Ute Trail near Forest Canyon Pass, July 2013 2-3 hour day hikes are sparse along Trail Ridge Road, which flirts with 11-12,000 feet, in Rocky Mountain National Park. But if you have the comforts of a “chauffeur” of sorts who can drop you off at Alpine Visitor Center and pick you up down the road …
Continue reading Ute Trail – Alpine Visitor Center to Milner Pass (Rocky Mountain National Park, CO)
The 1.8 mi. (one-way) hike to Emerald Lake is a Rocky Mountain NP classic: excellent mountain views, wildflowers, and flowing rapids, interrupted only by the serenity of three high-altitude lakes (four, if you include Bear). The final leg, from Dream to Emerald Lakes, is particularly spectacular. The downside, of course, is that the relative ease …
Continue reading Nymph, Dream, and Emerald Lakes (Rocky Mountain National Park, CO)
For all its wonders, Rocky Mountain National Park boasts relatively few half-day to day loop hikes, so the Lake Haiyaha loop described here stands out as an exception (for a full-day loop hike, try the Fern-Odessa-Cub Lake loop). In addition to Haiyaha, the loop hits several other notable destinations, including Alberta Falls and Dream, Nymph, …
Continue reading Lake Haiyaha Loop (Rocky Mountain National Park, CO)
Despite constituting the most popular hike in the park, what Alberta Falls lacks in solitude it compensates with beauty. Just 0.8 mi. up the trail, roaring Glacier Creek catapults 25 feet at the falls as it cuts through Glacier Gorge. A leisurely hiker can reach Alberta Falls in about 30-45 minutes, as the 220-foot ascent …
Continue reading Alberta Falls (Rocky Mountain National Park, CO)
Many family trips to Rocky Mountain National Park begin with a short jaunt around peaceful Bear Lake, located on an elevated shelf above Glacier Creek at the foot of Flattop Mountain (12,324’) and Hallett Peak (12,713’). It is not often that a pristine body of water nestled up near the timberline is so easily accessible …
Continue reading Bear Lake Loop (Rocky Mountain National Park, CO)
Live and Let Hike 