Woods Lake Trail to Navajo Lake San Juan Mountains / Lizard Head Wilderness

Tina and I went to Colorado to escape the brutal heat of Arizona. On a whim, we decided to check out Woods Lake Campground in the Uncompahgre National Forest. We're somewhat familiar with the area, but hadn't checked out Woods Lake before. The established campground was perfect; running, potable water, bathrooms and firewood for sale. Each campground had a picnic table and fire pit. It was just what we needed.

But when we started looking, we realized there were trails leaving directly from our campground. So we decided to hike the Woods Lake Trail up to Navajo Lake. It starts out by Woods Lake (obviously) and immediately starts up the mountain through a beautiful forest of aspen and pine. And mosquitoes. Lots and lots of mosquitoes. So many mosquitoes. I know Colorado has it's season for them, but man, this was especially brutal. Apocolyptic. At least they kept us going at a brisk pace, because you really couldn't stop or they would swarm you.

So after a bit, I may have become cranky. But soon enough we cleared the tree line and they died down. Then the problem was snow. The camera never does it justice, but the snow was on a steep slope that was not entirely safe. At least not for desert hikers. Luckily we had our microspikes, so we continued on.

Which was a good thing. We crested the saddle and were treated to some amazing views of the mountains on the other side. And wildflowers. It was breathtaking. Then it was down a few hundred feet over a couple more miles to Navajo Lake. The thing about these alpine lakes in the San Juans is that they're crowded. They're incredibly beautiful and therefore extremely popular. But not really for Navajo Lake. We saw maybe two groups of backpackers and three groups of day hikers. And that was it. Definitely the least crowded lake we've hiked to in Colorado to date.

And all of this was on a whim. The campsite. The trail. The lake. Just goes to show you that sometimes it pays to just go out and explore.

Music by Artlist:

Standing Small The Hunts

Bachs Cello Suite Ardie Son

Serenade in G Major Eine kleine Nachtmusik Dover Quartet

Music by Epidemic Sound:

Grieg Morning

Waltz for M Anna Landstrom