Trout Lake in the High San Juans

Back in the 70's, when I was doing my summer galavanting around Colorado, Trout Lake was "closed" to the public. I don't know when that changed, but now you can park, put in a small boat, and fish. They have a small boat ramp, 2 picnic tables (one is covered), and two different parking areas.

We drove up there this morning, stopping first at the top of Lizard Head Pass for a photo of the Lizard Head.

Lizard Head Peak, 13, 113 feet

We then parked at Trout Lake near the picnic tables, and I put out my chair next to the covered one. Don went out on the lake in his float tube, while I enjoyed the sun in my chair.

At 11 am the sun was still shining but the clouds were building.

I cross stitched for a couple of hours, while a group of 4 ladies set up their easels right behind me to paint the gorgeous view.

They stayed until the sun was completely obscured.

Don came in for lunch around 11:45, and went back out to fish for a while. The clouds continued to build, and we could hear the thunder from the south. At 1:00, it was clear that the rain was on its way.

Not more than 10 minutes after I snapped this picture, the winds whipped the lake into whitecaps and the rain hit with a vengeance.

Don quickly paddled in, we packed up our stuff, and went back to Priest Gulch.  Our day was shortened, but the few hours we had up there were just heavenly.