Rocky Mountain National Park

May 23–24

My best friend and I started our national park hiking trip at Rocky Mountain national park. We did two different trails, Lulu City and Sky Pond. These both where about 8 miles long but Sky pond was by far my favorite hike just because it was an easier trail to follow with a clear path. Lulu City had 92 trees in the trail that we had to hike over and go around (yes I did count them).This made it not as enjoyable for hiking. We followed along a riverbank for most of the way but there was not really a good end point of the trial, it was just an opening spot. Lulu City was a historic site, built in 1879 during the time of colorado’s silver and gold mining days. The city was a couple little log cabins built around a flowing river. The man who discovered and built this little town in 1879, named it after his daughter Lulu which is how the city got it’s name. On this trail we got to see a cow moose and a herd of mountain goat. This was really amazing because they got really close to us and we where able to see how beautiful these animals really are. On the way up to sky pond we stopped at Alberta Falls and Glass Lake. The fast-rushing water at the falls was so strong from the snow melting at the tip of the mountains. Once we got to glass lake, we stopped and took some breath-taking photos. Just like the name, the water was like glass. It was reflective but yet you got to see the trout swimming within the clear water. From there you made the rest of the hike up to Sky Pond. From Glass lake to Sky Pond, it was covered in icy snow and by the end there was a very steep incline. This incline with the snow made it very difficult to climb up the rest of the way but once you were there, you could see for miles. During the break at the top, we shared the company of an otter. On the way up you could see where he would spend some of his time playing by sliding down an otter trail on the side of the mountain on his belly. This was such an amazing hike we ended up gaining 1707 feet of elevation. Overall, Rocky Mountain National Park was great park and would love to go back once the west side of the park recovers from the fires, they had this past year.

Glass Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park.