Rocky Mountain Retreat: A Short Trip to Nature's Majesty


SHORT TRIP to the ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK

by Naimul Karim (originally posted on naimul.net)

Christine had planned our solar eclipse trip well.  Lincoln, NE is already halfway between the Twin Cities and Colorado.  Why not keep going west, and do some hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park before returning home?  This turned out to be a very wise decision.  As we traveled west on Interstate 80 toward Denver, others went east.  They were headed home in Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin; all eager to arrive in time to go to work the next morning.  Not surprisingly, the traffic was a mess.  In contrast, we had a mostly deserted highway, albeit through a somewhat monotonous Nebraska plain.  We took it easy, making an overnight stay along the way, and arriving the next day early afternoon at Estes Park, CO.  Estes Park is a small town right at the border of Rocky Mountain National Park.  

We checked out the park right away, entering at Beaver Meadows Visitor Center.  It was already late afternoon.  So, we chose a short, 2.4 miles trail leading to Bierstadt Lake - a beautiful lake, sitting atop Bierstadt Moraine and surrounded by a spruce and fir forest.  No biggie for an afternoon hike, with a total elevation gain of just 700 feet.  But what we had ignored is that the lake is at an elevation of 9,000 feet.  In hindsight, we should have waited until the next day to get acclimated to the high elevation.  The view was certainly worth the effort.  

The next day, we got busy.  Unfortunately, so did a huge number of other folks too.  The park was well organized though, with shuttle buses that carried hikers to different locations.  We did Nymph Lake (named for the yellow lily, Nymphaea polysepala, on its surface).   Then we went on to Dream Lake, and finally arrived at Emerald Lake – the crown jewel.  It was a perfect spot for a quick sandwich lunch before heading back.  Too bad I did not take any (memory) pictures of Emerald Lake.  Back then I was not thinking of starting a website.  The entire hike was at an elevation of 9,000 – 10,000 feet.  Every foot was worth it!  

We ended the day by walking around Bear Lake.  It’s a trailhead and is set up for easy walking.   That was the final event of our short excursion to Rocky Mountain National Park.  The next day we headed home, retracting the long drive to Minnesota.  In 2-1/2 days we saw only a tiny, tiny part of the park.  We’ll be back!

Click here to see Photos in Lr of the RockyMountains

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