Passing cars woke up at 7:00am again this morning. We really need to find a legit campsite where we can have a fire and sleep in one morning. I cooked bagels and sausages while Andrew replaced the fuel filter in the truck. Among the stress of finding a place to sleep last night, his truck began making odd sounds as we climbed the mountain. Luckily, he bought an extra filter the day before we left. Once we packed everything up, we headed back towards Brainard Lake, determined to get something out of all the effort we put in it last night. The road leading up to the lake was a completely different scene than what we had witnessed the night before. It was no longer and lonely, desolate road, but rather a road full of hikers, bikers and cars.
We gladly paid the $9 entry fee, got a map of the park and began our hike. We didn’t know which trail to get on – we just walked to the trail head closest to our truck. About ¾ mile up the way, we stopped for a quick photo. A woman walking her dog asked if we’d like her to take one of the two of us. We gladly accepted and made small talk about where we were from and our road trip adventure. She was delighted with our story.
We happened across another couple at a fork in the trail and decided to follow them, not knowing where either trail led. Later we found we were headed towards Lake Isabelle. This wasn’t listed on our map, but as we continued up the trail we ran into more and more people; this must mean there is something worth seeing at the end.
After approximately 4.5 miles we came to a small clearing where the trees opened up and we could hear the sound of rushing water. The trail went from dirt to snow and at the very top was a gorgeous view. We were at an elevation of approximately 12,500 feet. The pictures below will tell you better than I can say in words.
We left there feeling much better having finally exerted some energy and seeing such beauty. We ate lunch and then headed back down to Nederland to check out the town. A friend told us we had to go see her friend Randy at Happy Trails Bike Shop. First we went to the visitor’s center to check in to other options for camping and trails around the area. The woman was very helpful and we were pleased to hear there was plenty of camping here. After we stopped at the bike shop and got Randy’s recommendations for trails, etc, we decide to check out some of the camping options now so we would not get caught in a similar predicament as we did the night before. After scoping out some good possibilities, we headed back towards Boulder, hoping the bike tires were ready. The shop called as soon as we got out of the canyon, perfect timing. We parked the car, ran into the bike shop for 10 minutes, came out and saw that we had been given a parking ticket for parking in the wrong direction - $15, Great. The next obstacle was to find a free wifi spot so I could update the blog real quick and then we were going to stop by one of the local breweries. We decided to do this at a bad time. Friday night, 7:30ish…everything was packed. We walked up and down Pearl Street Mall to check out the shops, was approached by a younger guy our age, holding a map; these were the direct words out of his mouth. “Hey, you guys look like you could help me out with something. Could you…(starts pointing at something on the map) spare me some change for acid?” This guy cannot be serious, right? Nope, he’s dead serious. We laughed and walked away – kind of in shock. Street performers were lined up and down every block. Every brewery we passed was packed and we were not in the mood to compete over the noise, so we headed back towards the campground instead.
We got back on Canyon Road, headed towards Nederland again, but had to wait 30 minutes due to a rock slide construction workers were trying to clear. Since the campground we were staying at was free, there’s no water, electric, etc. and definitely no road work. Trying to squeeze a large Chevy 2500 loaded down with all its gear in between tight trees and very rocky roads was a trial in itself and there were quite a few moments when I held my breath, waiting to hear something scratch, dent, or break on the truck. Andrew drove with great care and skill and we finally found an empty spot. We cooked spaghetti, made a fire and talked of our plans to ride Magnolia West and Betasso trails the following day.
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