As the alarm went off at 5:15 this morning I knew pretty much immediately that our Estes Cone hiking plans weren’t going to work out. The sky was overcast and the radar showed what we all knew was coming, a day full of rain. Luckily we had a backup plan so after laying around for another hour or so we finally got moving, got breakfast, and got ourselves up to the Bear Lake area of the park. We’ve hiked here a couple time before, but this was our most ambitious hike in the area. We ended up covering about 7.5 miles and got to see several beautiful alpine lakes, mountain streams, and more.
Take a look at our track for the day and many pictures.
It rained intermittently all day long so we were grateful for our raincoat purchase. They were a big step up from the ponchos we used to stay dry during last year’s flash flood. While we didn’t reach a mountain summit today I was reminded about why RMNP is my favorite park. There’s just nowhere else I’ve ever been that has the beauty of the mountains. Today they were shrouded in clouds which only increased their intrigue and appeal. It looks like we’re probably going to be rained out of hiking above tree line again tomorrow, but if it does we’ll head to the Wild Basin area of the park for some more valley and waterfall views. No matter where we are or what we’re going here it seems like I can’t stop the feeling!