Backpacker Magazine – August 2012

From The Field: West

Our trail scouts' top local hikes

by: Sarah L. Stewart

Tags:
• FromTheField
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• Destinations
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• West
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• August
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Ice Lake Basin, San Juan NF, CO
Andrew Klotz, Durango, CO 
There aren’t many places—even in mountain-choked Colorado—where you can see a quarter-mile-wide swath of columbines at the base of 150- and 300-foot waterfalls, beneath a horseshoe of Thirteeners. “In July, the meadow at mile 2.7 is one of the best places to see Colorado’s state flower,” Klotz says. Climb 800 vertical feet to milky-blue Ice Lake, with up-close views of 13,760-foot “Alp-like” Golden Horn and 13,894-foot Vermilion Peak. Retrace your steps to complete a 7.6-mile out-and-back. Trip ID 515724

Start early: “Storms come on strong around 2 p.m.”


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