Ice Lake

I have wanted to do the hike to Ice Lake for a while. I finally seized my chance as a great opportunity came up: I wasn't working, Jonas and Emmy were off of school, Miles could "miss" a day, and Lucy (who had school) would probably have struggled on this hike. So perfect all around! Plus, it's fall and hiking in the fall is awesome - and something I haven't gotten to do too much this season. So I was ready to get in to the great outdoors and finally hike to Ice Lake.

I knew it would be a tough hike - it's about 7 1/2 miles round-trip, and you climb about 2,500 feet. But there would be a reward - Ice Lake! Yay. And boy was it ever a reward - it was beyond beautiful! Beyond what pictures capture! Even Emmy, who offered some hearty complaints on the hike (not the whole time, just when the going - hiking - got tough), said it was totally worth it.

Sorry, but not-sorry, that I am going to post a ton of pictures!

 Here we are starting at the trailhead. It was a bit chilly - in the upper 30s. (The hike is just a few miles north of Silverton.) We quickly warmed up and took our coats off, though!

 Jonas thought Bella would "die" and so he carried her across. (On the way back, we let her do it on her own and she was scared - like Brigham - but didn't die.)

 Brigham in his happy place! :)

 A cool part on the hike.

 Miles' artistic shot.

 Miles and his little stream.

 This was Lower Ice Lake basin. A pretty spot with a little lake.

 More pictures of the basin.

 A pretty stream.

 There was snow and ice all around the waterfalls and stream. It made it very pretty!

 Miles took my camera at times and took some pictures. Another picture, from another angle, of the basin area.

 Pretty cool.

 From the basin to the upper lake (i.e., Ice Lake), it's quite the climb! There we were trekking up and up.

 Almost there!

 And there! Like I said, the pictures do not do justice to the lake. It was spectacular.

 So pretty. We saw something in the lake and then it went and dived down and stayed under for a long time. We kept following it and couldn't tell what it was - beaver, marmot, muskrat, ? Turns out it was a duck. But now we'll need to find out what type of duck. It was definitely unique.

 Gorgeous x 2.

 The colors would change a bit depending on where we stood. It was so cool. I like the contrast of the lake with Miles' shirt.

Haha, this picture is so great! It totally looks fake. Emmy was all ready to snap her picture, when a Bella walked right in front of the camera. So awesome.

 We enjoyed lunch on the rocks with our beautiful surroundings.

 So many different hues of blue - at one point, the blue totally matched Jonas' shirt.

 Jonas skipping rocks.

 A group picture!

Jonas' cool picture.

 Pretty x 2.

 At this point, we were just about finished with the hike. It took us about 5 hours round-trip - including our 45-minute lunch. So pretty good! The dogs loved it. Bella almost fell off a cliff, but other than that, all went well!

 The dogs were the first ones out . . .

 But Jonas soon joined in . . .

 As well as Miles. Haha.

We got to see this - the Owl Creek fire. In Ouray county. It started just the previous evening. We saw it on our way out, and saw it a bit bigger on our way home. Crazy.

Anyways, I'm sure we'll be back up there someday to show Ben and Lucy the amazing Ice Lake.