Hiking the Ice Lakes Trail - Silverton, Colorado - San Juan National Forest
Hiking the Ice Lakes Trail - Silverton, Colorado - San Juan National Forest
We love the Ice Lakes trail. So it's no surprise that we hiked it (again) on a recent trip to Colorado. Ice Lakes trail is about 8~9 miles miles with around 2,500 ft of elevation gain. It depends because there are a bunch of lakes you can hike to. The elevation gain/loss and distance all vary depending on the route you take. On this trip, we hiked up to Ice Lake and then up to Island Lake. The trail can be backpacked, and you can camp at the lakes themselves. Personally, I would probably camp in the tree line at Lower Ice Lake Basin, but it's up to you. No permits are required, but the trail is busy. Get there early. There is also car camping allowed off the road to the trailhead and, if you have 4WD, you can continue past the trailhead down the 585 for a truly spectacular campsite in a beautiful valley.
The trail is tough. It's relatively long with aggressive elevation gain. But it's worth it. The scenery is stunning the entire trip, so you're usually too distracted to notice how hard it is.
I can't recommend this trail enough.
Shot on Gopro 8
Music licensed from www.epidemicsound.com
Frozen Water Not Ice - Polar Nights
Oh Ah Uhm - Nashional
Rare Love - Cody Francis
Elm Lake - Elm Lake
A4 Tear - Cospe
Пікірлер: 68
Please don’t ever stop making your videos! I just found them about three months ago and I love them! I would have never known about the places you have taken me to ………what a blessing! I have Parkinsons and I can’t walk very well so to be able to visualize the trails and the beautiful scenery means the world to me. Thank you!
@JerryArizona
Жыл бұрын
Glad to take you along!
I’m so glad you guys filmed this hike-one of my all time favorites and hard to find adequate words to describe the reward for the tough climb when you reach Ice Lake. First time I did it I cried from the astonishing beauty! This area of CO is my happy place 🥰
This is a tough hike but beautiful.
Absolutely love Colorado! The best spots are the toughest to get to😁👍🏼... great hike Jerry!
Gorgeous!
So beautiful! Thanks for sharing
Always great vids Jer!
Beautiful, what a great hike.
Man, those views are amazing!
It's one of my favorites! 👍💪 The kids found it to be a good challenge. Too bad it's gotten pretty crowded. 😮
Thanks for sharing!
“Go that way. No that way. No the other way.” 😂 i laughed so much with the bloopers. Also, I’m still so impressed with the Go Pro Hero 8. Looked very nice. 🙂🤙🏻
Def visit the Breckenridge area! Very similar to the San Juan mountains! I just did wheeler lake and pass this weekend, was terrific. I would also recommend going to Sky Pond! I feel like you will love it!
@JerryArizona
3 жыл бұрын
I'll add it to the list. I haven't been to Breckenridge for decades.
That's a great hike and Ice Lake is beautiful. I checked where it is on the map and realized that we drove a Wrangler to Clear Lake many years ago, and it was not nearly as pretty as Ice Lake.
@JerryArizona
3 жыл бұрын
Is that the one above them? That has the crazy looking road?
OMG! So incredibly beautiful! Literally breathtaking! Thank you for your amazing videos; so entertaining. I just discovered your channel so I’m now binge watching your vlogs. Keep up the great work!
Love your videos! Thanks so much for putting them together and sharing so many amazing places.
7 hrs 41 minutes from Denver- I enjoyed your video - Thanks so much! 🤗
Looks like a fun trail, good video as always.
Awesome scenery on this one!
The San Juans are a special place. I was in the area a month ago and we drove up the sketchy road to Clear Lake and then came down to take waterfall photos on Mineral Creek just up from your parking area. So many wildflowers as well. Loved your video and continued safe travels.
@JerryArizona
3 жыл бұрын
What did you drive up to Clear Lake? We were thinking about checking it out, but had a full agenda as always.
@jrlong3490
3 жыл бұрын
@@JerryArizona Chevy Colorado 4x4. Either one of your Toyotas w 4x4 would make it just fine. A few tight areas when you have to pass other vehicles uphill or downhill, but that is normal on those San Juan mountain roads. Safe travels.
Great hike! Awesome scenery!
@JerryArizona
3 жыл бұрын
It really is. We did it in the fall and summer and the change is amazing. Not to mention the color of the lakes when they're in the sun versus the shade.
Definitely going back and hitting this trail! Awesome as always!
@JerryArizona
3 жыл бұрын
I saw your post. I think we camped at the same place you did the night before this hike.
@Dirtbag.G
3 жыл бұрын
@@JerryArizona Right between those 2 running creeks! Sounded amazing!
Nice video! We were there a few weeks ago as well and the elevation kicked our Arizonan asses!! Camping next to the creek was amazing. We will def be back!
@JerryArizona
3 жыл бұрын
I definitely want to backpack this one day. For this trip, we continued on the road past the trailhead and car camped at the very end. A lot less busy than along the road to the trailhead, but the road gets much worse.
@radroads
3 жыл бұрын
@@JerryArizona backpacking this would be amazing! What part of the day do you think the lake looks its best??
@JerryArizona
3 жыл бұрын
@@radroads I'd normally say golden hour, but we we've only been there mid day. This trip it was cloudy and the lakes didn't look nearly as colorful as they did the trip before. So it's definitely better if it's got a bit of sun; Ice Lake looked neon blue and island lake looked this crazy shade of green last time. This time they were definitely toned down.
Sweet video!! I've been wanting to do this one. :)
That's a great area. My first backpacking trip in '93 was just a few miles down the road from Silverton. We hiked from Needleton up to Windom Peak and over to Twin Lakes. And I got altitude sickness bad!
@JerryArizona
3 жыл бұрын
Luckily, that didn't bother us on this trip. I was definitely sucking wind on a lot of the hikes up there though.
Beautiful man, seems like a good place to hike in August. I’m in San Antonio right now and the temps have been over 100 the past 4 days. Getting the recognition too...cool.
@JerryArizona
3 жыл бұрын
I hear you. It's brutally hot here in Phoenix too. Definitely need to be creative in the summer around here.
Looks beautiful. I may need to check it out. I think I'm going to do the Highland Mary Lakes Loop which is very close by next weekend for the Holiday.
@JerryArizona
3 жыл бұрын
Yeah, Ice Lakes is beautiful, for sure. Highland Mary Lakes looks good as well. I may need to check that one out.
Thank you for not putting 15 layers of filters on ur videos
I know it's a couple of years old, but I don't know how I missed this one! I loved this hike in 2018, but we went from Austin, TX to this in 24 hours and my body did NOT like it. Nose bleeds and a foggy memory of it. Tried again in 2021 but it was closed. Gotta try again!
@JerryArizona
Жыл бұрын
We love this hike. Hope you get to check it out.
Thank you very nice ! What is your favorite setting on the hero 8 ?
@JerryArizona
3 жыл бұрын
I usually set it to custom; 4K, 60p, flat profile, -0.5 EV, wide lens. ND filters help a lot to keep the highlights from clipping too. Absolutely love the 8. They finally nailed the stabilization so you don't need a gimbal, which is great for active stuff like this.
@walkitoffarizona887
3 жыл бұрын
@@JerryArizona thx for the tip ! I am Learning fast . editing is killing me . very green but ill get better. keep those videos coming they are great! maybe we will run into you at that Mexican Resturant some time . been eating there for years as my Dad lives not far from there.
I am super interested in doing ice lakes. I was curious if you could wear a 100 lb body suit and not do any physical activity for 6 months and do it all again so I can see how I'd do? 😂
how long to hike round trip
I plan on doing this hike and camping two nights there in a few weeks. I'm pretty new to backpacking and from Ohio, so definitely not used to the altitude. Any recommendations?
@JerryArizona
10 ай бұрын
Acclimate for a couple days at altitude. If you are feeling off/sick, head to lower elevation as soon as you can. I haven't had a problem with altitude sickness before, but Tina had it twice on Maroon Bells 4 Pass Loop. Couldn't sleep, dry heaves, headache, lack of appetite. Not a good thing. But this isn't that long of a hike. If you get up there any don't feel well, you should be able to get back down relatively quickly. Just read up on the symptoms so you know if you're getting into trouble and get out before it gets bad. Otherwise, enjoy. It's a great hike.
How long did it take yall?
@JerryArizona
3 жыл бұрын
Gaia says 7 hours, 9 miles & 2,555 ft elevation change. We weren't really in a hurry.
@janefromthecountry1820
2 жыл бұрын
👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻🤗
do you think this would be too hard with a toddler in my carrier?
@JerryArizona
Ай бұрын
It all depends on your physical ability. I will warn that the hike up to Island Lake has some really steep parts that might not be safe with a toddler. If you can do this elevation and length with your carrier, you can probably do it.
@lenadanzara8542
Ай бұрын
@@JerryArizona Thanks for the reply. The weather ended up being too chilly and there was snow so I was not able to do it! But hoping to do it in a year when I go back!
Awe, man! You were in my neck of the woods and didn't call? Unsubscribed!! Just kidding! Was going to this loop this Labor day weekend, decided against it due to do many tourists...maybe next weekend.
@JerryArizona
3 жыл бұрын
Where are you in Co?
@matthewmaxwell3845
3 жыл бұрын
@@JerryArizona Ridgway...
The music ruins your videos. Too bad
@JerryArizona
2 жыл бұрын
I agree to an extent. Check out some of the newer ones. I’ve definitely started to downplay the music, slow the editing cuts and use more acoustic/piano/mellow music. I also spend a ton more time on sound design using the ambient sounds. Couldn’t do it back then because I needed a gimbal. I don’t think I’ll ever completely move away from using music though, but it used to be a lot more intrusive when I used it.
@billricheter5678
2 жыл бұрын
@@JerryArizona thanks for your response. I generally really like your videos. I just dont like lyrics with nature videos. To me its distracting. Anyway, dont mean to be a hater and i dl enjoy your work. Keep it up!
@JerryArizona
2 жыл бұрын
@@billricheter5678 no hate felt. It’s been a learning process for me. Even I have trouble watching some of my older videos. Definitely always learning and trying to improve.
Stayed there a week last year and didn't come close to getting acclimated...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limnology
@JerryArizona
Жыл бұрын
Haha! Awesome. I still prefer "Lake-ology".