Rocky Mountain National Park 2

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Once again we headed up into the mountains for some camping and hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park. After we got our camp site set up, we took a hike up to see a few of the glacial lakes we had seen last time. The trail was completely unfrozen this time, which made the hiking easier, but the scenery was still just as magnificent.

On day two we decided to hike up Flattop mountain. At 12,324 ft, it was the highest peak we'd ever climbed. The trail was about as long, and had about as much vertical gain as Mt. Washington, but it seemed much less strenuous, which was a huge relief.

Our final day in the park was the 4th of July. We wanted to go on a short hike before we left, but the park was so full of people on vacation that we couldn't park at any trail-heads, and there was a 45 minute wait to take a shuttle bus from the large parking lot. So instead we headed home, past miles and miles of people waiting in traffic to get into the park. It looks like we picked the right day to leave.

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Photos

Dream Lake
This is dream lake but completely unfrozen. The lake was just full of beautiful cutthroat trout, which can be fished on a catch and release basis, even though I'm sure they would make a delicious dinner for a couple of hunger hikers.

Elk!
Between Dream lake and Emerald lake we passed a group of three elk, right on the trail. One was standing in the middle of the trail and we had to go through the woods to get around. This was the biggest stag of the three, with an amazing set of antlers.

Dream lake from Above
The trail up to Flattop Mountain paralleled the one we took the day before, but up on a higher ridge, giving us a bird's-eye-view of the lakes we had seen.

Long's Peak
The highest mountain in Rocky Mountain National Park. At just over 14,000 feet it will be a good challenge for another trip.

Glacier hiking
Just before the summit, we had to walk over about 100 feet of snow field. This glacier isn't very large, but there were several like it on all the peaks around us.

Triumph
Us on top of Flattop Mountain. In the background is Hallet Peak. Another hour or two of hiking and we could have made it there, but we were all ready to head back down.

Resting
Joe and Peter on the summit of Flattop mountain. True to it's name, the top is very broad and flat.