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A few weeks ago my dog, Dixie, and I went on a hiking and fishing trip to Pitkin Lake. The Pitkin Lake trailhead is located off Exit 180 on I-70 in East Vail. If you are heading west, you will exit and then make a right turn, then another quick right turn and drive about .25 miles to the trailhead. The hike is 10 miles roundtrip with 3,000 feet elevation gain; so, I’d recommend first-timers save this one for after they conquer a few easier hikes first!
The first .75 miles of the hike is a steep slog up the side of the mountain. You can still hear the traffic from the interstate while going up, but this slowly starts to fade away. The trail then starts to flatten out and goes through Aspen Tree Forest and meanders by the creek as the miles start to fade. Up next, you’ll encounter a huge meadow that depending on the season has some incredible wildflowers! At the end of the meadow, you will then climb up a set of switchbacks to reach the top of the back wall. The trail then starts to mellow again as you slowly continue to gain elevation. About 4.5 miles in you then will face another set of switchbacks as you make your final climb to the lake. Once you top out you are at the lake surrounded by a number of 13,000 foot peaks in the Gore Range. I have to say it was one of the most stunning views that I’ve seen in ages!
After grabbing a quick bite to eat, I started to do some fishing. Pitkin Lake is bursting with rainbow and cutthroat trout. I would literally stand on the top of rocks and could just see fish everywhere! It was a sight to see if you love to fish. I used numerous dry flies as the fish were eating off the top. The fish loved a simple ant pattern that I was using. Just watching them rise up, eat the fly and then dive down and rip off line as fast as they could was a thrill! I spent about 5 hours fishing before I headed back home. However, before I took off a pack of mountain goats decided to come by and have a drink of water and check out what I was doing — These goats are just beautiful to see in their natural habit of the mountains.
With the success of catching many fish, and throwing them back to see another day, I headed down the mountain. Obviously, it was quicker going back, but dropping down from 11,300 feet back down to 8,300 feet in elevation the heat had started to pick up. I shed my Fall layers back for Summertime and made sure to stop at the creek numerous times so that Dixie could cool down. I got back to the car in about 1.5 hours. Overall, it took me 3.5 hour of hiking time, along with 5 hours of fishing. I highly recommend this hike if you are looking to get to a high Alpine Lake that doesn’t have a lot of foot traffic!
