Hiking to Timberline Falls in Rocky Mountain National Park

Two days after the Spring Equinox, Mother Nature announced spring had arrived in the mountains of Rocky Mountain National Park and the Estes Valley with a booming afternoon thunderstorm that resulted in a small amount of spring snow. There were already signs of spring around though. RMNP Trails was reporting the Hooker’s Townsend Daisy (Easter Daisy) already in full bloom along the sunny and low elevation Lumpy Ridge, there were reports of a bear in a tree in the Riverside Dr area, an aspen patch not far from the Beaver’s Meadow Visitor Center had started to bloom catkins, and chipmunks appeared around my bird feeder. The weather report is calling for more snow on Friday. It must be spring time in the Rockies.

The trails in the lower montane regions of the Park are treacherous right now. The packed snow on the trails melt into a slush during the day but freeze into a glaze overnight. Either micro spikes or ice skates are needed. And if the ice does melt off, it often leaves a slimy muddy patch to slip and slide on, challenging ones aerobic agilities. If you really want a taste of spring now, it might be best to head for a trail down around Lyons. Otherwise, just head back up into winter in the subalpine Bear Lake area.

That’s where I went. I wanted to make another try at Timberline Falls. On the morning I had planned to journey up, the skies were overcast and not looking good. So I thought I would wait a day for improved conditions. But, of course, by afternoon the

skies were clear and the next day, started off clear, but then became overcast. Second guessing is tricky stuff.

​There didn’t seem to be any disappearing snow pack in the high country from my previous treks. The snow on the footbridge at the beginning of the Alberta Falls trail was still up to the top railing and the stream was still completely covered with snow, just as before. The waters of the popular Alberta Falls were still flowing under a sheet of ice and also covered by a heavy blanket of snow. ​

Alberta Falls

Even though it looked like winter, the day was warm and the conditions were starting to change. A squirrel scurried in front of me across the snow. It stopped briefly to consider me, but it seemed to be on a tight schedule and quickly disappeared. I trekked along in this first portion of the hike lost in thought about the different ways people connect with nature. For some, a journey into the high mountains is held with a quiet reverence. But children like to play in nature and seldom show such reverence. I thought about how reverence for nature seems to develop for them through their playfulness.

Once past the Mills Lake trail junction, the snowshoe tracks to The Loch divert from the summer trail and head straight up the Icy Brook drainage. As I started up the drainage, I heard loud grunting sounds being made by someone in the trees. There was a side trail in the snow, so I diverted to investigate and found a couple of ice climbers. The grunter had just topped out. It must have been a difficult pull over the top lip of the ice falls.

I resumed my hike up the snow filled drainage when a couple of skiers swooshed down, working to maintain control. They stopped briefly uphill from me and I asked them where they had skied from. They had gone up to Andrews Glacier but decided the conditions were not favorable, so they turned back. They had had a good day

though. I continued a little further up the drainage and stopped to rest while a couple slid down a snow shoot on their butts with one coming down laid back like a bob sledder. They were having great fun.

I huffed my way up the last stretch of the drainage where things leveled out and I followed the snowshoe tracks through the trees and into a clearing. There was a huge drift that the wind had packed solid up to nearly 20 feet tall. Some side trails 

led to the base of the drift where someone with snow shovels had mined out snow caves. The opening of one I checked out was small and I peaked in to see a small room that might cozily fit three or four people. 
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Turning back to the main snow trail, another skier slid to a stop and asked how big the snow caves were. He was carrying an overnight pack and had spent the night out somewhere on the far end of The Loch. It had been a good night with out much wind. I 

wished him well and then traveled a short way before coming upon The Loch. A snowshoe couple were beginning to venture out to cross the frozen solid lake. It didn’t take too long before they disappeared into the far trees. 

It was practically a windless day at The Loch and I found a seat beneath one of the wind twisted Bristle Pines and watched the clouds shift around. What ever blue sky there might have been over the peaks earlier was quickly disappearing. I pulled some 

food and water out of my pack, thinking  about all the different people I had just encountered and how their play was connecting them with nature. I also thought about how quickly this winter scene would change to summer.

Timberline Falls

I packed up my pack and finished my trek to the snow covered Timberline Falls. The clouds were moving down on the peaks now so I turned to head back.