I’m fortunate to have visited the Rocky Mountains in August before the fires spread in late October. Over 30,000 acres within the park have burned, including many historical buildings. Unfortunately, it will never be the same. I’m also thankful to have FINALLY seen Stephanie since she left Austin and moved to Denver. She had great recommendations for hiking, food and lodging… After all, this is her backyard now.
I highly recommend our first night of lodging at Wildwood Inn. Stephanie had stayed there weeks before and loved it. The room had a fire place, full kitchen, huge bathroom, living room and a hot tub on the deck! The view from the balcony…
Rocky Mountain National Park currently operates on a timed-entry system. Meaning you’ll need to make a reservation online here and select the date/time slot you desire. If your preferred time is unavailable, choose a time that is. The early morning passes are released 24 hours beforehand so when 8am rolled around, I logged on and changed the original time. The park ranger said it usually sells out in minutes so changing the reservation opposed to creating a new one definitely worked in my favor. ((Good luck with that, LOL))
The Loch, Lake of Glass & Sky Pond
Stephanie suggested we hike to Sky Pond, a 10 mile round trip hike from the Glacier Gorge Trailhead on Bear Lake Rd. There is limited parking here so I suggest using the free shuttle service. Don’t waste your time trying to find a spot, especially during peak tourist season. Alberta Falls is the first highlight of the trek and a great spot to hydrate and shed some layers.
Alberta Falls 
You’ll encounter three lakes on this hike- the first being “The Loch”.
Continuing on past The Loch, we made our way towards the Lake of Glass. In order to reach the lake you must first scramble 100 feet up Timberline Falls. This was my favorite part of the hike and it does require your hands and feet to successfully scale to the top. As seen in the photo below, The Loch can be seen in the distance from Timberline Falls. At this point we’re about four miles in.
Timberline Falls 
The Loch in the distance 
Scrambling 100 ft. up Timberline Falls 
Lake of Glass
Not much farther to our final destination- Sky Pond. The temperature started to drop once we arrived. Stephanie mentioned that it’s common to have afternoon showers in Colorado. We soaked in the views and had a small lunch before heading back. Yes, that means you gotta climb down Timberline Falls. How do you do it?? Very carefully, haha.
Passing Lake of Glass 
Stone Path 
Missed this girl! 
Sky Pond 
Sky Pond
We were all exhausted after that trek! The best views are never easy but always worth it. We headed back towards Estes Park and had a tasty, Italian dinner at Dunraven Inn. The restaurant is situated right on Estes Lake so grab a table outside on their patio if weather permits.
Do yourself a favor and get breakfast at Notch Top Cafe. Their breakfast menu is endless. I had the twin sisters benedict with sausage and raved about my meal all morning haha. I wanted to explore The Stanley Hotel before heading into the park for day two. It may look familiar to you if you’ve seen “The Shining” or “Dumb and Dumber”. There is apparently paranormal activity within the hotel, especially after Stephen King stayed in room 217 where he created the story of “The Shining”. Room 217 is the only room left with the original key. They do offer day and night tours. I’ll be back for this!
Bear Lake, Nymph Lake, Dream Lake & Emerald Lake
Again, we utilized the free shuttle service that dropped us off at The Bear Lake trailhead. Bear Lake is about a .1 mile hike from the parking lot. Strenuous I tell ya!
Bear Lake 
Nymph Lake 
En route to Dream Lake
Nymph Lake is an easy hike and differs from the rest of the lakes because it is covered in Lilly pads! We kept trucking towards Dream Lake (my favorite of the three). This hike was a lot shorter than the day before. I believe we finished round trip in three hours. Dream Lake had enormous rocks at the tail end which were perfect for viewing.
Dream Lake 
Dream Lake 
Dreaming of Dream Lake
Emerald Lake was the last on the trek and just like the day before, it started to drop in temperature as we arrived. In the distance, there is a small stream waterfall that runs into Emerald Lake. As I mentioned above, Dream is my favorite of the three but still go to Emerald because it’s not much farther.
Emerald Lake
We hiked back and had some lunch in town before heading back to Texas. I cannot wait to explore Colorado again <3