Five Years on the List.

I’ve wanted to hike Ice Lake since I moved to Colorado five years ago.

It has been on my bucket list for so long that I honestly started wondering if I was ever going to actually do it. I’d look at pictures, think about making the drive out to the San Juans and then never quite make it happen. It’s a long drive to do by yourself for a day hike, so I always had an excuse.

Labor Day weekend finally gave me a reason to go.

We decided to make a camping trip out of it, which meant getting in Ouray late Friday night, finding a spot along the road, and setting up our sleeping bags immediately in the back of the car. We have a habit of getting somewhere late and figuring out where we’re sleeping once we arrive.

We were up early Saturday and got to the trailhead around 6 a.m.

The parking situation was already getting busy. There were cars everywhere, but somehow we managed to squeeze ours into a spot that we weren’t totally convinced was going to work. It did, so we grabbed our packs and headed up.

I had my Osprey packed with my usual trail snacks - energy gummies, a granola bar, Pretzel M&Ms - along with my water bladder. Nothing fancy. Just enough to keep me moving.

I started the hike in my Columbia hiking shoes, which have been great, but this trip was also around the time I started realizing I needed something a little more serious for the terrain I was getting into. More on that later.

The trail itself was in great shape. Dry, clear, and easy to follow. We started climbing almost immediately, and since we’re both pretty fast hikers, we were moving.

I haven’t done a big elevation hike in a while, though, so I wasn’t exactly flying up the mountain. I took some breaks, caught my breath, and kept going.

And, of course, I did the thing I always do before a hike.

I dressed for the cold.

Ten minutes later, I was sweating.

So for basically the rest of the hike, I was carrying the layers I had just convinced myself I absolutely needed.

But the higher we got, the more I stopped caring about how hot I was.

The views kept getting bigger.

The mountains started opening up around us, and the sun was coming up over the ridgelines. Everything started getting that warm morning glow, and every time I looked up, there was another view that made me stop for a second.

I hadn’t been on a hike like this in a while, and I really missed it.

Not just being outside, but actually putting in the work to get somewhere. There’s something about being a few hours into a climb where you’re sweaty, your legs are working, you’re eating snacks out of your backpack, and the only thing you really have to think about is getting to the next part of the trail.

Eventually, we reached the final climb to Ice Lake.

And there it was.

After five years of wanting to do this hike, I was finally standing in front of it.

We climbed out onto a rocky point near the lake, pulled out our food, and hung out for a while. We took some pictures, ate, and just sat there.

After that, we made our way toward the second lake before turning around and starting back down.

We were moving pretty quickly and running some of the easier sections, and for most of the descent, we barely saw anyone. The trail had been busy at the beginning, so having all that space on the way back felt pretty nice.

We ended up doing the whole thing in about four hours.

By the time we got back to the car, we were ready to eat and move on to the next part of the weekend. We packed everything up and headed toward our next campsite because we were planning to climb Mount Sneffels the following morning.

And somewhere during this trip, I also officially decided that my Columbia shoes had done their job.

After getting some advice about footwear for the kind of terrain I was starting to hike, I picked up a pair of La Sportiva mountain running shoes.

They have already changed the game.

There’s a difference between having hiking shoes and having footwear that actually feels made for the terrain you’re putting yourself on. I didn’t really understand how much that mattered until I started getting into steeper, rockier trails.

And this weekend definitely had me wanting to keep getting into more of that.

On our way out of the trailhead, we started passing cars lined up along the road. There were so many more than there had been when we arrived in the morning, and it made us pretty happy we made the 6 a.m. start.

Ice Lake had been on my list for five years, and it felt good to finally make the drive out and do it. Definitely one I’d recommend if you’re looking for longer, more challenging hike with some pretty incredible views along the way.

Somewhere Between Boulder & Chasm Lake.