes" on. It was a gorgeous day and we never saw one wild animal (which was my main concern)! We started walking at 8:30 am and finished it at 5:30 pm, for a total of 9 hours. I slept very well that night but my joints and feet were screaming at me! Then Saturday morning, my muscles were aching but other than that, I felt really good. Fall is the perfect time to take this hike because the aspens add so much beauty to God's country. It was a true blessing to be a part of this experience!