Bierstadt Lake

This is the fourth and last of a series of posts describing hikes undertaken during a 4 day Rocky Mountain National Park trip.

Date: July 7, 2013

Location: Rocky Mountain National Park, CO

This was the last day of my RMNP trip. Since I had to head to Denver in the evening to catch a red-eye back (and was also feeling after-effects of previous hikes :)), I decided to go for a short hike. I caught the 11:30 a.m. hiker shuttle from Estes Park, and after changing to the Bear Lake shuttle at Moraine Park, got to the Bierstadt trailhead around 12:20 or so. Within 10 minutes, I was on my way up to Bierstadt Lake which is nestled atop the Bierstadt moraine. The trail comprises gentle switchbacks that reveal great views. The one downside of this trail is that it is also used by horses, and though I did not encounter a single one, evidence of their presence was widespread and made for a messy trail!

Hike track

Elevation Plot
(disappointingly the distance reported by my Garmin Oregon 450t is
again wrong; as per trail signs, Bierstadt lake is 1.6 miles
one way from the trailhead and the loop would have
added  another 0.5-0.8 miles miles at least to yield 3.7-4.0 miles)

Bierstadt Trailhead

View from the trail which mostly comprises a series of exposed switchbacks

I could see from a distance areas I had hiked to previously; this was cool
(left far side: Loch Vale area/Taylor glacier are visible
right far side: Hallett Peak, Tyndall Glacier and Flattop Mt.)

Bierstadt Lake with marshy banks
(Hallett and Flattop can be seen on)

Marshy banks of Bierstadt Lake

The reflection of clouds in the lake looks pretty

Longs Peak close-up

I was here on July 5!
Tyndall Glacier and Flattop Mountain using a telephoto lens.

Lake (need to figure out its name from the map)

It became increasing overcast on the way down.
The wildflowers trailside look pretty against the gloomy backdrop.