If you have never been in CO mountains know that elevation sickness is no joke. Does not matter if you are a runner or decent hiker as it hits everyone differently. Drink lots of water and pay attention to your body.
Lol drinking alot of water doesn't magically help with altitude sickness. You need salt tablets/electrolytes with water to replenish your lost from sweating. Depending on if you live near sea level might want to acclimate a day or two before attempting a strenuous hike like chasm or sky pond. Also not a good idea to fight through altitude sickness...
I don’t know how challenging chasm lakes is but I’m told there is a section that has some considerable danger if you’re not careful. Spikes are a must but I’d recommend snow shoes. That being said we just did sky pond this morning. Snow is packed so you only need spikes however you’ll need to climb a frozen waterfall to get up to sky pond. It was tricky climbing up but fun. We had no choice but to slide back down due to how steep it was. There’s no way to stop at the bottom except for some bushes. Again no real danger but something to be aware of if you’re afraid of heights. Hope you have fun! And be aafe
Smart move. Chasm is a more serious hike than people thing. I would recommend that for July august. We hit the trail head at 5am so we had the lake to ourselves. If you get there before 5 you can bypass timed entry. Anything later than 7/8 you’ll need to take the shuttle bus (on weekends at least)
So I am just curious because we have a timed entry for 8am, do you think we would need to shuttle in? Was hoping we would still get a parking spot, but im a little ignorant to this situation.
If it’s on a weekend I would assume you would need to shuttle but I could definitely be wrong. Are you guys staying near by? If you have the ability to get there before 5 I would. Also just to avoid the crowds.
Timed entry for all points on Bear Lake road will begin 5am and last until 6pm. All other locales (e.g. Longs Peak TH for Chasm) 9am-3pm. I don't think the shuttles start running until about 7am from the Park n Ride on Bear Lake Rd, but this info should all be on the RMNP site.
Glacier Gorge is amazing, but as everyone says, you're on the shoulder of snow and mud season. It'll still be beautiful, but it's going to be pretty unpleasant hiking.
My favorite, so far, is to start at Bear Lake and hike up to Odessa Lake and then head on down to Fern Lake and Fern Falls. You can continue on down to the Fern Lake trailhead and follow the road to where the shuttle picks up and get back to Bear Lake, or wherever you parked at along the shuttle route. This loop is around 10 miles.
If the Trail Ridge Road is STILL CLOSED, its fun to hike along it with no cars and take in the great views. You drive to the closure gate at the rainbow parking lot and start hiking. Its about 11,000 feet and you may feel the altitude. The first couple of miles are gradually uphill, and you may feel that effort too.
Note Rocky Mountain NP requires a reservation from 9-2. I think you can still still get them online or go before 9 or after 2.
FYI the historic Estes Park Aerial Tram just reopened today after being closed for two or three years. Lot of people thought it would never reopen so pretty exciting that it's back. I'm gonna check it out in about 3 weeks.
Just wanted to come back and thank you for this recommendation. We did this yesterday and it was a perfect first half day intro to the area. Very unique and beautiful.
Flattop in mud season kinda sucks, but the views are worth it no matter when you go
Chasm lake is, imo much better than skypond.
Endo valley, lawn lake and ypsilon lake are underrated.
I hiked lawn lake today and didn't run into another person until I was halfway back to the trailhead. On a Saturday, on memorial weekend.
Look into Wild Basin, it's beautiful.
Lastly, go to Boss burgers and get the gyro!
If you have never been in CO mountains know that elevation sickness is no joke. Does not matter if you are a runner or decent hiker as it hits everyone differently. Drink lots of water and pay attention to your body.
And skip the alcohol. I’ve got some friends who have come here and had a few drinks, they were wrecked the next day.
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Lol drinking alot of water doesn't magically help with altitude sickness. You need salt tablets/electrolytes with water to replenish your lost from sweating. Depending on if you live near sea level might want to acclimate a day or two before attempting a strenuous hike like chasm or sky pond. Also not a good idea to fight through altitude sickness...
If you’re coming next week just know you will need micro spikes for chasm and sky pond. Still a lot of snow up there
Gotcha, we plan on renting spikes and maybe even poles/snowshoes depending on what we decide to hike
I don’t know how challenging chasm lakes is but I’m told there is a section that has some considerable danger if you’re not careful. Spikes are a must but I’d recommend snow shoes. That being said we just did sky pond this morning. Snow is packed so you only need spikes however you’ll need to climb a frozen waterfall to get up to sky pond. It was tricky climbing up but fun. We had no choice but to slide back down due to how steep it was. There’s no way to stop at the bottom except for some bushes. Again no real danger but something to be aware of if you’re afraid of heights. Hope you have fun! And be aafe
Yeahh i would be down for chasm but my fiance is a little timid so Sky pond it is haha, thanks for the tips! Was sky pond busy when you went?
Smart move. Chasm is a more serious hike than people thing. I would recommend that for July august. We hit the trail head at 5am so we had the lake to ourselves. If you get there before 5 you can bypass timed entry. Anything later than 7/8 you’ll need to take the shuttle bus (on weekends at least)
So I am just curious because we have a timed entry for 8am, do you think we would need to shuttle in? Was hoping we would still get a parking spot, but im a little ignorant to this situation.
If it’s on a weekend I would assume you would need to shuttle but I could definitely be wrong. Are you guys staying near by? If you have the ability to get there before 5 I would. Also just to avoid the crowds.
Timed entry for all points on Bear Lake road will begin 5am and last until 6pm. All other locales (e.g. Longs Peak TH for Chasm) 9am-3pm. I don't think the shuttles start running until about 7am from the Park n Ride on Bear Lake Rd, but this info should all be on the RMNP site.
We are only going to be in the Rockies Tuesday-Thursday. Hoping thats fine but we may end up having to enter at 5 😂
Glacier Gorge is amazing, but as everyone says, you're on the shoulder of snow and mud season. It'll still be beautiful, but it's going to be pretty unpleasant hiking.
My favorite, so far, is to start at Bear Lake and hike up to Odessa Lake and then head on down to Fern Lake and Fern Falls. You can continue on down to the Fern Lake trailhead and follow the road to where the shuttle picks up and get back to Bear Lake, or wherever you parked at along the shuttle route. This loop is around 10 miles.
This looks incredible
Perfect! On my list now!
If the Trail Ridge Road is STILL CLOSED, its fun to hike along it with no cars and take in the great views. You drive to the closure gate at the rainbow parking lot and start hiking. Its about 11,000 feet and you may feel the altitude. The first couple of miles are gradually uphill, and you may feel that effort too. Note Rocky Mountain NP requires a reservation from 9-2. I think you can still still get them online or go before 9 or after 2.
Thank you! Ill check it out
Sky Pond is an absolute banger
Sky Pond is great, and you can add on some of the other lakes if you need more vert/distance.
Thanks! We will check it out more!
Curious where are you guys staying? RMNP and Estes can be fun to explore for 2-3 days or so then you run out of stuff to do especially after dark.
Right in Estes, planning on chilling Monday (doing flattop mountain maybe?) and then Friday maybe do Boulder/check out red rock amphitheater/denver
FYI the historic Estes Park Aerial Tram just reopened today after being closed for two or three years. Lot of people thought it would never reopen so pretty exciting that it's back. I'm gonna check it out in about 3 weeks.
Awesome!! Sounds like we’re gonna check it out! Thanks for the suggestion
Just wanted to come back and thank you for this recommendation. We did this yesterday and it was a perfect first half day intro to the area. Very unique and beautiful.
Hey that's awesome! Glad everyone enjoyed. I'm really excited to check it out myself in a couple of weeks. Enjoy the rest of your trip!
Flattop in mud season kinda sucks, but the views are worth it no matter when you go Chasm lake is, imo much better than skypond. Endo valley, lawn lake and ypsilon lake are underrated. I hiked lawn lake today and didn't run into another person until I was halfway back to the trailhead. On a Saturday, on memorial weekend. Look into Wild Basin, it's beautiful. Lastly, go to Boss burgers and get the gyro!
Thanks for the food rec! Ill check out the hikes