Rocky Mountain National Park - Hiking

[EIClone]

We are going at the beginning of October. (8-11th) Went last year at the same time. Great Elk watching during that time. Last year Trail Ridge Rd was closed by then at Rainbow Curve. We had light snow multiple mornings. That makes for great morning pictures during hikes. The weather changes very quickly in October out there. Be prepared for cold and warm in the same day.

We are early hikers. (start at 6 or 7am) and watch wildlife in the evening. Usually less crowds and easier to park.

The stores and restaurants close earlier in October. There is not as much help and less crowds in town. Not sure how covid will affect that this year.

 

[EIClone]

Thanks for the update, we are heading out the first week of October. Never been there in the fall and looking forward to the leaves changing. Since we probably won't be watching football, I don't mind heading there in October.

The Aspens are nice at that time of year. The road along Alluvial fails has quite a few.

 

[Remo Gaggi]

We are going at the beginning of October. (8-11th) Went last year at the same time. Great Elk watching during that time. Last year Trail Ridge Rd was closed by then at Rainbow Curve. We had light snow multiple mornings. That makes for great morning pictures during hikes. The weather changes very quickly in October out there. Be prepared for cold and warm in the same day.

We are early hikers. (start at 6 or 7am) and watch wildlife in the evening. Usually less crowds and easier to park.

The stores and restaurants close earlier in October. There is not as much help and less crowds in town. Not sure how covid will affect that this year.

Thanks for the info, we decided that we would eat at our cabin this year, will bring out steaks and chops from Fairway and grill on the deck.

 

[madguy30]

Got back from Estes late last night. Few thoughts for those still going out there:

- similar to what others reported, masks are required pretty much everywhere you go. You will need them.

- didn’t eat out much at all and brought our own food but that food truck called “Rations” is very good.

- did some fishing for the first time out there. That is a treat. Never did that before.

- many wear masks on the trails but some don’t. It’s not required while hiking but busier ones you will see a lot of people getting off the trail and letting you go by and are very mindful of social distancing.

- Fall River road didn’t open until Saturday because of trees they had to move off the road.

- All trails are good and ranking them is extremely subjective in my mind. That said Gem lake is a nice little hike with some good elevation gain and it’s trailhead is really accessible. I hadn’t done that one before. I probably wouldn’t strongly recommend that one though. I find hikes down at wild basin and the ones to mills lake or the loch a little more beautiful. But you have to coordinate parking and things with those.

- I heard in town from locals that there are about half as many people doing business as normal. HOWEVER, bear lake parking lot was full most days way earlier than normal. Like 9AM at the latest some days. So if you don’t want to use the shuttle and deal with that, get there really early.

- we did the black lake hike for the first time. I would strongly recommend that one. Absolutely stunning. There was some snow to hike up at the end but wasn’t too sketchy.

- Hikes to peaks still have a little snow on them due to late snow out there but I’m guessing that won’t last much longer. I was told to take micro spikes up to black lake by a ranger but didn’t end up needing them.

- if you haven’t used the wilderness office for the most up to date trail information, you should. It’s back behind the beaver meadows visitor center. Just walk up there and ask them where it is and they will tell you. Got lots of good info there.

See any fish?

Also did they use machines to remove the trees that you know of?

In WY two years ago out in the Bighorns there were trees down in spots from tornados and the rangers had to remove them with a hatchet as chainsaws weren't allowed due to forest rules.

 

[JM4CY]

See any fish?

Also did they use machines to remove the trees that you know of?

In WY two years ago out in the Bighorns there were trees down in spots from tornados and the rangers had to remove them with a hatchet as chainsaws weren't allowed due to forest rules.

My 5 yr old boy caught several rainbows. You would of thought he just caught Jaws he was so pumped. I’m glad I brought his pole. As a kid you don’t need a license in the park... or atleast that’s what I was told and didn’t get caught. We put them all back

I don’t know but that’s a good question

 

[Cybball37]

We just got back from there Friday. Awesome week. Agree on all of the above. We did takeout BBQ from Smokin Davies. Was worth it for sure as we kept driving past there on the way to the park on 36 and it smelled fantastic.
We did the Bear Lake parking and got there at 7. Parked at Glacier gorge another day around 9, but that was sheer luck as someone was leaving and we got the spot. I seriously love it out there.

 

[JH4ISU]

For those that recently came back from visiting - do you happen to know how the reservation works if you will arrive after 5 pm? Do you not need a reservation, or is no one allowed in after 5? I've had a tough time figuring this out on the NPS site.

We are thinking about working a week out there since we're remote anyway, hitting some short trails in the evenings, but that won't work too well if we can't enter after 5 pm.

 

[becrisgreg]

RMNP on fire today, both sides of the divide.

The East Troublesome Fire grow over 100k acres yesterday on the west side and is now over the top burning towards Estes. Heroic firefighting efforts in and around Grand Lake seem to have saved many of the homes and the main town itself. However continued high winds (including a change in direction) from the passing of a cold front will make this an ongoing battle for the next couple of days until snow is forecasted for Sunday.

The park is completely closed and Estes is being evacuated.

 

[heitclone]

This was 2pm this afternoon in Estes

 

[ISUAgronomist]

RMNP on fire today, both sides of the divide.

The East Troublesome Fire grow over 100k acres yesterday on the west side and is now over the top burning towards Estes. Heroic firefighting efforts in and around Grand Lake seem to have saved many of the homes and the main town itself. However continued high winds (including a change in direction) from the passing of a cold front will make this an ongoing battle for the next couple of days until snow is forecasted for Sunday.

The park is completely closed and Estes is being evacuated.

Damn. Hopefully they can keep it contained into RMNP. Save the town, rural homes, and YMCA of the Rockies properties.

 

[abcguyks]

This was 2pm this afternoon in Estes


View attachment 76881

Outbound direction in gridlock while inbound lanes empty. If it looks that bad to the east, I'm wondering how bad is to the west.

 

[JM4CY]

This was 2pm this afternoon in Estes


View attachment 76881

F*ck 2020

 

[CycloneJoe6]

My fiance and I are supposed to go on a trip to the Breckenridge area next week

 

[AuH2O]

This was 2pm this afternoon in Estes


View attachment 76881

Man, that is frightening. I'm guessing that's taken from the west end of town on the Bus 34? Now that would be a scary thing being stuck in traffic like that. It's not like you're leaving some Iowa town and you just head out a different way, you only have 34 and 36.

Lived in Co Springs for a few years and managed to avoid any forest fires during that time. Shortly after leaving there was a nearby fire and maybe the following spring some massive floods that were pushing cars down the street in Manitou Springs.

Forest fires absolutely terrify me. Probably the only thing that makes me think twice about retiring in CO!

I now see that although it seems like there is a threat of fires getting close to 34 by Drake and 36 by Lyons. Seems like they will stay far enough away until evacuation happens, but extremely scary to think that the two routes out of town to the east are going to also have fires getting close. Having to evacuate is bad enough. Evacuation with some risk of your two routes dangerously close to fires is really scary.

 

[CSnyder]

Have a trip planned for my girlfriend and I to stay at Murphy's Resort in Estes Park mid-November. This is sad to see. Bring on the snow, and plenty of it!

 

[cyclonesurveyor]

The sky is reddish with ash falling in Fort Collins again. Its very eery.

 

[psychlone99]

My family actually stayed in Estes Park and hiked RMNP last Thursday/Friday. We left in the middle of the night when I started hearing 70 mph winds hammering the north exterior wall of our hotel. We were planning to leave Saturday morning, but I started getting nervous they were going to evacuate the next day, so I said "Nah, screw this. Let's hit the road." Drove 11 hours straight back home on 2 hours sleep.

It was pretty thick smoke while we were there. You could see the red glow to the north at night, and see the firefighting planes going in and out of the smoke clouds when they weren't grounded due to wind. Kinda surreal for a native Iowan.

 

[PSYclone22]

 

[enisthemenace]

Man, that is frightening. I'm guessing that's taken from the west end of town on the Bus 34? Now that would be a scary thing being stuck in traffic like that. It's not like you're leaving some Iowa town and you just head out a different way, you only have 34 and 36.

Lived in Co Springs for a few years and managed to avoid any forest fires during that time. Shortly after leaving there was a nearby fire and maybe the following spring some massive floods that were pushing cars down the street in Manitou Springs.

Forest fires absolutely terrify me. Probably the only thing that makes me think twice about retiring in CO!

I now see that although it seems like there is a threat of fires getting close to 34 by Drake and 36 by Lyons. Seems like they will stay far enough away until evacuation happens, but extremely scary to think that the two routes out of town to the east are going to also have fires getting close. Having to evacuate is bad enough. Evacuation with some risk of your two routes dangerously close to fires is really scary.

No joke! That is a beautiful drive most of the time. Would be terribly scary under these conditions. As you said...literally no place to go.

 

[SpokaneCY]

My fiance and I are supposed to go on a trip to the Breckenridge area next week

Was in Steamboat a few weeks ago and drove thru Breck... It was really smoky but completely safe...