A few weekends go we went backpacking to Middle Rainbow Lake outside of Walden (maybe an hour or so outside of Steamboat) and this trip was probably one of my favorites! It was still early in the season so we actually were unable to camp at Rainbow Lake because of the large amount of snowpack. We settled at Middle Rainbow Lake, which was just as spectacular.

We were expecting the trail to be extremely busy because that was the rumor of Rainbow Lake (very popular), but to our surprise there was only one other group of backpackers at the lake! We had it almost to ourselves and it was still so early in the season that the trail hadn't been cleared yet ( a slight disappointment). We came across many downed trees, which made it challenging and certainly put a big of a damper on my hiking experience (huge backpack & going around/ over/under downed trees is certainly more tiring)! But once we got to the lake, it was exceptional.

We had the Beef Stroganoff dehydrated meal and it was super tasty. I am always so surprised at how much I love these meals (normally dehydrated and good are never used in the same sentence)! I probably read close to 100 pages on Saturday down by the water. If only it were a bit warmer, we could have used our sleeping pads to float on the lake! It dropped down to maybe upper 40's at night (perfect sleeping weather if you ask me) and was *hot* during the day (mid-to-upper 80's). Stella was very happy to jump in the lake multiple times ; )

We were able to get a camping site close enough to the water (but still 1/4 mile away from the lake) to hear the rushing rapids from the snowmelt, which is so wonderful to wake up to in the morning. We had another dehydrated meal (scrambled eggs this time) and were out of our campsite a bit past 8 to head down the trail. 

Overall, the trail is very well-marked and I think once they clear it out from all the trees, it will be much easier to get to the lakes (plus a few more weeks of warm weather to dry out the trails by Rainbow Lake). 

Ever hiked Rainbow Lake?

Backpacking - yay or nay? --> I used to dislike it/ get scared we were going to get eaten by a mountain lion/, but now it's really grown on me and being able to experience the sunrises the next morning are always my favorite part.