Early Sunday morning, I set off towards Lake Granby. I wasn’t sure what to expect for the weather and trail conditions, but also didn’t have anything planned for the day.
Driving down main street of Grand Lake, looks like a nice holiday spot,
Just don’t get your hopes up for pizza,
Grand Lake,
I decided to try hiking up to the Shadow Mountain Lookout Tower.
A portion of it is shared with the CDT,
A few puddles to dodge early on, otherwise dry and lots of dead trees,
Near the top I ran into some snow (still early in May after all)
At one point I caught a glimpse of the tower in the distance, almost there! right? Nope. More like an hour of hiking to go,
I had a clif bar when I woke up (3 hours earlier), and snarfed another bar halfway through the hike. I was feeling disappointed I didn’t bring anything more for the top, but then discovered I did indeed bring an apple (and a la croix), score!
The mighty fire tower,
Views of Grand Lake to the north,
Shadow Mountain Lake,
Lake Granby a little farther out,
Another vantage point of Shadow Mountain Lake on the way down,
Had a big burger in town as a post-hike treat before heading out and running into a snow storm on Berthoud Pass… Colorado weather can surprise you!
Tandem Ride Photography 