Rocky Mountain National Park

2022-07-10
Rocky Mountain National Park, CO

Rocky Mountain is the big park on this trip, so we decided to stay four nights and have three days of hikes in the park. We chose a hotel because we will be tired at the end of the day and because it is within walking distance of town. It also has a laundry room if you need it. We do.

When I was doing my planning, I realized that Rocky Mountain hikes fall into three categories: Summits, where you go to the top of something and look around; Lakes, where you go out to one or more lakes and/or waterfalls; and Tundra, where high altitudes over 11,000 feet make it tough for plants. I have way more hikes on my list than time to do them, so we will choose routes each evening and possibly change them in the morning.

Today's hike is Dream Lake, Emerald Lake, and Lake Haiyaha. It was 5.25 miles and 1160 feet of climb at an altitude range of about 9400 to 10,200 feet. Here are a few pictures from the hike.

Dream Lake view
Dream Lake view
Emerald Lake View
Emerald Lake View
Stream wandering between lakes
Stream wandering between lakes
Lake Hiyaha is the greenest of the three. This is caused by
Lake Hiyaha is the greenest of the three. This is caused by "glacial flour" aka powdered rock.

We were back at the hotel around 12:30 so we headed to town to live on tourist food and check out main street. The town of Estes Park really resembles the boardwalk at any of the DE/NJ/MD beaches I have visited (i.e. not the upscale ones). For every three shops, one sells t-shirts, one sells candy/ice cream, and the third might be a restaurant or glass shop or Christmas shop or what have you. Everything feels like a beach town. Still, it's close and we can get food and wander around if we feel like it.

Fed and with the other half of our meals packed in the fridge for supper, we decided to tackle the Ute Trail through the tundra. It's at 11,500 feet of elevation where the plants grow just a few inches tall. All of the flowers were in bloom which happens for just a couple weeks and thus is something that I would never have seen in my usual September vacations. Each of these flowers lasts for just one day.

Tundra flowers
Tundra flowers
Flowers covered the tundra
Flowers covered the tundra
These yellow flowers spend 19 years with just leaves. Then in the 20th year they bloom, scatter seeds, and die.
These yellow flowers spend 19 years with just leaves. Then in the 20th year they bloom, scatter seeds, and die.
A yellow-bellied marmot being indifferent to us
A yellow-bellied marmot being indifferent to us

We were close to a mile out on the trail when we noticed a storm coming. In the Rockies, storms come up quickly and this was our chance to experience it firsthand. We put on our raincoats against the few stray drops as we hurried back to the car. Besides not wanting to get hit by lightning or soaked, the trail involved walking on a lot of rocks which get really slippery when wet. We made it back to the car before the storm hit and we headed back to our room for the night.

Even the impending storm just made it prettier. But seriously, stop taking pictures and get back to the car!
Even the impending storm just made it prettier. But seriously, stop taking pictures and get back to the car!

Driving Miles: 30

Hiking Miles: 7.25

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