Day 4: Hiking Our Hearts Out
Shane and I awoke on our final day at Rocky Mountain National Park with no plan for the day. We’d toyed with the idea of sport climbing in Estes Park Valley – outside the park – but agreed that our fingers needed some recovery time. After some deliberation, we decided to devote the day to hiking. Shane had vague positive memories of Sky Pond from his childhood. He expressed interest in returning to the hike with me, to which I excitedly agreed.
We drove to the Bear Lake area – where the trail to Sky Pond began – to face the Labor Day crowds. This time, we were smart enough not to try and park at the trailhead. Instead, we parked again at the Park-and-Ride and took the shuttle to our destination. Our hike was underway shortly before 9 AM.
Elk Encounter
Only a few minutes after starting the hike, Shane and I encountered a herd of elk on the trail. A buck was attempting to aggressively herd a couple of young cattle along the trail. We stayed back from the elk with some other hikers… none of us were particularly interested in being gored on the buck’s antlers. Once he calmed down, I managed to get to a safe distance and nab a couple of photos of him and the other elk.
After safely passing the elk, we continued up the trail to Alberta Falls. Its proximity to the trailhead makes it a popular waterfall with tourists. It wasn’t a surprise therefore to see a heap of people crowding around the falls. We weren’t terribly impressed with the waterfall and didn’t want to deal with the crowds, so we snapped a quick photo and kept moving.
The Loch
Once passing Alberta Falls, the trail began a steep climb. It turned into a series of switchbacks that provided killer views of Longs Peak nearby. After a couple of miles, we reached the Loch, a beautiful and expansive lake sitting just below the tree line. Unlike its more popular counterparts, only a few people lined the lake’s shores. Shane and I used the opportunity to enjoy some quiet on a peninsula in the lake, where we met a pair of hikers from the UK and took some pictures of each other.
On the way back to the main trail, we ran into two hikers that we’d met during the elk encounter. They struck up conversation with us and we continued the hike together as a group of four. The hikers – Allie and Olivia – were recent college graduates and Colorado residents with plenty of stories to share about the state. As we hiked, we talked about our adventures in the outdoors, transitioning from college life to adulthood, and our partners, among other topics.
Timberline Falls
After another 1.5 miles of hiking, the four of us reached Timberline Falls. Immediately, I stated how impressive the falls looked compared to Alberta Falls earlier. At over four miles from the trailhead, the waterfall saw far less traffic. This allowed us to have a more personal experience with the falls and take photos without dodging a crowd.
Climbing the trail next to the falls was an adventure in and of itself. Like Yosemite’s Mist Trail, spray from Timberline Falls soaked the hiking trail. Unlike Mist Trail, however, this trail didn’t possess a defined staircase. So, we precariously and meticulously scrambled up wet rocks to pass the falls. Though a fall would have been relatively short, I still didn’t want to slip.
Thankfully, we all reached the top of Timberline Falls without injury. Above the falls, we found the Lake of Glass: the lake downstream of Sky Pond. Though it is smaller than Sky Pond, I thought the Lake of Glass was prettier. It offered more interesting views of the surrounding mountains and had a more diverse array of colors in its waters. As a bonus, we found less people there than we did at Sky Pond. We spent some time atop a boulder at the Lake of Glass talking and eating snacks. We were so content with the view that we nearly forgot about our objective to reach Sky Pond.
Sky Pond
After fifteen minutes, our group left the boulder and began the final push to Sky Pond. It took us a few minutes to find the trail, but once we did it didn’t take much time to reach our destination. Sky Pond was every bit as beautiful as I’d expected (I still think the Lake of Glass was even better, though), and we encountered a handful of hikers on the lake’s north shore. We navigated the boulders around the lake and eventually found a quiet spot on the west shore.
As we’d hoped, we circumnavigated enough of the lake that our final spot was free of other hikers. The four of us lazed around at Sky Pond for over an hour. We swam, ate lunch, and chatted as the morning turned to afternoon.
Finally, we reequipped our hiking shoes and packs and began the return hike. The four of us hiked 0.8 miles past the Lake of Glass and Timberline Falls before reaching a split in the trail. Shane and I were interested in detouring to Andrews Glacier, so we parted ways with Allie and Olivia as they continued back to the trailhead. Shane and I began hurrying our way up to the glacier – which sat over a mile from the trail split – with the looming potential of surprise afternoon thunderstorms in mind.
Andrews Glacier
We expected to find the ~2-mile detour to the glacier relatively simple and easy. Alas, the trail turned into a steep scramble across a rugged talus field once it passed the tree line. In only 30 minutes, we gained about 900 feet of elevation. The trail became ill-defined near the top of the slope, making the path quite an adventure.
Shane and I crested the top of the hill shortly before 2 PM. There, we discovered a beautiful alpine lake fed by Andrews Glacier melting above us. When we looked back towards the steep slope we’d climbed, the ground dropped off out of sight. This created an “infinity pool” effect, as the lake below the glacier seemed to stretch endlessly towards the sky.
While we felt the frigid lake water and ate snacks, sprinkles of rain landed on our heads. Dark clouds behind a nearby ridge threatened storms, so we began a hasty return from the glacier. Before long, we were back below the tree line, sheltered from potential adverse weather.
Elk, Elk, and More Elk!
After returning to the main trail, it took us about an hour to return to the trailhead. We passed the Loch and Alberta Falls – the latter now flooded with tourists – as the dark clouds we’d hiked away from earlier began sporting large rain shafts. Near the trailhead, we encountered more elk, this time finding an even larger male than we’d seen earlier.
After 12 miles of hiking, we finally reached the trailhead. Just in time, too: it began raining the moment we stepped aboard the shuttle, which returned us to our car around 4 PM.
On our way out of the park, Shane spotted a massive herd of elk near the Moraine Park Discovery Center. A flurry of cars and tourists led us to a parking lot swarming with grazing elk. We stepped out of the car to get a better look but were quickly ordered back inside by a frustrated ranger. He was shouting at a handful of people – us included – who were too close to the herd. We obliged and relocated to the top of a hill further up the road. There, we observed the elk from a distance and listened to them bugling.
I couldn’t think of a finer way to conclude our visit in Rocky Mountain National Park.
In Conclusion…
Rocky Mountain National Park was everything I’d dreamed of and more. During our four days in the park, Shane and I checked off every item on my list of to-dos: we summited Longs Peak, bouldered, hiked, saw an absurd amount of wildlife, visited the highest visitor center in the National Park System, and camped. The weather was perfect the entire time (barring some afternoon thunderstorms), and great sleeping conditions coupled with swims in frigid lakes kept us refreshed and energized every day of our trip.
I fully intend to return to Rocky Mountain National Park, but I worry about the park’s future: Colorado’s aridification continues to surround its natural spaces with an air of uncertainty, and ongoing mountain pine beetle infestations threaten pine tree populations statewide. Climate change continues to have grave implications for future generations’ ability to enjoy Colorado and Rocky Mountain National Park. Native plant and animal species face existential threats as their homes rapidly change. Though conservation efforts do their best to preserve the nature within park borders, outside factors continue to impact its health.
Despite my lingering fears for the park’s future, I had an incredible time visiting Rocky Mountain National Park. Though Labor Day weekend crowds created some annoying delays and encounters – especially in the Bear Lake area – I still had an intimate experience with the park. It is unsurprising that RMNP is as popular as it is, and I hope that we can continue to curb negative impacts on its ecosystem in preparation for the future.
See you next time, Rocky Mountain National Park. Stay strong and resilient in the face of change.
— Paul
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