On the Trail to Hanging Lake
Jul. 18th, 2022 12:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerColorado Travelog #34
Glenwood Springs, CO - Friday, 8 Jul 2022, 8:45am
This morning we awoke early to get ready for hiking to Hanging Lake. You'd think vacation would be an occasion to sleep in but, no, it was alarms at 6:30am. We ate breakfast and readied our packs in the room, and were out the door by 8am. One thing we didn't have to do was pack our suitcases and check out. ...Okay, that's two things; we didn't have to do either of them. We're staying at the Marriott Residence Inn hotel in Glenwood Springs for two consecutive nights. It's only the second time this week we've not had to switch hotels every day.
Another nice thing about this morning is that we didn't have to drive a long way. It was an easy, 15 minute cruise up to the parking lot for Hanging Lake 10 miles outside of town. And with the reservation system the Forest Service has put in place for the trailhead, there was no trouble finding a parking space in the small lot.
The trail to Hanging Lake begins with a 1/2 mile or so walk up the Colorado River in Glenwood Canyon. This is a super easy part of the trail; it's a paved, wide walkway and it's almost totally flat. Oh, and it's beautiful.
The only two small bummers here are 1) there are morning clouds we hope will burn off soon, and 2) the river is flowing brown, presumably because of sediment stirred up and washed down by rains earlier this week. On the plus side, rain earlier this week means the falls at the lake should be flowing well.
Alas, the trail to Hanging Lake isn't all easy and beautiful walking along the Colorado River in Glenwood Canyon. About 1/2 mile up from the parking area the Hanging Lake trail forks off the main canyon path and climbs steeply up a side canyon. It starts steep (see photo above) and basically never relents. It climbs 1,000' in the space of 1.2 miles (300m in 2km).
Keep reading (next blog): It Goes Up, Up, Up from Here!
Glenwood Springs, CO - Friday, 8 Jul 2022, 8:45am
This morning we awoke early to get ready for hiking to Hanging Lake. You'd think vacation would be an occasion to sleep in but, no, it was alarms at 6:30am. We ate breakfast and readied our packs in the room, and were out the door by 8am. One thing we didn't have to do was pack our suitcases and check out. ...Okay, that's two things; we didn't have to do either of them. We're staying at the Marriott Residence Inn hotel in Glenwood Springs for two consecutive nights. It's only the second time this week we've not had to switch hotels every day.
Another nice thing about this morning is that we didn't have to drive a long way. It was an easy, 15 minute cruise up to the parking lot for Hanging Lake 10 miles outside of town. And with the reservation system the Forest Service has put in place for the trailhead, there was no trouble finding a parking space in the small lot.
The trail to Hanging Lake begins with a 1/2 mile or so walk up the Colorado River in Glenwood Canyon. This is a super easy part of the trail; it's a paved, wide walkway and it's almost totally flat. Oh, and it's beautiful.
The only two small bummers here are 1) there are morning clouds we hope will burn off soon, and 2) the river is flowing brown, presumably because of sediment stirred up and washed down by rains earlier this week. On the plus side, rain earlier this week means the falls at the lake should be flowing well.
Alas, the trail to Hanging Lake isn't all easy and beautiful walking along the Colorado River in Glenwood Canyon. About 1/2 mile up from the parking area the Hanging Lake trail forks off the main canyon path and climbs steeply up a side canyon. It starts steep (see photo above) and basically never relents. It climbs 1,000' in the space of 1.2 miles (300m in 2km).
Keep reading (next blog): It Goes Up, Up, Up from Here!
