We woke to partly sunny skies today and were so excited for decent weather on our first hike of the week in RMNP.
Just 10 minutes from our Inn, we arrived at the RMNP Beaver Meadows entrance on US36 at 8:45am. We had our timed entry pass for the Bear Lake Road access from 8am-10am. Since this is our first time using the new entry pass system we didn't know what to expect. The lines were not too long at the main entrance, maybe a 5-minute wait with about six cars in front of us. We got an orange pass showing our 8am reservation time. Then we turned left onto Bear Lake Road and there was a much longer line of about 20 cars to show that orange pass to the ranger. At least four cars did not know of the reservation system and were told to either leave or wait on the roadside. Traffic moved quickly after that.
We had a scenic 10-mile ride up to our planned hiking area, Bear Lake parking and trailhead. We gained about 2,000 feet in elevation.
As we approached the parking area, signs indicated the parking lots were already full and to take the provided shuttle buses. Rob decided to gamble, and a ranger was directing traffic at the parking area. She said "Do you know where the motorcycle parking area is?" We did not, but it was right up front next to the ranger parking. She said we might just fit with the trailer. We had a foot to spare. Thank you RMNP for the dedicated motorcycle parking! Things were looking positive for our day.
At 9,500 feet at the Bear Lake trailhead temps were about 65 degrees. Rob suggested that Michele wrap her four blistery toes, so he took care of that for her with gauze, tape and scissors right there in the parking lot. A man nearby kindly offered medical tape! Her toes were feeling better with that padding, so we geared up and walked up to the trailheads. This area has many trails that leave from one area, so there were choices of trail length. We first did the Bear Lake Loop, which is about 0.6 miles around Bear Lake with scenes of it and the surrounding mountains.
The trail is a smooth and well maintained path as this is one of the most popular "must see" areas of the park to visit.
Meet Whiskers (named by Michele). Boy was he a ham. He popped up onto a rock with his tasty acorn and wasn't bothered at all by us no matter how close we got to take photos.
You can see the nice view that Whiskers had of the lake as he sat on his rocking eating his nut.
A little further up the trail from Whiskers, we saw a duck sitting on a log preening itself.
We finished the loop and Michele's toes weren't feeling so bad so we decided to hike up to Alberta Falls, a 2-mile roundtrip hike. Rob got his tripod from the trailer so he could take long duration shots of the water. The first half mile goes downhill and a few people were already huffing it back up. At the half-mile point is a nice bridge with aspens and water rushing by.
The sign said to continue for 0.6 miles to the Falls. We had several side trails and views of it along the way. Another photographer asked Rob a few techy questions about how he's shooting the water and the light isn't great. He tried to get the 5am entry passes but the few reserved for the day before were sold out in under a minute! We learned why -- because of the parking lot situation. People get in at 5am to do their hikes early and have a spot for the day.
The trails were busy but not overly so. We've been on much more crowded trails in the past with rude people. Many people were friendly and said good morning and hello, and thanked us when we stepped aside to let them by. We kept trekking up and the falls became more dramatic as we went. Before getting to the main top section, this Junior Ranger made a friend with the very tame golden mantled ground squirrel.
She fed it two almonds. Later we learned that these little guys beg for food, knowing that people sit with a snack in their backpacks. A few of them came right up to Michele as she stood nearby waiting for Rob as he was taking photos.
We got to the top area and the waterfall was definitely worth the hike.
There was a gentleman painting the water fall. He had an umbrella to protect the painting.
At that point we noticed the skies turning dark gray behind us. We walked as fast as Michele's bum toes would allow. Michele was feeling pretty good up that last half-mile, her Ship Shape classes with Cyndee definitely have helped her cardio conditioning. We've also been over 6,000 feet for a week now, so our bodies are acclimated to this elevation at least.
On our walk back we weren't sure we could have our picnic lunch due to the weather. We made it back to the bike without rain, but then the thunder started.
A ranger was telling people to get under the bathroom building overhang and not stand out in the open. We were quickly removing our hiking gear, packing it up, and getting our bike gear out. The ranger came over to us and said she heard on her ranger radio not to go up to Trail Ridge Road (it's near 12,000 feet in elevation) because the storm already hit there bad, flooded the parking area, and had piles of hail! We said we're heading back down into town. She was nice to look out for us. RMNP did a great job in that busy parking area, not just keeping traffic under control, but offering advice on the trails. We look forward to hiking other trails there this week.
On our way back, we made a quick stop at the Country Market to pick up a few items to make picnic lunches and for snacks. Rain was just starting to drip a bit. We had our rain jackets on just in case. It was only a 5 minute further drive to our Inn. We got everything unpacked quick before the rain started around 1:30pm. It rained for about an hour. We ate our picnic lunch in our room, watched movies, and did research on the animals we saw today and other RMNP hikes we want to do this week. This coming Friday there is a nighttime star gazing event led by a ranger in the park, but the road looks to be all gravel so we'll have to miss it this time.
We walked to the closest restaurant and ordered take out for dinner. It turned into a nice evening and the sidewalks and streets were already dry.
We're not sure which hike we'll do tomorrow. Weather looks good Monday and Tuesday, with more afternoon chances of rain later in the week.
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