In late June 2014, we took a family vacation. We left from St. Louis and drove west to the promise land. Colorado, that’s my promise land. The beautiful country, the place I would go if I were rich and could move all of our family (immediate and extended) to one place without thinking about the cost involved in such an undertaking.
Our family of four (myself and my wife, plus a 3 year old daughter, and recently turned 1yr old son) visited Denver, friends, family, and then we went further west, to a place 50 miles from the nearest town, at 9500’, deep into Wilderness country.
We went to Trapper’s Lake.
You’ve probably never heard of it, unless you happen to be a high school friend who lives in Indiana who has been there before (I found this out after getting there). Trappers Lake itself, is in the Flat Tops Wilderness Area, which I learned during planning for the trip, means it is in a very protected part of our country. Basics of a wilderness area are: you cannot have anything motorized (cars, boats, jetskis, etc), or even geared (bikes). The idea behind this is to protect the Wilderness areas and keep them as they have always been.
Trapper’s Lake Lodge and Resort, is a family owned setup of cabins (15-20 maybe) that are down the road leading up to the lake itself. This resort area is not actually part of the wilderness area, so you can drive to/from the cabins, and the lodge and cabins have power from 7am each morning until 9:30pm each night. Providing you the minimalized comforts of home. The Lodge itself is great, you can rent fishing gear, and even paddle boats and I believe canoes, though to get in them you have to hike about a 1/4 mile up a slight climb into the Wilderness Area and to the lake itself. You can also get all your meals from the lodge, breakfast lunch and dinner, they’ll cook and serve for you, or you can bring your own food, though they tell you not to leave it in the cabins, only in your vehicles. I’m sure they would rather a bear tear up your vehicle, than one of their cabins.
The area around the Lodge, and the lake, is amazingly beautiful, I don’t know that I can begin to describe it with words, so instead, I present to you photos I took while there.
Trapper’s Lake Slideshow (https://www.flickr.com/photos/chammond/sets/72157645408088310/show/)
You can also check out a recent article about Trapper’s Lake
I took a number of photos while visiting Trapper’s. I got to see for the first time in my life the Milky Way, and have the photos to prove it! It is amazing, to be so far out in the middle of nowhere, with no light pollution anywhere around, to be able to see things that you never have before.
Here’s one of those Milky Way shots
I also took a number of photos with my DJI F450 MultiRotor, taking photos with a GoPro Hero3+
In that last shot, you’ll notice the remains of trees. There was a very large fire about 12 or 13 years ago, that burned much of the area around Trapper’s Lake. It actually creates a very beautiful, if eerie, scene all around the area.
If you ever get the chance to visit Trapper’s Lake, I highly recommend it. I plan to go back again, hopefully some time in 2015. I would love to get out into the wilderness area hiking/camping for a bit and get some star trails photos of the milky way.