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The large day use parking area only had a handful of cars on this warm sunny fall day, but there
were lots of other people milling about the lake, most of them fishing. There's also a campground
next to the day use lot, although it didn't look too appealing -- no trees, no shade.
We walked across the road and down to the paved part of the lake shore trail. From here you can
walk a few feet down to the water's edge, if you can find a spot that's not already taken by
a fisherman. We continued along the paved trail, stopping briefly at a platform which was billed
as a handicapped-accessible fishing area. There are also displays here which explain some of
the history of the lake. It was named Convict Lake after a bunch of escaped convicts had a gun
battle with a posse here in 1871.
From the platform is a nice view of the entire lake. Aspens and other yellow trees line the far
(western) and southern shores. Aspens can be seen up the canyon at the far end of the lake.
Moving along, we passed the boat launch, where the boat operator asked us where we were hiking.
I told him we were just doing a hike around the lake (about 3 miles). I think perhaps he might have been wondering
because our kids were so young.
Convict Lake
Convict Lake
Past the boat launch, the trail is no longer paved. We turned left and headed along the narrow dirt trail
along the northern shore of the lake. This part of the trail is somewhat barren compared to the other side
of the lake. There are no aspens, only low dried brown bushes. There are nice views of the aspens on the other
side of the lake and the far end of the lake. In fact, the views from this northern part of the
trail are nicer than the views from the southern part of the loop.
Trail along the north shore of Convict Lake
Looking at the far end of Convict Lake
Further along the trail are a few evergreen trees. At the far end of the lake a trail continues up
the canyon. We'd reached this location pretty quickly, so instead of having lunch here we discussed
the possibility of going up the trail until it reached Convict Creek and have lunch there. We were
just about to go left and stay at Convict Lake, but then Jared said he wanted to go uphill to the
right. Did I mention he's still not even 4? That bodes well for doing longer hikes and backpacking
trips in the years to come. So we took the Convict Creek trail. If we continued on this trail,
we'd reach Mildred Lake about 5 miles from the trailhead. That was never our intent, of course.
As it turned out, after a
few minutes and a quarter mile we decided that the trail was taking too long and climbing too high
before even reaching the creek.
We turned around and rejoined the lake loop trail. There are several nice places to sit down and eat
on the edge of the lake here. We encountered two hikers who wanted their picture taken. After doing
so, I asked them about the inlet stream that I knew was supposed to be ahead. They said there were
several streams along the boardwalk just ahead. We went a little ways, but quickly decided that
our best bet for a lunch spot was back where we'd just been. So we retraced our steps and plunked
ourselves down on the edge of the lake underneath some trees.
Lunch spot next to Convict Lake
Deciduous trees at the far end of Convict Lake
Far end of Convict Lake
View looking north from the far end of Convict Lake
We enjoyed our lunch and the view of the lake, watching the small boats floating around the lake.
The kids enjoyed throwing some of the many rocks available here into the water. After lunch we
continued along the trail onto the boardwalk. The boardwalk goes on for a while, with several
small inlet streams coming in from the right. Aspens and other colorful trees line the route.
Boardwalk next to Convict Lake
Trees at the far end of Convict Lake
Aspens
At the end of the boardwalk, we went off the main trail and followed a use trail into the aspens.
We kept heading toward the canyon, getting better and better views of the surrounding mountains
and of the aspens leading up to and into the Convict Creek canyon above. One interesting
juxtaposition was the sight of cactus growing at our feet with colorful aspens close at hand.
I don't think I've ever seen them growing so close together before.
More aspens
Back lit aspens
Laurel Mountain
Looking up Convict Canyon
Cactus near the aspens
The afternoon sun was backlighting the aspens in front of us like a Christmas tree. They looked
more impressive from a distance, but when we passed them and they were no longer backlit, they
didn't look nearly as colorful. Still, it was all a pretty sight.
Looking up Convict Canyon
Laurel Mountain
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