Rainy Ice Lake Hike 8-25-2025
PAYSON
Silverton, CO — San Juan Mountain Range
Sonya wasn’t, but I was hopeful the rain in the forecast would come true.
Our schedules have rearranged in the last few months which means we now have weekday weekends. It had been busy, so we wanted a little two-night mid-week hiking escape to the san juans. We wanted something hard but not something that would take all day to hike and all week to recover.
Ice Lake, with it’s impossibly blue water topped the list.
Once we arrived at Ice Lake the clouds tumbling over the ridge finally unloaded their weight. The soft pitter turned into a patter, and the whole enclosure of this alpine valley descended into an ethereal haze with thick moisture filling the void.
Don’t get me wrong, I love a bluebird day out on the trail, but theres a certain kind of magic that crawls out when you find yourself far from the trailhead when a rainstorm kicks in. I liken it to meeting a love interest at the bar for drinks, contrasted with a cozy morning on the couch. One is easy to appreciate, the other takes nuance and patience to see the beauty of.
Feeling the rain on your rain jacket and trickling down to the ground, the cool dampness taking over your physical experience can take a moment to get used to, but once that becomes the normal, you’re feeling the presence of what makes life able to life here. You are in the flow of the moment. It’s an awareness that can’t I can’t find a comparison to.
If these incoherent ramblings do nothing other than pique your interest to consider stepping out even when the weather turns, then I reckon I’ve done my job here.
#hikeintherain #getwet
