Unplugged at Lake Isabelle

Wanting to scout out some places for adventure brides to come for their engagement session, small wedding, or elopement I drug my friend Jenn out of her warm bed and made sure on her day off she was in Boulder by 5:30am to head up to the Indian Peaks Wilderness Area and see Lake Isabelle. Jaime was supposed to join too, but her warm bed and lack of power in her house kept her home and out for this adventure.

Jenn and I headed up an hour west of Boulder to reach the Brainard Lake Recreation Area.  We were up there by 6:30am and had a friendly face greet us, collect the $11 fee and asked us where we were headed to. The original parking lot was already full so we parked about a half mile away and walked up to the trail head.  (Word to the wise, when the parking gets full, it's a one in, one out to the area, so getting there early is key.  There was a half mile line of cars waiting to get in the area when we left at 10am.)

Getting out of our cars we knew it was going to be a good day.

The total trail round trip to Lake Isabell is 4.5 miles and I believe about a 450 feet elevation gain. I found this trail to be kid friendly, even though my kids weren't on it.

Today is August 5 and the wildflowers were thick and gorgeous the entire hike. They absolutely took my breath away.  You know what took Jenn's breath away?  This moose and his 5 buddies grazing (Jenn will say charging, but they were grazing) along beautiful Long Lake.

It was absolutely awesome.  I couldn't stop taking pictures, but the last time I saw Jenn was like this.

But when I was done taking pictures it was like this.

A few weeks back at a cafe in Fairplay we picked up a flyer about what you should do if you encounter a threatened (keyword here) moose.  We knew the ins and outs about what to do with a bear and mountain lion but didn't really know what to do with moose.  What we read was that you should pretty much just get out of dodge quickly and running is okay, it doesn't trigger a predator type reaction.  (Look I'm not an animal expert, it's what the cafe flyer said so take that information, and google it and find a real expert)  I will assure you we were a safe distance and that I would never sacrifice my safety or a friend's safety to get the perfect picture because honestly, no one wants mauled portraits.  

We went out to the rest of our hike, that didn't involve any more dangerous animals but what it did have was waterfalls, wildflowers galore, lakes and mountains that still had a touch of snow.  If anyone is interested in scheduling an adventure session with me, by all means, let me know!!