Rocky Mountain National Park: Eastern Slope - September 17th to 20th, 2020
After spending several days on the peaceful western side of Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP), we headed over to the more popular eastern side of the park. Moraine Park Campground inside RMNP was full, so we camped in Estes Park Campground at East Portal, just outside RMNP. The eastern side was more crowded than the western side, but it was still very enjoyable.
We headed to Estes Park from Grand Lake through RMNP on the scenic Trail Ridge Road. Luckily, Trail Ridge Road had just opened up again a couple of days prior, just in time for us! First the road was closed due to smoke and poor visibility due to the Cameron Peak Fire. Then it was closed due to five to six foot snow drifts from the snow storm the previous week.
The drive over Trail Ridge Road was a familiar route for us. Unfortunately, the views were pretty hazy from the smoke. They reminded us more of the Smoky Mountains than the Rocky Mountains. There were only remnants of snow at the higher elevations, with a couple feet of snow piled up along the side of the road at the top.
We stopped at Milner Pass to take a few pictures. Milner Pass trailhead is right at the Continental Divide at Poudre Lake. The Ute Trail starts there as well, which goes up above the tree line to the Alpine Visitor Center. We have hiked that trail before with the kids and remember hanging out at the Visitor Center waiting for a thunderstorm to pass over. We should have started that hike earlier, because you always run the risk of afternoon thunderstorms above tree line in the summer.
At the Alpine Visitor Center, we got out to walk up the short Alpine Ridge Trail (a half mile round trip) to an elevation of 12,005 feet above sea level. We saw quite a few people struggling with the lack of oxygen. We were breathing heavily, but managed the short climb pretty well since we've been camping above 8,000 feet for over a week.
Our next stop was Rock Cut. RB always likes to stop there to get pictures of pika and marmot. It did not disappoint. The pika and marmot seemed plumper than usual, since it was fall and they have fattened up for winter. The pika were hanging out on tops of rocks, probably soaking in the warmth of the sun. In the summer, they're usually running around more and hiding among the rocks. The Toll Memorial Trail also starts from Rock Cut. It is a short one mile (roundtrip) trail to some rock outcroppings and 360 degree panoramic views.
Since the view was smoky, we didn't make any more stops along Trail Ridge Road. We turned onto US 34 to exit RMNP through the Fall River Entrance Station. Before we reached Sheep Lakes, there were some bull elk along the side of the road. RB managed to take some drive-by pictures as we passed them. One looked like he had a rope tangled up in his antlers.
Our reservation was at Estes Park Campground at East Portal. It is down at the end of Colorado 66, southwest of town, just past YMCA of the Rockies. We had never driven down that road before and didn't realize there were so many cabins and lodges along it. We previously thought there was mainly just the YMCA of the Rockies property along that road. According to the signs as we drove by, YMCA of the Rockies was being used as a fire incident center for the firefighters.
The campground is run by the town of Estes Park. The sites are closer together than what we have been used to in the state parks, but are nestled among the trees and more pleasant than the RV parks in town. Deer and elk wander through the campground frequently. It is not set up for large rigs, though. The road through the campground is rough with sharp turns and the sites are not very level. It does have flush toilets and hot showers, with no extra charge for the showers.
We got set up at our camp site just in time to start dinner. It was homemade chili in the Instant Pot (paid link).
Our timed entry permit for the next day started at 10 am. We got all of our hiking gear ready to go and got in line to enter the park a couple of minutes before 10 am. It took only about ten minutes to get into the Beaver Meadows Entrance. Our plan was to hike some trails in the Bear Lake area. This is the most popular area in the park and we know it gets crowded. We were hoping it wouldn't be too bad since it was a Friday and entry into the park is restricted. The signs along Bear Lake Road already indicated that the Bear Lake parking lot was full and to take the shuttle from the Park N Ride lot, so that is what we did. The shuttle buses were running, but they limited how many people could ride on each bus. It was 11 am by the time we started hiking on the trails.
The route we planned to take was the Four Lake Loop Trail outlined in AllTrails, but in the opposite direction. It claimed it was 6.8 miles with an elevation gain of 1335 feet. It included Bear Lake, Nymph Lake, Dream Lake, Emerald Lake, Lake Haiyaha, and Alberta Falls. Yes, that's five lakes, so we're not sure why they called it the Four Lake Loop. We planned to skip Bear Lake since that is usually the most crowded trail. The trail to Nymph Lake is mostly paved and had more people on it than we are accustomed to hiking with. There were all types of people on the trail, young and old, experienced hikers and novices. Nymph Lake is only half a mile from the trailhead. It has lily pads and mountain peak views.
On the way to the next lake, Dream Lake, there were three female elk grazing just feet from the trail. They didn't seem bothered at all by the steady stream of people going by on the trail.
The trail follows alongside the length of the long Dream Lake. The water was crystal clear, allowing us to see the large trout fish gliding by.
The shoreline of the third lake, Emerald Lake, consisted of large boulders. We climbed around on the boulders to find a place to eat our lunch. Even though the trail had gotten rougher and the number of people on the trail had decreased, the shore of the lake was crowded with people. The chipmunks, ground squirrels, and birds were aggressive. They were persistent in pursuing people's food and kept coming back after being shooed away. The lake was pretty, though. Across the lake we could see and hear a long waterfall cascading down the mountain side in the distance.
To get to Lake Haiyaha, we had to backtrack back to Dream Lake and take a different trail. It was a steep climb up and over a ridge to the next valley on a rough and rocky trail. This trail had significantly fewer people on it than the one that leads up to Emerald Lake.
Lake Haiyaha is situated in a large boulder field. We sat down on a large boulder and had a snack when we first saw the water. However, there was a steady flow of people continuing to climb across the boulder field. Was this small body of water not the lake? After our snack we continued a little farther. The water we were sitting next to was not the lake. Lake Haiyaha is quite large and scenic. We're so glad we continued further to see it instead of heading back to learn we didn't reach the actual lake.
LB headed up to a high boulder to take pictures while RB headed to a lower spot. We started heading back to the trail at about the same time. Somehow RB made a wrong turn while negotiating her way back through the boulders, taking a much longer route. Some of the boulders were so large that you couldn't see around them, so it was easy to get turned around. She finally managed to find the trail, but came out of the boulder field in a different spot than LB and the way we had gone in.
From Lake Haiyaha, we headed back on the trail to the Haiyaha Cutoff Trail that led us to the Glacier Gorge Trail. The closer we got to Alberta Falls, the more people were on the trail. Alberta Falls was beautiful, but again, there were crowds of people trying to enjoy it with you.
This hike took us much longer to complete than we expected, but then the mileage was longer than we expected. Since we skipped the half mile around Bear Lake, we expected our miles to be around 6.2, but it was closer to 7.4 miles. We completed it in five hours and 15 minutes with an elevation gain of 1358. This was hike #52 of our 52 Hike Challenge. We completed our challenge with over a month to spare!
The hike was beautiful and we understand why the trails around Bear Lake are so popular. However, we can only imagine how crowded these trails are during a non-COVID year in the summer on a weekend. That is why we have been avoiding the Bear Lake area for years. We prefer much less crowded trails.
The line waiting for the shuttle bus was long after our hike and it got even longer as we were waiting for a bus. It took about 45 minutes for us to finally get on a bus. When we got back to our van, we saw a couple of bull elk going at each other along the side of the road below the parking lot. By the time RB got her camera out, they had stopped. Since it was getting late and it had been almost an hour since we stopped hiking, we did not hang out at the van to drink our cold Cokes per our normal ritual. Instead, we drank our Cokes on our drive back to the campground. Dinner was a hearty meal of RB's version of Spanish rice.
In the morning while eating breakfast outside, LB left the sliding door of the van open. When RB went back into the van to wash up the breakfast dishes, she caught a glimpse of a chipmunk darting from the top of the electrical cabinet back into the cargo area of the van. After she got LB's attention to help her get the chipmunk out of the van, she saw it dart under the driver's seat. Opening up all the doors and trying to startle the chipmunk eventually got it to run out of the van. We were a little more careful after that. We had visions of being awakened at night by a critter inside the van, or worse, darting out among our feet while we're driving down the road.
The day before we overheard another camper talking about spending hours trying to get a mouse out of their vehicle. They were driving down the road when the mouse came out of the vent on the passenger side. Luckily it didn't pop out on the driver's side and cause an accident. They said they kept plugging up holes in their vehicle and the mouse kept finding another hole to come back in.
Even though we had another 10 am timed entry permit to enter RMNP on Saturday, neither one of us felt like going on a hike. The latch on our kitchen cabinet had broken the day before and we were out of oatmeal, Coke, and ibuprofen, very important essentials. So we stopped at the grocery store and hardware store in Estes Park before entering the park at the Fall River Entrance around 11 am (the timed entry permits are good for a two hour window). There was no line to get in this time. Our plan was just to have a picnic. We drove past the Alluvial Fan and out to the Endovalley picnic area. The Alluvial Fan area was closed due to construction. The Endovalley picnic area did not look that inviting, especially since some maintenance was in progress that involved chain saws. We decided to head to our favorite picnic spot, Tuxedo Park along Bear Lake Road.
On the way to Bear Lake Road, we drove through the section of US 36 that is under construction, between US 34 and Bear Lake Road. The road in the construction area is dirt and a semi-truck had slipped off the bank of the road blocking one of the lanes, forcing traffic to take turns using the one lane of road that was left. We're not sure how long the truck had been stuck there nor how long it would be before they could get it out of there.
As we headed down Bear Lake Road, the sign indicated that the Park N Ride lot for the shuttle bus was full. We're so glad we went on our hike the day before! As usual, we had Tuxedo Park pretty much to ourselves. We're not quite sure why no one else uses this picnic area. Is it due to the couple flights of stairs to get down to the picnic tables or the lack of trash cans? We love it. The picnic tables are down next to Glacier Creek so we can eat with the sound of the water flowing by. There is normally not many people there, if any. A woodpecker was in a nearby tree, busy picking insects out of the trunk.
We stopped at the Moraine Park Discovery Center. The sign now says it is the Nature Store, so perhaps it has been renamed. There was a gift shop and we had to wait a short while to get in since they only allowed ten people in at a time. We saw a sign saying the exhibits are upstairs, but it looked closed. We don't know if it was just closed due to COVID, or if it has been closed for a while. We seem to recall that the building was a museum at one time, but, never having visited it before, we cannot say for sure.
We drove into Estes Park to park and walk around town to look for an ice cream shop, which there is no shortage of in town. However, there was a shortage of open parking spots. We drove around a little bit, then gave up and drove over to the Stanley Village shopping center. Estes Park was a mad house. It was a weekend, there was an arts and crafts festival going on, and Elkhorn Avenue, the main street in town, was packed with pedestrians. The crowds did not appeal to us so we opted to get smoothies from "Shakes Alive!" In the shopping center and then headed back to the campground.
The advantage of the camp sites being a little closer together was that it encouraged neighboring campers to talk with each other. We had a wonderful relaxing afternoon and evening while we swapped stories and got to know the couple camping next to us. They were from Kansas and camping in a Scamp trailer. We enjoyed that much better than fighting the crowds in town.
For dinner we cooked fried cabbage with diced tomatoes and steamed, sliced sweet potatoes. Our camping neighbors thought it smelled good and wanted the recipe. While we were eating dinner, three mule deer bucks wandered right through our camp site. They were munching on the bushes and two of them got into a little tussle. Of course, RB's camera was sitting on her camp chair, just feet from the deer so she couldn't safely go get it. However, LB managed to capture some of the entertainment on his phone.
The next day was time to head home. We decided to drive the Peak to Peak Scenic Byway on the way to see what fall colors there were. According to some reports we read, the fall colors would not be that great this year due to the extreme drought we were having. We've noticed that many of the aspen were turning brown instead of yellow and that some of them were dropping leaves while they're still green. For being a Sunday in the fall, the highway was rather deserted. Apparently everyone else knew the fall colors were rather bland this year. There were some yellow aspen along the route, but it felt rather muted compared to how spectacular we know they can be. We were home by lunch time. Now we had a couple of weeks to resupply, get some chores done, and get ready for our last, but longest travel loop of the season.
We always enjoy our time in RMNP. Although we prefer to camp inside the the national park, Estes Park Campground at East Portal is a great alternative. In fact, it's right at the RMNP boundary and a trailhead which gives you access to Sprague Lake inside RMNP via a short hike (4.4 miles round trip). Despite the crowds, we're glad we hiked the popular lake trails near Bear Lake. However, it will probably be quite a while before going back to that area. There are so many other nice trails within RMNP to explore, with fewer people. For some other trail ideas, check out some of our other posts on RMNP: Rocky Mountain National Park: Western Slope - September 14th & 16th, 2020, Rocky Mountain National Park - June 15 & 16, 2019, and Rocky Mountain National Park - Camping Weekend.
Check out our related video: Rocky Mountain National Park - Eastern Slope
(RB)