Chicago Lakes

January 17, 2021

Hike 4/52

#52hikechallenge #52hikechallenge2021

I picked this trail because it's pretty close to Denver and it's been on my list for a while! I never got to it in 2020, but it's definitely on my list to go again when it warms up and the snow is melted.

We got out of my car and it was a wind tunnel. We started off down the trail, wearing microspikes, and hoped for the best. Turns out, we made a good call by not bringing our snowshoes. The trail starts off by wrapping around the first lake, and you begin ascending through the trees. Not too far into the path, the trail is on the side of the mountain, and it's a drop off to your right hand side. I'm not a big fan of heights, but this was completely fine for me. That being said, if you weren't being careful, you could slip down the side of the mountain. I don't think this would be a great hike for kids (unless they're older).

The exposed trail was extremely windy. Thankfully, once you start going down the switchbacks, you're in the treeline again, and it was pretty calm. You take the trail, until you get to the Mount Evans road, and take that road up the mountain.

You pass cabins and the 2nd lake, on the left. It is private property surrounding the trail, so please stay on the trail. The trail continues into the woods and you start to see a very large exposed rock face on the left. There was a forest fire at one point, because the trees still have burn marks, but it looks like it's grown back pretty well (had to tell in the snow).

We hiked until the trees broke up a little more, and you could see the mountain range in the distance. By that point, I was getting pretty tired, and wanted to have enough energy on the way back. We ended up hiking 3.55 miles, until we turned around, for a grand total of 7.1 miles. I need to do more cardio, more consistently, to build up my endurance. I also did not sleep well the night before and didn't get in bed until after midnight (due to my 4Runner breaking down the night before on my way home from work). It wasn't the best idea to go hiking the next day, but I need to get out into the mountains at least once a week, for my sanity.

All Trails: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/colorado/chicago-lakes-trail

All Trails Stats: 11.3 miles / 3,330 feet elevation gain

My Stats: 7.1 miles

Parking: you'll park along the road, on the right hand side. There is quite a few parking spaces and they were probably only 1/2 full, when we arrived. The summertime could be a different story - especially with how close this trail is to Denver.