A Hike to Mills Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park

Did the Park survive without us? Yes it did.

Rocky Mountain National Park reopened just over a week ago after being closed for about two months due to corona virus concerns. When I first drove into The Park on the eve of that opening day, it was like returning to a familiar place that I had not visited in a while, like returning home. I looked around to see if anything had changed, but everything was still as it was before, excepting that the aspens were leafing and Moraine Park was greening.

Bear Lake (click on photos for a larger image)

​Although I missed being able to hike in the Park, I kind of liked the thought that for a brief two months, the Park had returned to a nearly wild state without gobs of people driving around. As I drove up the Bear Lake Rd, I encountered elk a couple of times attempting to cross the road and they seemed startled! ‘What is this traffic on the road?’ Had they forgotten about us already? 

It was a beautiful evening at Bear Lake. I also did a quick jaunt up to Alberta Falls, and then caught a beautiful sunset at Sprague Lake. Not a bad reintroduction.

Sunset at Sprague Lake

This last Sunday, I went for my first hike in The Park. My hiking partner and I  journeyed up to Mills Lake, 2.5 miles from the trailhead, just to see how the snow cover was on the trail. We got a late start and didn’t enter the Park until 10:30. That’s significant because last Sunday, we didn’t need a reservation to get in. Now we will and we will have to be a little more diligent about planning ahead.

I, for one, am happy that they are limiting the number of cars entering the Park and spreading the traffic throughout the day. But, it will be different and it will take some getting used to.

​The lines of cars going into the Park on this morning was not long and it was difficult to gauge how full the parking lots at the trailheads might be this late in the morning. I decided to find out. First I went to the Glacier Gorge parking lot where our trailhead for Mills Lake was, but not surprisingly, the small parking lot was completely full. We drove up to Bear Lake to see if there was anything in this bigger lot, but they were turning people around, that lot was also full. So, we headed back down to the Park-and-Ride Lot. A fruitless effort that probably cost us 20-30 min.

There was lots of parking available at the Park-and-Ride and there was a shuttle waiting for us to board, no line to get on at that time. We noticed driving up that there were a lot of shuttles going up and down the Bear Lake Road, which is good since they are limiting the number of people boarding the shuttle bus right now. Everybody on the bus was scattered around and all had a mask on as a preventive measure against covid.

Glacier Gorge Trailhead

It did not take us long to get to our destination, it would have been better if we had just committed to using the shuttle in the first place. We were the only ones to de-bus at the Glacier Gorge Trailhead, everybody else was heading up to Bear Lake. We left our masks on thinking that the trailhead might be crowded, but a Park volunteer and another couple were the only ones there. I didn’t check, but I believe the restrooms were open.

Glacier Gorge Trail to Alberta Falls, Mills Lake

It was a glorious spring day in the Rockies and I loved seeing the chartreuse colored aspens leafing out and lining the trail. Once we got on the trail, I was curious to see how people were dealing with the whole mask thing. Hiking on a trail would be considered a very low risk activity with lots of air flow and only very brief encounters with others passing by.

#RecreateResponsibly, a coalition of nonprofits (such as Outdoor Alliance), recreation businesses and agencies, have laid out six guidelines to follow while out and about recreating. They promote “practice physical distancing and be prepared to cover you nose and mouth” (they also recommend recreating close to home). So we kept our masks handy, especially in this first mile to Alberta Falls as there can be a lot of foot traffic in this stretch.

What we found is that most everybody was attempting to keep a physical distance when passing on the trail. Many did have some sort of neck gator or bandana around the neck and were prepared to raise them as a mask, although most did not do that, and we quickly followed the practice feeling comfortable in our setting. We did occasionally encounter those that did raise their mask as they approached us and, in that case, we did also. It felt more like like a friendly gesture in passing. It reminded me of the movie A Knights Tale when two jousters preparing to joust with their protective head gear on would lift their lances in a friendly exchange as the past each other.

Alberta Falls

We did don our masks for traveling through the Alberta Falls section as this is often a congested area with many people milling about. I did feel a little out of place with my more hospital style mask and felt I should find something that fit more with hiking in nature. I have seen that the Rocky Mountain Conservancy is offering a decorative Rocky Mountain 

National Park mask ($9.99, $8.49 for members). Wearing that mask would be a way to stay safe and look good, while also supporting Rocky!

​The trail to Alberta Falls was covered by some snow, but it was easy enough to divert around and I can imagine most of that snow is gone by now, the snow is melting fast! Alberta Falls was flowing very full with snow melt. But once past Alberta Falls, we encountered more snow on the trail and occasionally we had to pause to let someone cross on the narrow packed snow trails, or they waited for us, everyone making an effort to social distance, or when that wasn't possible, turning away while someone passed. Though it seemed unfriendly, usually the other person said thanks, acknowledging the effort. ​

While we hiked, I was able to try out a new app called GPSMyHike, soon to be released. It’s an app developed by Rocky Mountain Day Hikes and this was the first time I was able to try it out.

The app has all 60 trails listed on the rockymountaindayhikes.com website for Rocky Mountain National Park. You select a trail and, while you still have internet service, before you enter the National Park, you can download the trail map onto your phone. Then, while you are hiking, a GPS signal will show you where you are on the trail. You don’t need internet service for a GPS signal. Many people are already using their phone as a pocket camera. Now you can also have your trail map on your phone with a GPS signal to let you know where you are. You can even take a screen shot of the map to remind you where a photo was taken!

It wasn’t until after we passed the trail cutoff for The Loch Vale that we found sections of the trail mostly covered with considerable snow, and the snow was slippery and softening. On one steeper section of the trail, we stepped aside for a mother with a young child on her back in a kid pack while holding the hand of another chid that was slipping down the slope. I commended her on her ability to stay up right! She was followed by an elderly couple that was very glad to have spikes strapped onto their shoes. The husband commented on how glorious it was at the lake with the mountains all around. They were enjoying their day in the mountains.

But most of the snow on the final approach to the lake had melted away and I stopped to set up a photograph of the lake and the surrounding mountains. While I was busy doing that, a Golden Mantle ground squirrel (they look like a chipmunk but are larger) climbed up on a rock to watch me. I didn’t even know it was there and I had put my camera away and my hiking partner pointed it out. That little guy waited while I pulled my camera back out to take a picture. Thanks little guy! I'm sure he wanted to be paid for his pose, but no such luck from me!

The Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel

​Finally, we made it to the lake and there were all kinds of terrific large, sunny flat rocks to have a picnic by this spectacular mountain lake. It was great to be back in the Park!!

Mills Lake