Deluge Lake Hike near Vail

The infamous Deluge Lake hike. A simple 9.1 mile hike staring in East Vail, Colorado. Despite being steep and easily accomplished in a day, up until this attempt I had been 0-2 on this trail. The first two times that I attempted this trail was in the winter, and both times resulted in failure. Thick snow, post-holing deep down to me knees, and relatively short days of sunlight meant neither time I’d had even made it past the aspen grove.