We chose to use the park-provided shuttles today to transport us up and down the canyon which contains the Bear Lake Corridor Trails. Jason was excited to take the shuttle but did not like his face mask!Our first trek was to Bierstadt Lake. Listing to the shuttle driver, we took a different approach to the lake, a little longer but one which enabled us to make the trek a loop so we did not have to retrace our steps. We started at the Bear Lake Trailhead. This route required us to go over a pass at an elevation of 9,860 feet before dropping into the valley containing the lake.After hiking the two+ miles to the lake, uphill, we decided to skip the trail around the lake. SURELY we would be able to enjoy the lake from the trail heading back to the Bierstadt Lake Trailhead. No way! We still had to make a detour downhill about a quarter mile to the lake.Bierstadt Lake Cathy and Jason enjoyed a snack lakeside before we got eaten alive by a mosquito swarm! We high-tailed it back up the hill to the return trail.Cathy and Jason stopped trailside on the return. The views coming down the mountain were outstanding.I took another shot looking back at the mountains in the Glacier Gorge.This the view looking down to Spraque Lake. We were at this lake yesterday and made the walk around it, watching a bunch of fly-fisherpersons trying their luck. Jason spotted a lot of rainbow trout in the stream feeding the lake.Here are some of the wildflowers that adorned the trail. There were yellows, pinks, blues, violets, the whole myriad of colors IF you looked down to see them!A shot looking back at Flattop Mountain, Hallett Peak and Otis Peak, all in the high 12,000 foot range.Cathy and Jason continued down the mountain. While waiting for the shuttle, Jason and I decided to walk to Glacier Creek. This is a trout-rich environment. Jason had to check the temperature of the water to make sure it was trout -worthy. This creek fed Spraque Lake then continued on to Lake Estes.We crossed this bridge constructed for the horses and Jason picked out some trout holes. Here he is pointing to a big rainbow.Of course, being Jason and being there was water, He HAD to throw a couple of rocks.On the way back to the shuttle stop, we stopped to enjoy the view. We met a lady here that was moose hunting (with a camera). We saw a couple of moose on our last trip but none this week. Apparently one was spotted at lake Bierstadt yesterday.I noticed this large rock that had a neatly cleaved chunk, almost like it was cut!Here is our last photo of Glacier Creek before our shuttle arrived. There was only room for one on the shuttle (Covid spacing) so they took me and I returned with the truck to pick up Cathy and Jason. We could hear thunder and knew the afternoon storm was approaching so we headed back to Estes to relax.
Travelling with the Schinglers 