Rocky Mountain NP: Lakes, lakes, lakes! - Colorado, United States

When planning this trip, I didn't know how much time we would have, and how we would react to hiking at this elevation.  So my Plan A objective was to make it up to Dream and Emerald Lakes. I am sure we hiked around Bear Lake back then, and I believe we hiked up to Emerald Lake as well.  So repeating that hike from when I was 8 was my Plan A for this visit.  

We parked at the "Park & Ride" lot and took a free bus up to the Bear Lake trailhead.  From there we headed up to Nymph Lake and Dream Lake.  There wasn't any snow at Bear Lake, but by the time we got up to Dream Lake snow cover was everywhere.  It was a beautiful clear day; the views were amazing. 

At Dream Lake we realized we had plenty of time and energy, so we wanted to do a longer hike.  We decided that Plan B would be to make a loop, going to Lake Haiyaha and Alberta Falls, then back to Bear Lake.  Unfortunately about 100 feet past Dream Lake the trail to Lake Haiyaha disappeared into a huge snowdrift, so we turned around.  Time for Plan C.  We hiked back down to the Bear Lake trailhead, planning to go around Bear Lake then down to Bierstadt Lake ... and from there back to the car.  

I chatted with a super volunteer at the trailhead about options.  She noted that we made the right choice on aborting the trip to Lake Haiyaha ("we can't find that trail yet"), and agreed that we could make it to Bierstadt.  She recommended that we take the trail to the "Bierstadt Lake Trailhead", then make it down to the Park & Ride either by hiking via Sprague Lake or by taking the bus.  

So we hiked around Bear Lake in a veritable sea of humanity.  Every family in the park was walking around Bear Lake.  It was like being at the mall!  The lake's beautiful.  When we got to the trail to Bierstadt we eagerly headed up ... leaving all but a 3 or 4 others behind.  

The first bit of the hike is a bit steep.  The altitude makes it seem worse than it is.  But it's not too bad, and we easily made it to the ridge.  Heading down the other side to Bierstadt Lake the trail turned soupy, as snowmelt was following the trail in places.  

We decided NOT to follow the volunteer's recommendation, and instead took the hiking only trail from the Lake directly down to the Park & Ride.  This was probably a mistake.  The trail was in pretty poor shape ... steep, covered with slippery rocks, deeply entrenched in spots.  Not all that interesting.  But we made it down to the parking lot, having had an amazing day in an incredible park.

Don't do these hikes using just the park brochure.  If you stop at any Visitor Center they can give you a single sheet handout on "Bear Lake Area Hiking" which has a more detailed trail map for the area.  

Avoid the trail from Bierstadt Lake to the Park & Ride.  There must be more scenic and less slippery choices.  

Don't wait 42 years to visit!