For this week's edition of "up a mountain, down a beer" I took it a bit out of the valley. I'm currently on a two-week vacation, road-tripping around the lovely state of Colorado and thought that was no reason to stop hiking and drinking beer. This state has quite an abundance of both after all. And while City Lifestyle GJ is focusing on the Grand Valley, those who live in Junction can easily visit the hike I did for this article in only a few short hours. So if you're interested in a day trip to the San Juan Mountains, this trail is highly recommended!
The first two nights of my boyfriend and I's vacation was to Silverton, CO. The San Juans have been my favorite mountain range in the state for many years with their jagged peaks, stunning views, and typically less-crowded trails. The Blue Lakes near Telluride, the Ice Lakes trail, numerous 14ers . . . the San Juans are absolutely stunning.
The Hike
This trip, we did a trail to a new alpine lake I had never seen. The Columbine Lake trail turned out to possibly be my new favorite. The entire way we were surrounded by breathtaking views, wildflowers, distant peaks, and running creeks. And the lake at the end . . . was quite a reward. I have never in my life seen water so sapphire blue. It was absolutely insane and if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I would have assumed photos of it were enhanced with saturation.
Now, the view was absolutely worth it but word to the wise — it was no cake walk. This trail is 4 miles in each direction and the 4 miles up gains about 3,000 ft. in elevation. This means the trail starts at around 10,000 ft. which for those who live in Grand Junction with an elevation of about half that, means that even at the beginning it's going to be a bit more of a lung workout. At the lake, this trail finishes at around 13,100 ft. and I could definitely tell that my heart was racing and my breathing was very fast and shallow. This trail is not to be taken on lightly but for those willing to huff and puff and burn those legs down, it's absolutely worth the stunning scenery.
We spent about half an hour at the top, having a snack and a beer and getting some pictures before beginning the descent. I would say going down was actually worse than going up. I have had sore knee and hip joints for several years now due to decades of ballet. Every time I start down a steep hike, they immediately flare up. Typically, it's become a joke to start singing Alicia Keys, adjusting the lyrics to . . . "these knees are on FIRE!" all the way down. Fortunately, I've hiked these tall alpine mountains enough times to know to bring poles which I use to help steady my balance on the downhills as well as help take some of the pressure off my knees. Overall, I would do this trail again, no question, even though it is definitely a difficult one. The end reward is always worth it when that reward is an epic alpine lake.
COLUMBINE LAKE in a nutshell:
Distance: 8.3 miles out and back
Elevation Gain: 2,933 feet
Difficulty rating: Hard
Dog-friendly/Family-friendly: Yes/Yes if they're in great shape!
The Beer
For our beer selection, we brought up a crowler from the Silverton local brewery, Avalanche Beer Co. We chose the Pride of the West Porter. At high altitude and with a bit of a breeze, it was just chilly enough that a porter wasn't going to be unpleasant. And since porters taste more enhanced at room temp, it was perfect at the top after a few hours of sucking thin air. It was easy to drink, not too high in alcohol, and went down a little too fast.
PRIDE OF THE WEST PORTER in a nutshell:
IBU: 20
ABV: 5.2%
Tasting Notes: Rich chocolate notes in a surprisingly light body with little bitterness and a nice smooth mouth feel.
If you decide to venture to any of the numerous, epic trails around Silverton, the Avalanche brewery is certainly worth a stop. Their Thai pizza and their tacos were fabulous.