We entered the designated Rocky Mountain National Park where we had to pay a hefty fee to visit. I say “hefty” but that’s really only the day pass. Getting an annual pass is definitely worth it if you hike frequently in the park.
We drove to a park and ride and took at bus up to the Glacier Gorge trailhead- elevation: 9,180 ft. It was a nicely kept trail and a pretty easy going to start.
The first landmark we arrived at was Alberta Falls. It was a popular spot for people to stop and hang out. We took pictures and kept on going.
The trail got a little bit rockier as it went on, but still in good shape.
We were getting higher up now and could see other mountains both near and far.
With blue sky and cool temps, it was a perfect morning for a hike. There was a mountain next to us with snow on top—just a tiny bit, but it was still there. Yes, we were up high. Some parts of the trail got a little narrow and rockier still, but the slope was gradual and it wasn’t too much work. I was still able to focus on taking pictures. That’s Timsi in the blue shirt in front of me. She wasn’t very hardcore either so she was usually around me and my slow, sea level elevation self.
The trail followed a river most of the way. Melted water from the glaciers fed down the mountain to the Alberta falls we had passed.
We stumbled upon the first pile of snow, and man, was I excited. Touching snow in August—super awesome!
The trail crossed the snow.
And then we got to the first lake—The Lock. Quite an inventive name if you ask me. It was absolutely beautiful. Surrounded by trees and mountains and a bright blue sky, what else could you want?
We kept walking, heading for another lake, and once again we were walking beside a stream that fed water from one lake to another.
The trail was still reasonable, with makeshift steps and intermittent rocks.
We even had to walk across a board to cross the stream, which was pretty cool.
The higher we climbed, the rockier it got. And look!—another waterfall!
And more snow!
This high up, we had to maneuver through rocks, snow, and water.
And then…up a waterfall. The photo doesn’t give the experience justice. The water was flowing pretty forcefully. Not that we had to worry about being washed away, just worry about feet getting wet. But I have those awesome waterproof shoes, so I was good to go.
But it was worth the climb. Welcome to Lake of Glass! (OK, so we actually thought we had reached Sky Pond, which was our goal destination, so we sat and hung out here for a while and had “lunch.”)
Yes! I’m awesome. That’s my current boss, Debbie, in the lower left corner. She explained the hiking lingo to me. A "13-er", some of which are around that lake, is a 13, 000 ft mountain.
It was actually pretty chilly up there with a breeze, so I was glad to have my awesome new jacket.
Half of the group had decided to hike around the lake. At some point the half of us who were just chilling realized that we were not at Sky Pond. So we started walking, looking across the lake for the other half of the group. Have you ever tried to have a conversation with someone from across a lake? Not easy. We had to trek across more rocks in attempt to find the real Sky Pond.
Just over the ridge was where it was supposed to be.
And it was!
And the new destination picture at the real Sky Pond. Elevation: 10,890 ft. Just short of 5 miles from the trailhead.
Turning around, you can see lots of the mountains in the distance, and you can see that clouds have started to roll in. There were some cool rock formations around this lake.
Instead of walking back the way we came, we went the other way to walk around the lake. This was probably not the best decision. I don’t think there was ever supposed to be a trail there. We jumped across rocks like crazy people.
And why just walk across a snow bank when you can slide down it like a little kid?
I can’t tell you how long we were there, going repeatedly down the snow, boss included.
But finally the storm cloud rushed over the mountains as they typically do, so we started heading down. We were above treeline, not somewhere we want to be during a thunderstorm.
We ended up walking with a huge group of children from a church or YMCA or something. It seemed like too difficult and dangerous of a trail for young kids, especially having to climb back down the waterfall, but they seemed to do OK. We made it down all right, and next to the waterfall was the coolest thing:
Then we made the trek downhill. It rained on us a little bit, but nothing too bad. Plus we were below treeline by the time we heard thunder, so no lightning strikes with our group. By the time we made it back down 4.5 miles, my feet were screaming in pain. I could feel my old blisters again, but nothing too bad, but I could start to feel some new ones forming. I couldn’t wait to get back down and put my flip flops on. We took a short detour to Bear Lake for our final stop. It was nothing special after the other three lakes, but it was still a nice way to end to the hike.
See all those brown trees? Apparently CO is infested with a beetle that burrows under the bark and kills the trees. Regular forest fires used to keep the beetle population under control, but as no one wants forest fires anymore, the beetles keep spread and the trees keep dying.
One last photo to end the blog: the CO state flower, the Columbine. Isn’t it just an amazing and beautiful flower?
At some point I should get a copy of the lab pictures we took at various locations. When I do, I'll be sure to add them to give some of the backs of heads and butts actual names and faces. :)
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