Only 30 miles from our house, Indian Peaks is one of our favorite places to spend a summer or fall weekend hiking and viewing the beautiful scenery. The only drawback of the area is its proximity to Denver and Boulder, meaning it draws hundreds of visitors each weekend. We knew this, however, and decided to wake up a little earlier to beat the crowds this morning. We hadn't been to Blue Lake since 2006 together (although I passed it a few years ago on my way to hiking Mt. Toll, the large peak you see in many of these shots), so we decided on that as our destination. It didn't disappoint, with perfect weather and beautiful views. The temperature never topped 65 degrees since we were above 11k feet, but Yoshi and Talley decided to "cool off" in the lake anyways.