Lake Isabelle: August 2014

Thursday's photo trip to Brainard Lake to shoot moose made me want to come back for a hike. So did the three-day pass I had to purchase to get in. I tried to take the family up to Lake Isabelle two years ago, but between rain, Taryn literally blowing completely out of one of her sneakers and then lightning in the area we never reached our destination. So Saturday I figured it was time for Taryn and me to finally finish what we'd started.

We got a late start and didn't make it to the entrance to the recreation area until 11:30, by which point there was no parking and a backup of cars waiting to get in.  Taryn had fallen asleep and we weren't in any hurry, so we just stuck it out.  It took 45 minutes to finally get in, and we then had to park in the day use lot instead of at the trailhead which was about 3/4 of a mile away.  So our in-and-out, three-hour, four-mile hike ended up getting longer in time and length.  At this boulder-filled pond Taryn knew just how far we had left to reach the lake -- two more miles.

Fortunately it was an absolutely gorgeous day -- nearly cloud-free skies and warm temperatures.

It's funny the things you can completely overlook when composing a shot.  I was so focused on the wildflowers that I never even noticed the stick at the bottom, which I probably could have easily removed physically.  There's really no good way to crop it out.  I've got to pay closer attention to those sorts of distracting elements.

The classic taking-a-picture-of-someone-taking-a-picture-of-you picture.  Taryn's taken to Instagram, which I can certainly appreciate.

Money shot of the lake, Indian Peaks reflected on the water, some puffy clouds and a few foreground wildflowers.  This is the hike's payoff, and it's a pretty good one for the fairly limited effort involved to get to it.

Even with the recent heavy rains, the outflow from the lake wasn't too intense.

I love the great view back down the South St. Vrain Creek.

Taryn demonstrating the gentleness of the outflow.

Even handheld and with bright sun nearly directly overhead, I was able to get a little of the lacy effect of the water running under this wooden bridge.

Seeing Taryn out on the lingering snow reminded me of my Zak doing the same thing on our hike to Chicago Lakes almost exactly three years earlier.  Neat to have similar experiences with each of them.

So with the extra walk from the day use lot our four-mile hike turned into about 5.5 miles instead.  Couple that with the wait to get in and we left the park about three hours later than I'd expected.  But it's not like I can think of a better way to spend a Colorado summer day!