Backpacking up to Lily Lake
I have been dying to take my kids on a backpacking trip for a few years, especially since Ryan and I went on an epic overnight backpacking trip a few years ago with Lisa’s brothers in California. A few months ago, Jon Jackson and Scott Richins and I looked at our calendars for the summer and decided on this weekend. Scott took the lead planning the location and he picked a great one. We hiked the Lily Lake Trail in the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness. The Jacksons and I had to leave our cars at the Richins house because the last 7 miles of the road required AWD and high clearance vehicles. Scott was nice enough to drive his Suburban and let me drive his truck to get everybody there. Good thing we made that decision because the road was rough, but also fun to drive.
I took Ryan, Megan, Luke and Matt. Megan Jackson was the only Mom that came. Romney and Jane also came from the Jackson family and they brought Austin Parego as well. Scott brought Lizzie and Andrew and Sarah from his family. It was a great group.
The hike from the upper trailhead to the base of Lily Lake was between 3.5 and 4 miles long. It was a tough uphill hike that is rated as difficult on All Trails, but everybody did a great job. Megan and Ryan were at the front of the group the whole way. Both of the boys had some difficulties at different times, but overall did well. The scenery was incredible throughout the entire hike. After a short downhill from the upper trailhead, we hiked through a beautiful meadow with amazing views . After the meadow, we were hiking in trees along a stream for about a mile before we started the steeper uphill climb. We also had to hike through an avalanche washout. It was incredible to see how much damage an avalanche can do. The last mile or so was a very difficult hike with a lot of elevation gain.
We were very happy when we reached the meadow below Lily Lake and everybody was able to drop their backpacks while Scott and Jon and Ryan and I scouted the area for the best campsite. We found a beautiful area with a few relatively flat areas for tents. I shared a 3 man tent with Luke and Matt. Ryan and Megan shared the other 3 man tent.
There was also a stone fireplace that had been built with a makeshift fence surrounding it. This became our home base where we cooked our meals and enjoyed a fire every night. It was the perfect campsite.
Luke and Matt and Andrew took it upon themselves to find a bunch of firewood. This involved cutting down a dead tree which they hauled over to our campsite. That was a fun first activity for the boys.
We all had a great time playing in the woods and meadows around the campsite. The little kids (Matt, Luke, Sarah and Jane) challenged the teenagers to see who could build the best fort. The little kids is below and they totally won. The teenagers got bored after a while, but these younger kids had a great time designing their fort and then taking me on a tour through it.
The kids played Mafia the first night. The second night, we taught everybody the animal game as well as Camo Rush. Both games were a hit, especially Camo Rush. We played until it got too dark.
Ryan and I also taught Scott how to play Cribbage and we played the 3 man version a couple of times. It was nice to have some down time around the camp.
Megan’s Favorite Memories
taking a photoshoot with rom, austin and lizzy - chilling in the hammocks 24/7 - all the inside jokes with lizzy - sharing a tent with ryan - listening to sarah talk and answering andrew’s questions - staying up late in the hammocks - not the food - going to the lake - singing in the car with ryan !!
Friday morning Hike
Friday morning, Jon and Megan Jackson went on a long long hike to a 14er that was nearby. I wanted to go with them, but when I realized it was way too far for my kids to be able to do it, I switched plans to a shorter hike to a nearby mountain that ended up being about 13,000 feet. Ryan, Luke, Matt and Andrew came with me and we had fun finding a route up the mountain and pushing some boulders off the cliff. It was a fun excursion.
Fishing in Lily Lake
The lake was so beautiful but it was about a 10 minute steep uphill hike from our campsite. We hiked up to the lake on Thursday afternoon and fished for about an hour. Andrew caught two fish immediately using spinners, but nobody else had any luck.
After lunch on Friday, we went up for the entire afternoon. Sarah caught the biggest fish of the trip. Each of my boys were able to catch a fish after we switched to worms, which was my whole goal in bringing fishing gear. I was also able to catch a couple fish. It was really nice to be fishing with Scott, who shared his expertise and gear with us. After we removed the hook from Matt’s fish, we told him to put the fish back and he just chucked it toward the lake from where he was standing. I guess I should have given him some more detailed instruction.
Four of the fish we caught swallowed the hook so we were not able to release them. Scott carried them back to the campsite and I think he ended up eating all of them. Lizzie and Sarah were the only ones interested in cleaning the fish. None of the boys wanted to touch the fish guts.
Hiking Out
We had breakfast on Saturday morning and then cleaned up our campsite. Megan Jackson and Sarah and Jane started the hike out earlier than the rest of us, which turned out to be a great decision. The rest of us hiked out in less than an hour and a half. It was so much easier, of course, hiking downhill with lighter packs after eating all of our food.
