Estes Park Hiking Options

Ok, here is a starter list of ideas for hikes during the upcoming Colorado beer and hike weekend. I am open to any and all suggestions but thought I would throw a few out there. I have grouped them by trailhead starting points and have graded them short (<3 miles round-trip), med (3-6 miles), long (7+ miles) and extra spicy.

Bear Lake Trailhead

Emerald Lake (short): winding trail that hits 3 separate lakes, ending with this one:

Alberta Falls (short): less than 2 miles roundtrip gets you to one of the most popular waterfalls in RMNP

The Loch (medium): continue past Alberta Falls for a 5.5 miler roundtrip gets you this view:

Andrews Tarn (long): continue past The Loch to see some glaciers and get up against the headwall of Otis Peak. 8.4 miles

Sky Pond (long): instead of Andrews Tarn you can take in Lake of Glass and Sky Pond at about the same total distance.

Flattop Mountain (long): if all this talk of water bores you, head to the top of Flattop 8.6 miles and 2900 ft of elevation change on pretty easy grade climbing.

Lawn Lake Trailhead

Horseshoe Falls/Alluvial Fan (short): maybe a mile of walking from the nearby alluvial fan parking lot are a pair of broad cascades that are a quick little trip.

Lawn Lake (long): 12.5 miles and 2400 feet make this a pretty engaging trip to the lake, but the trail is well-maintained and not too technical.

Hagues Peak (extra spicy): go to lawn lake, then go straight up. 18.8 miles and 5000 feet. yummy!

Near Cabin

Eagle Cliff Mountain (short): a real mountain in only 1 mile (750 feet elevation)! Also, many trails to choose from or just bushwhack it for a good view of Moraine Park:

Deer Mountain (long): 8.4 miles from the cabin doorstep.

Trail Ridge Road

Alpine Visitor Center (short): I mean verrrry short. The trail ridge road is a nice 25 mile high elevation road we can take to get great views. Along the way there is a 0.6 mile round trip stroll to this spot on google maps "street" view (do not feed the blurry-faced wildlife please):

Ute Trail (medium): from the visitor center, you can head 1000 feet downhill for 4 miles to Poudre Lake at Milner Pass.

Extra Credit

Continental Divide Traverse (extra spicy): Why choose between Milner Pass and Bear Lake, when you can simply do both in one hike? Hit Mt. Ida, Chief Cheley Peak, Sprague Peak, and Flattop Mountain on the 17 mile 4500 feet gross ascent almost all of it above treeline. Plenty of water and car coordination required.

Longs Peak (extra spicy): 15 miles 4900 feet. Just sayin'...

Birthday Hike - Katahdin

So I took a half day while in the middle of Maine to climb up Katahdin. 10 miles of "trail", 5200 feet elevation, 3 liters of water and 3 clif bars later, here are some photos... (click on any photo to enlarge).

 I took the Helon Taylor trail on the ascent. I shall now rename this trail, "The Ankle-Breaker." I started pretty early and was moving fast, so I had this side of the mountain all to myself for a few hours.

On the Knife Edge Trail, which is a mile long ridge line connecting peaks. Great views all around. Even looking down...

So the trail is marked with blue blazes. Always nice when they put the blazes on the side of a wall because the trail is too narrow to mark properly. You notice how the ledge seems to disappear in the middle there? Yeah that part was a real treat.

Photographic evidence that it was a "keep the cap on" day.

  Panorama time. A look back at the whole ridge line.

Back near the bottom at Chimney Pond campsite.