Monarch Lake:

Six bodies of water form the Great Lakes of Colorado: Grand Lake, Lake Granby, Shadow Mountain Lake, Monarch Lake, Willow Creek Reservoir and Meadow Creek Reservoir.


Today, our posse circumnavigated Monarch Lake, located on the boundary of the Indian Peaks Wilderness area. In the early 1900s, Monarch Lake was built to store logs before they were transported to a nearby sawmill via flumes and rivers. There were a few relics of the old industry along the trail.


Given that about halfway through the hike, Scott and I realized we'd left lunch back at home, it's a miracle the kids made it. Sawyer hiked the entire loop. Arden hiked about half of it.

Where's lunch? Thank goodness Scott found a couple granola bars buried in his pack.

During the course of our four mile hike, we crossed a dozen swollen streams and scrambled over more than 50 fallen trees. Here is something I wrote about the unusually strong winds these past few weeks that have brought trees tumbling down in neighborhoods and forests. With the pine beetle epidemic that has swept through Northern Colorado in recent years, the U.S. Forest Service estimates that 100,000 trees will fall EACH DAY in the Arapaho and Roosevelt national forests this summer. Because they are only allowed to use hand saws to clear fallen trees from trails in wilderness areas, this could become quite an inconvenience. (You'd think they'd try to get that law changed, given the 100K per day estimate, huh?) The possibility of trees falling on you anytime the wind blows adds a whole new thrill to the forest hiking experience.

Some of the creeks had only rocks, or a log, or a two-plank bridge like this one to carry us across. The sight and sound of that much water moving under you is quite the rush. Yes, I was holding her hand.