Welcome to the Colorado backcountry

The vast acreage of wilderness and backcountry beauty in Colorado make it one of the more popular locations for camping, backpacking, and day-hiking.

In addition to a eight National Parks and Monuments, Colorado boasts an equal number of Wilderness Areas, millions of acres of National Forest and BLM land, and over three dozen state parks.

From mountains to deserts, and grasslands to canyons, one could spend a lifetime hiking the trails of Colorado and not cover all of them.

Hanging Lake - the videos

Hanging Lake is one of the most popular hikes in Colorado.  It's relatively short, about a mile and a quarter, easily accessed off I-70, close to Glenwood Springs, and very scenic.

I've hiked up there a half dozen or so times, including once in the middle of winter.  Yesterday's trip up was much fun as the spring melt-off is fueling the state's rivers and streams, and there are torrents of water everywhere.

At points the trail had more water than the stream normally does.  The crossing to the Dead Horse trail was out of the question.  Spouting Rock, above the lake, could have been called Gushing Rock.

Here are a few videos I shot: