The Mountain Goats of Mt. Blue Sky
I had to work on Sunday this week because of a customer visit, so I took off Wednesday to compensate for working a day I normally don't have to work. Since Katie already had Wednesday off, we took the opportunity to go hiking. We ventured into the Mount Blue Sky area in the Arapaho National Forest. Neither of us had been to this area before. Since this area has one of Colorado's 14ers, we figured we could find some cooler hikes at high elevations to take a break from the heat in town.
Our first stop was to hike to Chicago Lakes from Summit Lake. This trail starts above 12,000 feet in elevation above the tree line and was a brisk 50 degrees. It was so cold we started wearing our puffy jackets, gloves, and hats. That hike steeply descends to Chicago Lakes where we ate a snack overlooking Lower Chicago Lake before going back up the brutal mountain back to the car. The trail had a lot of large steps and a lot of loose gravel, making the ascent and descent much harder. It was a good test of Katie's balance.
After the hike, we went to the summit of Mount Blue Sky, one of two 14ers that you can drive to the top of. We ate lunch in the car (because of the wind and cold), and then I "hiked" up to the summit of Mount Blue Sky which was just a few hundred feet in elevation gain and a third of a mile.
We saw two herds of mountain goats. The first one was a pack of about 18 that were on the side of the road. The second heard was at the summit of Mount Blue Sky and there were only 6 of them up there sharing the views with the humans. We haven't seen any mountain goats on any of our hikes, and that was one of the things we were hoping to find on this adventure.
3.83 mi
3.3 hrs
14,248 ft
1,451 ft
Chicago Lakes
Early on in the hike we could see our destination. The hike started at the top and descended to Chicago Lakes.
Almost There
It was a steep hike to get down to Upper Chicago Lakes.
Upper Chicago Lake
We made it to Upper Chicago Lakes in about an hour. It was so steep that we were slow going down.
Turn Around Point
We continued on to an overlook for the lower Chicago Lake to stop and eat a snack. Even though it wasn't much distance so far into the hike, the elevation gain was grueling and we did not want to continue onto the base of this lake.
Lower Chicago Lake
Lower Chicago Lakes was just barely in the tree line. We didn't hike low enough to be in the tree line.
Alpine Gentian
We thought this was some kind of Pasque flower which blooms in early spring. Although it resembles it quite a bit, this is a Alpine Gentian and a new wildflower to us.
Fake Smile
Before I took this photo, Katie was nearly dead in automatic mode trying to make it up the mountain. She faked a smile for me.
Cinquefoil
There were quite a bit of blooming cinquefoils on the hike.
Unafraid
This marmot was unafraid of humans. I was able to get quite close before scaring it off.
Kings Crown
Summit Lake Again
We ended the hike at Summit Lake again where I took another photo from the Northern shore looking West. The clouds were starting to roll in which was a great time to end a hike.
Shelter Door
There was a shelter at the base of Summit Lakes.
On the Side of the Road
We found a massive heard of mountain goats off the side of the road as we were driving to the summit of Mount Blue Sky. There were almost 20 of them.
Lounging
Looking Down on Me
This mountain goat had the high ground and was watching hikers as they summited Mount Blue Sky.
Baby Resting
There were a few baby goats at the top of Mount Blue Sky. As I was hiking to the top, they were playing around. By the time I summited I guess this one was tired.
The Goats of Mount Blue Sky
There were only a handful of mountain goats at the summit of Mount Blue Sky. I guess they wanted to be up higher than anything else.
Baby in the Mountains
This baby mountain goat posed for me on one of the high points at the summit of Mount Blue Sky.
