Our last hike in the Rocky Mountains: Bierstadt Lake

     Our last hike in the Rocky Mountain National Park was to Bierstadt Lake. We got up early in the morning and managed to get one of the few parking spaces available at the trailhead. Woot! Here's the view from the parking lot.

     Not a bad way to start off the morning! The trail started off in a wooded area, not too strenuous. 

    After a short ways, the trail opens up to a beautiful mountain range. A good portion of the hike is along the mountainside. The trail gets pretty narrow at times with rocks & tree roots clogging up the path and a steep drop-off to your left. It does become somewhat strenuous at points and is not a flat walk. It is gorgeous though.

       After maybe an hour of this kind of hiking, we hit the forest again and walked another 30 minutes or so on a relatively flat and wonderfully shaded & cool path until we reached Bierstadt Lake.

Bierstadt Lake and Lunch Time!

      We took a nice break by the edge of the water and had our lunch. We even spotted some elk across the lake :) All in all, it came out to about a 4-mile hike there and back.

Self-Portrait at Bierstadt

     On our way back, we passed by this cool tree that was begging for a photo shoot:

 

Rocky Mountains, even though you eventually rained us out and sent a thunderstorm that almost ripped our tent out of the ground, we loved every minute! Hope to return :)