Energy Spent

It was a soccer day on Saturday. I watched the U.S. beat Australia 3-1 in the morning at the British Bulldog, and I watched the Rapids beat the Crew 1-0 at Dicks Sporting Goods Stadium. I’m getting warmed up for the World Cup when everyday is soccer day. The first World Cup game for the United States is against England on June 12th. It will be televised on ABC.

On Sunday, I made my way up to Rocky Mountain National Park where I did some hiking. I started my hike at the Bierstadt Lake Trailhead where I hiked up to Bierstadt Lake. I had the lake to myself.




A view along the Bierstadt Lake Trail









Bierstadt Lake








Me, Longs Peak, and Bierstadt Lake





After enjoying the scenery at Bierstadt Lake, I started hiking towards Bear Lake, but I did not go to Bear Lake. I kept on going. I made way to Lake Helene and Odessa Lake. The trail was not steep, but once I got past the turnoff for Flattop Mountain I started getting into some significant snow. The snow made the going slow. The scenery was great though.




Looking towards Notchtop Mountain






A small pond along the way






Looking down on Lake Helene






Notchtop Mtn and Grace Falls







Odessa Lake








Me with Grace Falls in the background






While sitting on the rocks above Lake Helene and Odessa Lake, I decided to make this hike an adventurous loop hike. I made the way down toward Odessa Lake. It was rough going in the snow. I didn’t even bother trying to get to the lakes edge because of the snow. I kept on going to Fern Lake.




Fern Lake








Thankfully, I was through with the snow at Fern Lake. From there, I hiked on down to The Pool. The water level was impressive.

After The Pool, I had a long uphill hike to get back to Lake Bierstadt. This route had some nice views looking down on Cub Lake. I lost my sunglasses somewhere in this section. I had them on top of my hat and must have flipped them off at some point while adjusting my hat. I was tired, but I made it back to my car. I estimate that the round trip was at least 15 miles. I think I’m being conservative with the estimate. I don’t have mileage for all of the connecting trails. The snow hiking sucked a lot of the energy out me. Except for losing my sunglasses, it was a great day.




Cub Lake








Until next time,

-MM