Hallett Peak

Today was a big day!  We got up early with plans to leave the house by 6:30 to be in Rocky Mountain National Park at 7:00AM.  The park implemented a timed-entry system last year to limit crowding in the park so we had reserved an entry time of 7-9AM over a month ago when they opened up the registration for July.  The Bear Lake parking lot was already full so we parked in the Park-and-Ride parking lot and got in line for the shuttle bus to the trailhead.

Our plan was to hike 4.4 miles to the top of Flattop Mountain and back down again.

We walked past Bear Lake at the start of the trail.  It was beautiful, but we had a long way to go so we didn't linger.

Long's Peak through the trees

If you look closely, behind the branches is a bird called a Ptarmigan that we spotted on the trail.  We learned later that this bird molts twice a year to change color to blend in with its habitat.  In the winter, this bird will be snow white.

One of the highlights of this trail for me was the overlooks of the mountain lakes.  Three years ago, we hiked to these lakes and now we are hiking above them.  The first overlook was for Dream Lake.

Caleb karate-chopping this tree ;-)

Gorgeous views everywhere!!

Ryan's AllTrails guide listed a viewpoint just off the trail so we decided to follow it.  It led us to a large rock that Ryan climbed for an even better view.  Caleb was, of course, not far behind but his mean parents wouldn't let him go as high as Ryan.

Goregeous view!

Ryan looking down at the rest of us from the top of the rock

Soon the trees started getting shorter and shorter until we were above the treeline.

Things grow in any place they can in the harsh conditions above the tree line.  Most of the flowers are the same 2 or 3 varieties, but sometimes we would come upon one that was totally different.  So beautiful!

Next, we reached the Emerald Lake viewpoint.  We had hiked almost 3 miles and gained almost 2,000 ft. in elevation.  When Ryan and I planned this hike the night before, we made of goal of reaching this point and then evaluating if we wanted to continue.  We all decided to forge ahead!!

Looking down on Emerald Lake

As we continued to rise above the treeline, we started to see lots of wildlife - mainly yellow-bellied marmots and pika.

Pika Papparazzi

Marmot

The pika (pronounced PEE-kuh) were so cute!  They would squeak and dart over and under all the rocks.  Later, we even saw one carrying a bunch of yellow flowers in its mouth.

Pika

More marmot photography

Marmot in an alpine flower field

The views up here were just amazing.  We could see so far!

We found some snow just before we reached the top of Flattop Mountain!

Summer snow!

We were finally nearing the top of Flattop Mountain!  It is the peak on the right in the picture below.  As we were looking across, we noticed a crazy guy at the top of the next peak (in the center of the picture).

Guy on the top of another peak

When we finally reached the end of the Flattop Mountain trail and took a break for lunch on a rock, we realized that the crazy guy's peak (named Hallett Peak) didn't look quite so far away now and Ryan said there was a 1/2 mile trail leading to the top of it.  We had already been hiking about 4 hours and taking this extra trail would add another mile and probably another hour to our round trip, but the altitude must have been making us crazy because we decided to go for it!  We'd come this far...what's another mile up and down a steep, rocky mountain?!

From the top of Flattop Mountain, we could see Grand Lake on the other side of the park!  Now that I think about it, we really could see the entire Rocky Mountain National Park from the top of that mountain.  The pictures don't come close to the real-life beauty of being up this high in the mountains.

It was very cold and windy up at the top so we had all bundled up and even put up our hoods!  Everyone had runny noses and watery eyes too.

"Extremely dangerous" signs don't stop us!

When we got to the uphill climb of Hallett Peak, the trail basically turned into a big pile of rocks.  We had to follow the cairns to stay on the trail.

I did not do so well with the "climbing a big pile of rocks" part.  I would not make a good mountain goat.

But, eventually, even I made it to the top and it was amazing!  

There was an even higher pile of rocks at the very top with a big post stuck in the middle.  I don't know how the post got there or what it was for, but it is not secured in the ground!  Don't lean on the post because you assume it is something sturdy and steady.  It is not!

Caleb and Rodney on top of the world

At 12,720 feet, we were the highest thing around!  We had unobstructed views in every direction.

Hallett Peak Selfie

After celebrating at the top and taking in the views, we decided we'd better get started on our long descent.  Climbing back down the pile-of-rocks-peak thankfully wasn't as bad as I was envisioning it to be and soon we were back on Flattop Mountain and headed back down the long, rocky trail.

Hallett Peak from the top of Flattop Mountain

The kids in front of Hallett Peak - they were just up there!

At some point during our hike, I got a text from Mom that they were driving Trail Ridge Road.  Soon after, I looked over and could see Trail Ridge Road in the distance.

It felt like it took forever to get back below the treeline.  Everything hurt on the descent.  The trail was steep and full of rocks.  We now understand why they are called the "Rocky" Mountains.  Whereas were were mesmerized on the way up by the views and the wildlife, we were now on a mission to get back to the car and sit down.

We decided we would get ice cream when we finally got off this mountain.  The kids were dreaming of TWO SCOOPS!  Caleb said he didn't want Rocky Road as a flavor!

Our aching legs and desire for ice cream finally got us down to the trailhead and we took a celebratory picture.  We survived!

Then we took a picture of what we really felt like.  The guy who took our picture for us said he thought at least one of us should be lying on the ground.  Ha!

After almost 12 miles of hiking and an elevation gain of 3,293 ft., we had made it past Flattop Mountain and on to the top of Hallett Peak and back down again.  We hiked for 8 hours, which was twice as long as I slept the night before.  Not a good ratio.  But we felt proud and exhilarated and hungry for a treat! 

Our trail according to FitBit

My FitBit stats at the end of the day

We took the shuttle back to our car (we had a whole section of the bus to ourselves as no one seemed to want to get near us!) and drove straight to the Sundae Saloon in Estes Park.  I got a hot fudge sundae with Moose Tracks ice cream.  It was the best sundae I've ever had!

While we were having our adventures on Hallett Peak, Mom and Dad also entered the park during their 7-9AM entry time and took a stroll around Bear Lake and then went on to drive Trail Ridge Road up to the Alpine Visitor Center.  They also had a great day!

We all met back at the house around 5:30 and got cleaned up for dinner.  Mom and Dad had called around to about 9 different places trying to make a reservation and they were able to get a table at the WayFinder restaurant.  It was nice to relax and enjoy the views while catching up about our day.