{"id":6700,"date":"2024-07-16T22:08:01","date_gmt":"2024-07-17T04:08:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/grunschev.com\/wordpress\/?p=6700"},"modified":"2024-07-16T22:08:06","modified_gmt":"2024-07-17T04:08:06","slug":"booth-lake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/grunschev.com\/wordpress\/2024\/07\/booth-lake\/","title":{"rendered":"Booth Lake"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Booth Lake lies 11,468′ above sea level at the head of a scenic alpine valley just a bit over five miles as the crow flies northeast of downtown Vail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no parking anywhere near the trailhead. You either have to have somebody drop you off and pick you up later, or take the shuttle bus. The first bus leaves the Vail Transportation Center at 8:00 am. I somehow misread the bus schedule and thought the last bus would stop here before 5:00 pm but the driver told me they run until about midnight. I generally like to start hiking more like 7 than 8, but with busses running until well after dark, the late-ish start isn’t an issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being a non-skier, I’ve never spent any time in Vail. One website says to park either in the Lionshead parking structure or at Vail Village. I made the poor assumption that the choices were listed in order of preference. Sadly, it was probably just in alphabetical order. Next time I need to use the shuttle, I’ll park in Vail Village and save myself some time. If you park at Lionshead, you’ll need to take a different shuttle from there to the Vail Transportation Center where the shuttle to the trailheads starts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trailhead is a quarter of a mile from the bus stop, up a paved residential street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trail climbs about 3000′ over the 4.4 miles or so of trail. That’s pretty steep. It takes about 1.2 miles to climb the first thousand feet, 1.5 miles for the next thousand, and 1.7 for the final thousand-foot lift. This might lead one to think the hiking mellows out slightly as you go, but each of the three sections has at least one grueling climb. On a typical trail, if there is such a thing, I can generally maintain a two-mile-an-hour pace or thereabouts. On this trail, I wasn’t nearly so fast averaging only 1.25mph.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a calm, cloudless day. The forecast high in Denver was 101. I expected the low 80s here. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hiking in the wilderness, be it Indian Peaks, James Peak, Eagles Nest, or even RMNP, one might say there are two types of hikes: through the forest or across the tundra. Booth Lake is below the tree line, so this would be a forest hike. That’s true, except that the valley is filled with a scattering of trees rather than a forest. The trail is predominantly in the sunlight. This would be quite welcome in September or even October. It was not so much welcome on one of the hottest days of the summer. I don’t mean to complain. The weather was gorgeous. I just think I’d have had an easier time if I had had more shade. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It took me an hour and a quarter to get to Booth Falls. I didn’t even pause there to take in the view. I was focused on moving uphill. I could take a break here on the way back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The great thing about hiking across grassy slopes is the open views. <\/p>\n\n\n\n