A Winter Hike at Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park

“Don’t walk onto the Lake!” the woman said to me as she and the man with the wet feet walk by. “He went three feet out on the ice and broke through!” I was walking across the snow covered Bear Lake parking lot when the couple offered the free warning. “Thanks!” I said. “I won’t!”

Is that Mr. Baker?

But, I didn’t need the red signs the Park Service had posted at the beginning of the short trail warning people of the thin ice to know this was not a good time of the year to try out the ice; there had been too many warm March days, even at 9,400’.  Apparently, some people did need the warning sign!

Driving up, I could see clouds rolling off of the Divide, but Hallett Peak seemed to be holding the clouds back. As I approached Bear Lake, it was understandable that the guy might have tried going out on the lake. A cold wind was whipping up snow and blowing it off the ice covered lake into the trees, forming drifts across the popular trail. The ice on the lake did look solid. I guessed it probably was solid ice almost everywhere on the lake, except where that man went through.

Having been 700’ lower and several miles further east at Sprague Lake last week, I wanted to see how early spring was going higher up at Bear Lake. Not surprisingly, it was much more wintery. Whereas wearing spikes was desirable at Sprague Lake, snowshoes were pretty handy going around Bear Lake.

Now on the east shoreline, the winds of winter was still whipping across the lake carrying with it fresh snow. I continued around the lake to the Flattop Trail cutoff and all of the fresh tracks for the day headed up that way. A new layer of snow covered over the packed trail that continued around the north shoreline.

Once I broke into a clearing, I could see Longs Peak was creating it’s own weather system, and it didn’t look like a good day to be attempting the summit! The trail from this point looked to be covered by about six feet of snow with a pretty steep downward angle, so I decided to skirt along the edge of the lake. But once I ran across a little open water, I angled back into the trees.

Now on the west side of the lake and in the trees, I found that I was sheltered from the wind and traveled through something of a winter wonderland. And, I found I had this part of the lake to myself! Without having to travel very far from car, I felt I was in some remote wilderness! It was such a pleasant surprise!  I slowed my pace and took in the quiet tranquility and beauty that surrounded me. I quietly snowshoed through the trees and came back onto the lake edge.

From there, I skirted the south shoreline easily and was back at the car in no time. The whole excursion took less than an hour, but what a great little excursion it was!

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