7/2/97 - Bierstadt Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

Class 1 Hiking, Elevation at Bierstadt, 9416 ft (255' gain); 3.0 miles total

Hikers:

• Bobbea Molloy, Estes Park, Colorado
• Mike Molloy, Estes Park, Colorado

We decided to do an easy hike to Bierstadt Lake from Bear Lake. Instead of returning to Bear, we would go to the Bierstadt Lake trailhead where we left our car (we took a Park shuttle bus to Bear).

The weather was very nice, not too warm, not too cool, around 70 degrees. There were a few mosquitoes out, but they didn’t bother us too much if we kept moving.

When we arrived at the trailhead we saw a mule deer doe sort of trapped between the cars in the parking lot and Bear Lake Road. She didn’t seem to feel comfortable coming up in between cars to escape to the woods above us.

We hiked the pleasant up and down trail to Bierstadt, stopping often to enjoy the views and the solitude of the trail. This is a relatively uncrowded trail, especially on a weekday late afternoon.

We arrived at Bierstadt, took a few pictures and just sat and enjoyed the views of Longs Peak all the way to Hallett Peak. The lake was pretty calm, though not quite mirror-like.

While eating a Clif Bar and drinking some water, we somehow attracted the attention of a mother duck and 5 active ducklings. They swam over to us enthusiastically and after fearlessly checking us out (coming within 3 or 4 feet of us), they discovered we wouldn’t feed them. After that, they went back to work, diving into the clear lake water for whatever it is they dive for (bugs?).

The ducklings often went very far away from their mother, who seemed unconcerned. They were cute and a lot of fun to watch.

Soon we noticed a mule deer doe, conceivably the same one we saw at the trailhead (the trailhead was only about .5 mile "as the crow flies" ("as the deer walks?") downhill from the lake. She grazed along the edge of the lake, eventually working her way over to within 50 feet or so from where we were sitting.

I forgot to check the batteries in the camera before we left, so we ended up not getting any pictures of the ducks and deer.

After another 15 or 20 minutes, we headed around the northeast end of the lake and then down the fairly steep switchbacks on the side of Bierstadt Moraine. We stopped often to look at and identify many varieties of wildflowers and to take in the stunning, almost dizzying views of Longs, Glacier Gorge, and the other mountains in the Park.

Soon we reached the trailhead and our car. Excellent hike!

A mule deer we saw at the trailhead parking lot.

Bobbea with Bierstadt Lake in the background.

Longs Peak is in the upper left.

Mike at Bierstadt Lake.