We have recently been enjoying slow, quiet mornings that lead to us not getting anywhere particularly early, so when we pulled into the Hidden Lake trailhead mid-morning on a Saturday, we were ecstatic to find we were the only ones there. As we got ready to hike, another truck pulled in, but we were still happy to find it that deserted on a weekend.
The hike to Hidden Lake is about 1 mile, and it is definitely classified as easy. There were a few rocks and roots sticking up in the trail and several downed trees that were in the process of being addressed, but overall, it was a very quick hike. The hike in is all uphill (though not terrible), so the hike back out goes even faster.
When we looked at the map, we could tell the lake was pretty small, but we were still excited to have yet another lake as a hiking destination. When we arrived, we found the lake to be a couple of acres, so it was definitely small but still enjoyable. The mountains all around added so much.
The major negative of this lake is the limited accessible shoreline. The majority of the shoreline is grassy or piled with dead trees, so being we were the only ones there, we called dibs on the short, sandy stretch of shoreline that was just about big enough to spread out our blanket.
Even from our piece of shore, the water was difficult to access due to lots of rocks and branches, but Bird and I still had fun climbing on rocks, pouring water from the bowl we remembered to bring, and sitting on our blanket, enjoying the scenery and our snacks (and some sweet and cherished toddler cuddles).
Will did a little fishing, working his way slowly around much of the lake. While he had a few nibbles and saw lots of small trout, he did not catch any.
As we were wrapping up our time at the lake, the place started to get busy. Several groups of people were clearly upset that they missed out on getting the spot we were enjoying and almost grudgingly continued on around the lake. We actually had a family waiting for our spot as we loaded Bird into the backpack. Seeing just how crowded the place was getting, we were more than happy to start our hike back.
The hike back went so fast, and all 3 of us were sad to be done so soon. However, we passed even more people heading in and returned to an overflowing parking lot. We climbed into the truck incredibly grateful for our somehow early enough start that kept us from the growing crowd.
Even though we had not arrived super early, we arrived early enough to really enjoy this little gem nestled in the mountains. I honestly cannot say I would be eager to return to this hike (the hike itself was great, but the lake left a little to be desired), but it was a fun way to spend our Saturday morning.
Nurturing Adventure 