Western Road Trip June 2026

Day 7

Jun 16, 2026 10:00:00 PM by Tade Travelers

JAMES: Got up early. I made buttermilk pancakes and sausage. The plan for today was hiking. Of course the Gepperts know just about every hiking trail there is in the area. After some consultation, we decided to hike the Lily Pad Lake to Meadow Creek Trails. The trail starts pretty high up. Tim dropped me, Susan, Christine and John at the trailhead with the intention of picking us up at the Meadow Creek Trailhead, roughly 4 miles away. The Lily Pad Lake portion of the trail has a maximum elevation of over 9000 feet, so there was some heavy breathing. We walked through some heavily forested portions in the cool shade. There was a decent amount of ups and downs. It was beautiful and challenging.

The height of the aspens was amazing—tall, slender trunks stretching so high above us that their leaves seemed to shimmer against the sky. Walking beneath them, we felt small in the best possible way, surrounded by pale bark and a canopy that filtered the sunlight into soft, shifting patterns on the trail.

SUSAN: Hiking the Lily Pad Lake Trail was beautiful. The climb up the mountain was a bit challenging at times, but manageable. The trail starts at 9,825 feet and tops out near 10,014 feet. Along the way we saw tons of wildflowers and some small lakes covered with lily pads. From the Lily Pad Lake Trail we connected to the Meadow Creek Trail, we saw creeks and a few small waterfalls. When we reached the Meadow Creek trailhead, we called Tim, and he picked us up within five minutes. Having our own “taxi service” at the end of the hike was wonderful.

After the hike, Margo and I went to the grocery store to pick up everything we needed for the upcoming meals. Ellen, Micah, and the girls are arriving at the condo tomorrow, and we’re planning a cookout. Tim planned to make baked beans, and Jim volunteered me to make potato salad. On the way to the store, Margo reminded me that Nicola had asked us to stop by the brewery near the condo and buy some beer for them. On their last visit to Colorado, when they stayed at the condo, Nicola and Tyler had gone there and really liked it. They’d recommended it to us, saying the food was excellent, but we weren’t sure we’d have time for a full meal there this trip. So I decided at least to pick up the beer they wanted. They didn’t know exactly which beers to request, so I took a picture of the options and sent it to them. They replied with a list of their choices, and we bought everything on it—then carried it all the way back to Minneapolis for them.

JAMES: Back at the condo Tim made a nice meal for all of us despite the fact that we had two days worth of leftovers from previous lunches and dinners in the fridge!

After dinner Tim drove us up to the Sapphire Point overlook for a view of the surrounding mountains, Dillon Reservoir and the area towns. We played a couple of games of Quiddler and called it a night.