In July of 2012 I took a backpacking trip to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. We put in at the North Inlet near Grand Lake and spent a few days hiking up to Flat Top Mountain and Hallett Peak near Tyndall Glacier. As always clicking on a thumbnail will bring up a larger version of the picture.
After a break at the Cascade Falls our first campsite was near
the Big Pool. Along the way we saw a Yellow Bellied Marmot
working on its tan and shortly after we started getting our
campsite organized we were visited by a Red Fox who was either
there to check our permits or perhaps to remind us that bears
weren't the only things that would be looking for our food.
Speaking of bears, at the Big Pool campsite we saw a clear
example of how not to protect your food from bears.
Since I'm quite lazy and the rangers regularly give
out $600 fines for such things I almost always just
use bear vaults, which are just big bear-proof containers
you put some distance from your tent.
I'd heard the bears don't usually even mess with them
once they figure
out they can't get it open, but later in the week a
fellow in a neighboring campsite found his bear vault
had been scratched up and batted down the hill.
We spent the remaining nights at the July campsite below
Flattop mountain. Its a nice campsite with nice views
and a number of animals - including Least Chipmunks,
Mule Deer, and Pika (who are closely related to Rabbits.)
One of the nice views above the July Campsite was of a
mountain stream fed from the remaining snow pack. Before
we even got our packs off Warren started talking about
following the stream up to the snow pack, and since I'm
a moron I said I'd go along with him. Like many of
our
hikes it was scenic and enjoyable, unlike a lot of our
hikes it passed without incident.
The next day we hiked up to Flattop Mountain the easy way,
seeing a number of Elk and Ground Squirrels along the way.
We also met Mike's friend De who parked at Bear Lake
and did a day hike up to meet us - and since he is awesome
he brought up sub sandwiches and plums for all of us.
Once refueled we hiked a little further past
Tyndall Glacier and up to the top of Hallett Peak
(12713 feet).
Last Updated: 1/27/2013 - Anthony Anderberg - ant@anderbergfamily.net