Rocky Mtn Ntnl Park, Bierstadt Lake hike
This past Monday Conor and I chose to hike up in Rocky Mountain National Park. We knew the weather would be semi-poor, including the chance of snow and rain. Because of the weather we originally chose three different hikes, none of which were very long or difficult, and hoped to do all of them in a single day. The poor weather hike was something we both wanted to do, and we did at least go out prepared for 9000+ foot altitude and the possibility of snow.
When we did arrive in RMNP, it was raining sideways with the occasional flurry. The snow wasn’t a big issue, but the rain sure was uncomfortable. It made it difficult to take photos and kept us looking to the ground to avoid it hitting our faces directly. Once we put a half-mile or so under our feet, we were into the trees which mellowed out the wind. This is where the snow pack came into play.
There was a few feet of snow on the ground here, but luckily the trail had been hiked a few times already which packed that snow down enough to hold our weight… mostly. You never knew when, but every once in a while my foot would break through and I’d sink to my hip. Of course, Conor had just stepped there without sinking, but I have about 25lbs on him so I did most of the sinking between us two.
After 2 miles of hiking, mostly uphill and in the snow, we made it to Bierstadt Lake which was so windy, snowing, and cold., we only stayed for a minute before departing back to the trees to eat a quick ‘lunch’ of a granola bar each. Another 2 miles hiking lead us back towards the truck. Heading downhill, I tended to stomp my leading foot and many of those stomps broke through the crust of snow and lead to me face planted and hip deep in snow. Not that it was painful or anything, but each time my foot broke through, and I lifted it back out of the hole, snow would fall into my boots and melt into my socks which lead to soggy shoes and socks. Unfortunately, due to soggy shoes and socks, this ended our day of hiking after only a single 4 mile hike.
