RMNP Adventure Day 1: Sky Pond

Work travel has its benefits. Especially when it takes you to places like Denver, making the 70-mile drive northwest to Estes Park somewhat necessary if you're a hiking enthusiast like Bunny Foo Foo.

So off they ambled toward the park in their rented Yaris; a gas-sipping-four-banger. A surprising yet efficient mountain pass companion despite it's resemblance to a tin can with a set of tires stuck on for kicks and giggles. Shrouded in thick fog upon their arrival, the beauty and skyscraper heights of Estes Park, Colorado wouldn't be fully appreciated until later.

Much later.

Day 1: Starting at Bear Lake trail head (elevation 9,475'), their first destination was Sky Pond via the popular Alberta Falls, Loch Lake and the aptly named Lake of Glass. An easy hike in, the last little bit of their trek would require a scramble up and alongside a waterfall. It's always good to ask yourself before attempting such things, "Can I actually get down this craggy mess?" But logic and reason are usually cast aside when a couple hundred vertical feet is the only thing separating you from the top. In our case: Sky Pond's 10,893' view.

We lunched on the banks of Sky Pond amidst the clouds and every now again, the mountain would toss off her cloak and reward us with glimpses of her true beauty.

But alas, what goes up must come down. Our craggy mess was a puzzle to descend but we made it down without incident and eventually found our way back to our motel for showers and a fine dinner of buffalo meatloaf (for Bob) and trout (for Mama Foo). Bunny had cheesecake in a puddle of raspberry sauce.

Next up; Day 2: Nymph, Dream & Emerald Lakes.