Today was my last day in the Telluride area and I decided to go to Blue Lakes. Blue Lakes was recommended by a ranger I came upon while hiking to Hope Lake yesterday. She told me it was her favorite hike in the area and if you like high alpine scenery this is the hike to go on. Boy was she right! What a hike. One of the best hikes I have ever done but also one of the most strenuous in a long, long, time. I had to climb over 3,000 feet and reached an altitude of around 12,000 feet which is the highest altitude I have been at in maybe 20 years.

I’m not going to say much more about the hike because I am exhausted this evening after a three day hiking marathon. Tomorrow I am going to take off from any strenuous exercise, I hope. I say I hope because tomorrow I am headed to Black Canyon National Park. I don’t intend to do any hiking but we will see. Since it is a National Park I think and hope I can get away with just parking near one of the lookouts and strolling maybe 50 feet to take some pictures.