Mirror Lake and Lone Eagle Peak

My love for hiking and my passion for photography are a perfect marriage.

So some of my favorite professional photo images are from hiking trips. And the good news is, these hikes are just fine for baby boomers! If you’re a baby boomer, here are some tips on how to prepare for any hike, especially hikes longer than two hours.

First, start early to beat the high-altitude sun, and to avoid any late afternoon storms. I’d start around 6:00-6:30 in the morning. Take plenty of water—I love my Camelbak® water container. Dress comfortably, and wear a hat! I put a damp towel around my neck to keep myself cool, and then re-wet it along the creeks. Take some basic first aid items, like small bandages, just in case.

There are hundreds of trails in Colorado, and I have taken many of them. I will share three, the three I would classify as examples of 1) difficult, 2) intermediate, and 3) easy-to-moderate.

The most difficult and longest hike is the Mt. Elbert Trail, which leads to the highest peak in Colorado, at 14,443 feet. The trailhead is about ten miles south of Leadville. I started at 6:00 a.m and got back at 6:00 pm! Eighteen miles, round-trip. It’s not for the faint of heart. The trail starts at about 9,000 feet and ends at almost fourteen-and-a-half—quite a vertical rise.

Mt. Elbert Crater: What life looks like from 14,443 feet.

However, it is worth every mile. Where else can you get an eagle’s view of the lakes and valleys below? For the first mile or two you pass along canyons of tall aspens, and other canopies of nature’s umbrella trees. At about 11,000 feet, you start reaching tree-line, above which you’re hiking on just rocks—so wear good shoes. Although you lose tree cover, the views are spectacular! You begin to look down at 10,000-foot peaks, and later at 12-thousand footers.

There are usually other hikers along the trail, which adds to the feeling of safety and security. It’s like an anonymous club. Everyone respects each other, directs each other, and supports each other along the way. Whenever I’m on the way down and see weary hikers on the way up, I motivate them by saying, “It’s worth it! The views up there are awesome!” I can see their faces light up.

There is so much to see and experience along the trail. I love looking back and seeing how far I’ve come, and seeing other awesome mountain peaks nearby. There is also animal life like picas and marmots. Birds, sometimes large hawks, can be seen hovering and fluttering above you. Then there are also wildflowers along the way. My favorite is the elegant columbine, my state’s official flower.

Meadow, wildflowers, Long Lake, and the Indian Peaks.

Since Mt. Elbert is a long, strenuous hike, I recommend making reservations in advance at the nearby Cottonwood Hot Springs, near the town of Buena Vista. Get a full body massage after your hike, and then soak in the natural hot springs. Ahhhh!

The Lone Eagle Peak trail is not as difficult, but it is long—fifteen miles round-trip. The trailhead is on the west side of the Continental Divide, just a few miles southeast of the town of Grand Lake. Yard-per-yard, this is my favorite trail. Besides the sound of peaceful running water from creeks along the trail, there are four waterfalls along the way that are worth taking a time-out.

Unlike the Mt. Elbert trail, the entire hike is below tree line—plenty of trees along the way. Like most trails in Colorado, you’ll see wildflowers, animal life, birds, and the music of creeks along the way to keep you company.

Lake Isabelle with Indian Peaks in background.

Although it is a long trail, the destination to the almost 12,000-foot Lone Eagle Peak is worth the hike! It looks like what we might see in other countries, totally unlike any mountain peak in the Rockies.

The trail to Long Lake can be hiked by children. It is the longest lake in the Indian Peaks Wilderness area, toward the east side of the Continental Divide, west of Boulder. From Highway 92, also known as the Peak-to-Peak Highway, take the Brainard Lake exit, which is near the quaint historic mining town of Ward. My favorite time of year for this hike is August, when the wildflowers are in full bloom. This trail duplicates the mental image of mountain streams, scented pine trees, wildlife and wildflowers, lakes, and jagged peaks in the background. Now, that’s what Colorado is about—and this trail provides it.

If you have some energy left, after the hike to Long Lake, I encourage you to go an extra 2-3 miles up to Lake Isabelle. It is absolutely beautiful–where heaven and earth meet.

Enjoy your hiking in Colorado. I certainly do … me and my camera.

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And, I’m 61, a baby boomer. Most people I see during these hikes are in their twenties and thirties. Between the long distances, the elevation gain, and the thin air, the climbs are a little harder for us than for younger generations, but it’s easier for us to figure out how to incorporate them into our personal lives and our working lives. Here are the lessons I’ve extracted from the mountains:

• Planning — I had to carefully plan what I would need to succeed, to minimize the chances of failure. As they say, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
• Setting missions — Without a definite, clear mission, I would not have been able to hike to each summit. My mission was simple and concrete: to get to the summit. The timing was also critical. I had received good advice about the best time to start my journeys. There was nothing vague or unclear.
• Stay focused — I knew I had to stay focused on my mission. Any wavering or mental ambiguities would have derailed me.
• One step at a time — Every time my body gave me “I can’t do this” messages, I had to rely on my mind to remind my body, “One step at a time.”
• Self-Motivation — I had to believe in myself. I never asked myself whether I was going to make it; I asked myself, “What is it going to take to make it?” I recall actually telling my body, “I’m going to the summit, and I need you to get me there.”
• You can’t see your goals before you achieve them — Too often, if we can’t “see” our mission, we give up. I didn’t see the summits until I got to them!
• Allow parts of your body to question, weaken, or struggle, except your mind — If your mind succeeds, the rest will follow. I stopped several times on the way up to give my lungs a break, to allow them to get the air they needed. It was like talking to them: “It’s ok; I’ll give you a rest before we go on. I want to live to talk about this…”
• Accept pauses, detours, stops, and even doubts, but keep moving forward — We often get discouraged when, on our way to our goals, we have to pause, take detours, or stop. In life, those slowdowns, pauses, or stops can be days, weeks, or even months. However, the only way we are going to achieve our missions in life is to simply keep moving forward. I allowed myself to get disappointed, but not discouraged. In life, sometimes we have to pause, take some unplanned turns and detours, and even stop. That’s okay, as long as we are still moving, in the long term, toward our mission.
• You can’t achieve the goal right now, but — We often lose our motivation because we want to achieve our goals “right now.” They won’t always happen right away, right now. But, what we can do right now is take the next step, and every step is necessary for us to achieve our mission.
• Sometimes, we lose sight of the trail we’re on — I have to admit that sometimes I would get distracted from the trail, but then I realized I needed to focus on the only trail that was there to help me achieve my mission.
• Remember, the mission, or goal, is best achieved by not stepping on anyone — Some of my work experiences and observations came back to haunt me during my hikes. Getting to the top, both during my past career and during my hikes, can be best achieved by stepping on firm ground, not on people.
• While on your journey, help others — It was common on each of my three hikes to see people checking on each other, and motivating each other, whether on their way up or down. Some of the manifestations of that altruistic mindset were comments like, “Are you okay?” or “You can do it.” I did the same for others myself: “It’s worth every step—the views are awesome.”
• Look back occasionally to remind yourself of your achievement — As I headed back down the rocky and daring geologic backs of those monstrous peaks, I looked back several times to see where I had gotten myself. Several times I’d think to myself, “I can’t believe I did that.” It was a great feeling. I did it!

I will never forget my lessons from a mountain.