Herman Gulch hike - what happens in the morning...

Actually... nothing happened ;) I mean it was a nice Saturday morning and I drove up to the mountains to enjoy a hike. Thanks to my friend, who told me about Herman Gulch trail, cuz I never heard about this one before. Anyway, shortly after I started, I reached the trailhead and was ready to begin. Departing from 10,300 feet above sea level is always exciting...

 

I know the pictures of the mountain hikes often look the same and not very interesting - narrow trails running between tall trees, sometimes rocky, sometimes not... So I try not to add too many here. And Herman Gulch trail is not really different (probably a bit steepier in the beginning). Firstly it heads to the East and the sun is shining through the leaves and blind every hiker. But it also looks so beautiful!

There was a lot of flowers growing on the sides and it was really hard to walk by without admiring them. Actually, this trail is famous not only for the landscapes surrounding the area but also for mountain meadows blooming and colorful, so I am going to stop and look at the flowers a lot (and I mean it).

After a few minutes the trail made a sharp turn and now I headed to the West and soon I was able to see the mountain ridge in the opening between aspen and pine trees.

 

The creek was running along the trail (or, probably, the trail was following the creek). It wasn't really deep and not very fast this time of the year but I bet it looked different in Spring when the snow was melting and feeding the creek with a lot of water.

Blue bells were accompanying me during this hike. It's hard to find the flower more simple and less elegant...

The first meadow was a bit of a disappointment - there weren't really a lot of flowers, just a few sunflowers on one side of the trail...

The next meadow was different and the mountain ridge looked so close. Don't be fooled... it's not as close as it looks like :) Blue bells and Indian Paintbrush were peeking from the  tall grass and made everyone stop and look at them...

I walked through the grass and got my feet wet in a second. That was the morning after all and the dew covered absolutely everything - grass, leaves, flowers...

But with every step we were getting closer and closer to the destination.

 

From time to time I walked down the creek to watch fast running water. This is one of three things no one can stop looking at!

More flowers... and more meadows. Blooming meadows!

Yep, a couple of porcinis ;) Probably I needed to pick them up?

The creek now was wider and not as fast... And not really squeezed between trees, here it ran freely...

Soon enough the trail became steeper and the trees smaller. I was reaching the border of the treeline.

And finally all the trees were behind and only a wide open space with the rough ridge was in front of me.

When I turned back, I could see the gulch I just left... and the mountains far away.

Just look at this 180 degrees panorama - isn't it an amazing view?

Rough granite walls looked so close... And so tough. Don't even think about trying to cross the ridge here. It is just impassable!

I was just staying there and looking at the edges and details. I was completely  mesmerized ;)

Now the trail was running across the valley and looked very picturesque.

Actually, there were dozens of small streams on my way there, they were crossing the trail and entering Herman Creek. One of them feeds this small and nice shaped lake. Later I went closer, but for now just took a couple of pictures from the trail...

Finally the trail made a turn and Herman Lake appeared down the basin. A bit over 4 miles was behind of me and destination looked just a step ahead!

To continue reading click here Herman Gulch hike - out and back...

Pictures were taken on August 06, 2022.