Herman Gulch Trail

Yesterday I hiked the Herman Gulch Trail. It's a fairly easy 7ish mile out and back trail right off of I-70. Like literally right off - it has it's own exit! Exit 218 if you'd like to try it for yourself. It's unmarked, so you just turn left and voila, the parking lot and trail! So easy!

The trail is a part of the Continental Divide Trail - a 3,100 mile trail that crosses from Mexico all the way to Canada. 

Interesting fact: only about 200 hikers attempt to thru hike the Continental Divide Trail each year - and it takes about six months to complete! The other two "Triple Crowns" of long-distance hiking: The Appalachian Trail (2,184ish miles) and The Pacific Crest Trail (2,654 miles) have thousands who attempt a thru hike each year, but much much less who actually complete it.

Back to my (much shorter) hike.

The Herman Gulch trail starts out fairly steep through the trees until you come to a beautiful meadow with wildflowers when in season. 

I was a little disappointed that I seemed to have missed the wildflowers by just a few weeks :-/ but there  were still some left and.. that view :)

The hike continues through the meadow and a few shady areas (wear sunscreen!) until the final ascent to the Herman Gulch Lake. 

There is a trail marker where you can head left for the lake or right for Jones Pass and continuation of the trail. I went left! When given a mountain lake as an option, I will always take it! 

The last few hundred yards are  a workout but the lake makes it all worthwhile. I walked around the lake to the left first to find the stream and get some pictures of the wildflowers that were left. No one was on this side of the lake so I took my time. So peaceful.

When I headed back to the lake a crowd of about 20-30 hikers had made it. One guy had a guitar and was singing Colorado themed songs to a small crowd. The rest of the hikers were enjoying the view and taking a break for some snacks. 

The water is so clear you can see through it. The colors gave me some inspiration for a new painting! 

I didn't spend too much time at the lake because of the crowd. I've spent the last two weekends hiking 14ers with about 5 million of my closest friends and was ready for some solitude. The hike back gave me what I needed (mostly) :) I passed a few people coming up but I had the trail mostly to myself on the last couple miles.

Some of the aspens were already changing color! I need to remember to come back here for the fall colors. But get here at 5 am! ha. There is a large parking lot and they look to be expanding it but when I came back down it was completely full a little after 12.

If you are in the area I recommend this hike! 

Good for: everyone! The elevation gain can be tricky if you are from out of town or not active, but with plenty of water and breaks you should be fine. The actual trail is not difficult or technical.

Get there: Exit 218 off I-70

Come early if you want a decent parking spot, but seems like it's being expanded. (and let's be honest that's true for every trail in Colorado in the summer)

Happy Trails :)