Rocky II

2022-07-11
Rocky Mountain National Park, CO

Our second day in the Rockies started much like our first, as we got up in time to go through the entry gate at about 6:00 AM and park at the shuttle bus lot. We rode down to Glacier Gorge Trailhead and hiked up to Black Lake. This was a fun 9.5-mile hike, starting at 9170 feet and continuing to 10,600 feet. It had some wonderful waterfalls and a couple lakes as well. We even crossed a small area of unmelted snow.

The falls is a destination in and of itself
The falls is a destination in and of itself
It's hard to choose which pictures to share when everything is so pretty
It's hard to choose which pictures to share when everything is so pretty
Snow melt creeks run fast
Snow melt creeks run fast
Surrounded by mountains
Surrounded by mountains
Mills Lake was about halfway up
Mills Lake was about halfway up
Still making snowballs in July!
Still making snowballs in July!
Alpine valley below Black Lake. It was a bit of a climb.
Alpine valley below Black Lake. It was a bit of a climb.
Black Lake. No more black than Emerald Lake was emerald.
Black Lake. No more black than Emerald Lake was emerald.

Starting in the morning turned out to be a great plan. The trip down - which is substantially easier - was very hot and we were glad we were not trying to go up. We have found that at these altitudes we consume about three times as much water as when we hike in PA. I don't have an explanation for it, but we do have Osprey water bladders that we can fill with enough for these long hikes. We also remembered to bring some salty snacks which helped when the sun was overhead.

We were pretty wiped out after the hike, but we decided to drive and check out some of the overlooks on Trail Ridge Road. At 12,000 feet, it's the highest road in the US. There are a number of overlooks you can pull off to check out the mountain views. It's a bit hazy here these days (most likely due to wildfires out west) but it's still fun to look. We saw more marmots too, but mostly they were being indifferent to someone else today.

On our second lookout, we were on a walkway about 50 yards from one parking area when we stopped to watch a bride and groom get out of the car. The photographer said, "head out on the walkway, about to where those people are watching us." We just started laughing at that, and he said, "I didn't think you could hear me." Wedding Photographer number five is in the books.

Driving distance: 30 miles

Hiking distance: 9.5 miles

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