Snowshoeing at Brainard Lake
Jessica and I recently went snowshoeing at Brainard Lake Recreation Area in the Indian Peaks Wilderness. She often snowshoes at Eldora Mountain while I snowboard, but she’s been-a-hankering to go snowshoeing somewhere more picturesque and backwoods-y. It’s been a few years since we snowshoed at Brainard Lake, so we loaded up the gear and headed up one Saturday afternoon.
Brainard Lake is about an hour and fifteen minute drive from our house, and when we arrived around 1pm the parking lot was probably 90% full. Also, the wind was howling at a steady 25 mph with gusts of 50-60 mph. In fact, Eldora ski lifts were shut down that same afternoon due to the wind. The wind was so bad it was rocking our SUV, and we sat there debating whether we actually wanted to venture forth into the gale. In the end, we decided it probably wasn’t so bad in the trees, and we were already there, so we might as well make the best of it. It actually wasn’t that cold, maybe 20 degrees Fahrenheit, but that wind though…
Brainard Lake has many miles of trails, but not all of them are open to snowshoers, only to cross-country skiers. On this day, we took the main snowshoe trail, and didn’t make it to Brainard Lake, but we still had a good time. The trail was pretty crowded, and the wind was noticeable but not too bad in the trees, just as we suspected. But any time in the mountains is time well-spent.
