Pam was able to secure us entry passes to the Bear Lake region of the park. They are timed entry and ours are 8-10AM. We are warned to not time it too closely, as the cars can line up and make it so you can’t get there as quickly as expected. I pack us a picnic lunch, Pam gives us crampon type things to put over our hiking boots in snowy, Icy areas. We get to the park a little before 9 and the line is short. The turn off to Bear Lake is almost as soon as we enter the park. It is about a 30 minute drive up, up, up, a curvey, narrow road. We are lucky and get a parking spot.
We talk to a ranger volunteer about different possible hikes. After some debate between Nick and I, we decide to do the longer, harder hike today which is to Dream Lake. First we come to Bear Lake which is very close to the parking area and small enough for us to walk around it in about 30 minutes. A delightful family with 3 kids are stopped to look at something. It’s a marmot. Would have walked right past without seeing it if they hadn’t been stopped.
There is another lake on the way to Dream Lake. Nymph Lake. We asked the ranger if it was worth going to. His answer was, “Not unless you’re going on to Dream Lake.” It was a nice excuse to take a rest along the trail but not a destination.
The path again becomes quite steep and there are a few patches of snow and ice. We’re glad we have the strap on crampons from Beth. We first come to some falls emptying out of the lake. Than the lake itself. There is still quite a bit of snow around it. The next lake along the path is Emerald Lake. But it has a lot more snowy, icy patches and is another .6 miles there and .6 miles back. More than we want to do.
Our next stop is Sprague Lake where we eat our picnic lunch. Hmmmm. Seems that the clouds are rolling in. We start our walk around this lake and it starts sprinkling. Oh dear, that’s not water! That’s 1/4” hail! Rush back to the car. There is enough that it looks like a dusting of snow in the grass.
Definitely time for car-hiking. We take the Trail Ridge Road up to the snowy Alpine visitor’s center. The road is really kinda scary but the views are amazing. And OH IT’S COLD and WINDY.
On the way back down, we stop at the Tundra trailhead. I go about 1/2 mile on the trail. There are interesting little signs along the way that are good excuses to take a break. At this high altitude, they are quite welcome.
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Back to our comfortable cabin and the hot tub. We go to a local place called the Rock Inn. We were sitting right next to the music - an acoustical guitar. It was nice and even being right next to him, it wasn’t too loud. I had some good local trout.
WWhen we get back Pam and Charles are starting a fire in the pit and have s’mores makings. Pam had some chocolate filled marshmallows. Sounded promising but the chocolate didn’t melt. Everyone agreed that they appreciated the idea but it needs improvement. About 8 people ended up around the campfire. When I first joined the campfire, there was only one person there. First comment out of his mouth was a negative Yankee comment. Oh no! Could be a long night or maybe I should leave right now. He turned out to be better than my first impression and we stayed until bedtime.
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