Hike to Silver Dollar Lakes

Finally the road above Georgetown to Guanella Pass is open for enough hours to get to this trailhead.  For over two years road improvements have prevented most traffic.  Interestingly, many locals fought the improving of the road due to concerns that sight seeing traffic would explode.  Much of the road was either unpaved or badly broken pavement.  The work still has a long way to go, but at least a lead car was available before 9am and after 1pm for a couple hours each day.  At this point the work has widened the road and  removed old pavement but is now completely unpaved.  I went up in July for this hike and plan to drive to the top this week (Sept 20).  This area has some of the best fall aspen viewing close to Denver, hence its popularity.

Without  4-wheel drive, one must park and walk up a steep road for about 1/2 mile to reach the actual trail
head.  This is no problem going, but coming back I always wish I could have parked in the upper area.  After a short, mild climb through woods, openings to higher vistas begin to appear.

A wide assortment of wild flowers appears for the rest of the trail.

A lake below, with some kind of camp, is visible from  much of this hike.

The first snow field to hike over appears with the long view for the rest of the trail.

Lots more wildflowers once the trail is above timber line.

This part of the hike is mostly flat with plenty of wet areas and another large snow field.  I could see two paths previous hikers had taken and chose the lower one going and the upper on the way back.  The lower had a bit of a steep place to get back on the trail.  After doing the upper, which was exceedingly steep and slippery, I now know that a little steep is a lot better than the whole thing being steep.  The hillside one would slide down after a loss of footing goes all the way to that lake below.

The day was cloudy with a slight bit of rain from time to time, and until I was on my way back not another person was up here.  Being above timber line when wild flowers are on, is one of my favorite types of hikes.   The end of this part of the hike is at one of the Silver Dollar Lakes, and the perfect place for a snack before going back.

More wildflowers and vistas to snap on the way back.

I'm looking forward to taking Emory and Lily on this hike in a few years.  Once the initial road walk and trail climb is done, the rest is easy and quite appropriate for kids.