Accomplished. We stopped, breathless, both because of the steep hike and the beauty of the lake that spread out before us. It didn't take us long to climb a boulder and perch atop it, gazing at The Loch that reached toward the gap in the mountains we were hiking to. Torrey and I were on our first full day in Rocky Mountain National Park, and we had an ambitious hike planned for the day: Andrew's Glacier, more than eight miles round trip with a hefty elevation gain to boot. We had left our campsite in the pre-dawn light and started from the trailhead at sunrise, almost constantly hiking uphill. We hiked fairly slowly, allowing our legs and lungs to get used to the altitude and the pitch of the trail, though it still wasn't easy for us flatlanders (with me living only just above sea level) and we (mostly I) had to rest often. We spent quite some time at The Loch, following the trail halfway around along the shore of the lake, pausing to scramble up boulders for an overview or down to soggy meadows near the water's edge to look for fish. Eventually, reluctantly, we moved on, knowing even bigger rewards were waiting for us at trail's end.
The path didn't become easier once we passed The Loch. As a matter of fact, it became narrower, though still well marked, and it was clear that a lot of the traffic turned around at the small lake. Not long after the lake we came to the final fork in the trail where the left hand branch would take us to Timberline Falls, Lake of Glass and beyond to Sky Pond, and the right branch to Andrew's Creek Backcountry Campsite, Andrew's Creek, and Andrew's Glacier. We turned right and climbed. The trail became, if possible, even more narrow and in some places hard to follow. Only a short way beyond the backcountry campsite (where I will camp someday) we came across our first pile of bear poop, and I was grateful for the bear spray at my hip. Though not fresh, it was a pointed reminder that we were far from civilization and we needed to take care of ourselves. Of course, knowing that is one thing and doing it quite another given that from there the trail led us above treeline and almost exclusively along loose scree and talus where we had to pick our way carefully so as not to lose the trail or break a leg. Not to mention breathing got just a little bit harder as we gained altitude and exerted effort to climb the loose rocks.
Our effort and the hour it took us to climb the last ridge of scree was well worth the reward once we reached the top. Andrew's Tarn stretched from almost the lip of the moraine right where we crested all the way back to the namesake glacier, blindingly bright in the midday sun. A small creek ran out of the tarn and tumbled over the moraine, giving life to Andrew's Creek in the forest below. And the colors!! I thought I was prepared for the gorgeous colors of a glacier and its lake, but I was so very wrong. I have never seen such a beautiful, unique shade of turquoise in my life. From one side of the lake it was more blue, from another more green, and from above something else entirely. And the glacier! The picture above does it absolutely no justice. It was so much bigger in person, and yet somehow it was smaller than I'd hoped. I guess years of below-average snowfall and above-average summer temperatures have taken their toll. Torrey and I were also treated to the squeaks and cries of pikas, and watched fat marmots waddle among the alpine rocks with a nimble grace that I was envious of. When we'd snacked and rested our weary legs we picked our way around the tarn towards the glacier, intent on checking off another bucketlist item by touching a glacier.
After our photo-op and a quick walk on the glacier, we prepared to head down. We weren't really looking forward to the scramble down the loose scree, and ended up accidentally taking a false trail that necessitated a couple of creek crossings that were way more difficult than they should have been. We eventually got back on track though, just in time to look over our shoulder and see clouds building above the mountain pass we had just descended. We hurried back to treeline, and ducked into the forest with a bit of relief at being off of the loose rocks and not so exposed. Following the trail lower, we soon came to the fork for Timberline Falls and Sky Pond and held a debate about pushing our limits and just going for it, even if it rained, or having the sense to call it a day and head off the mountain. Our egos won and we turned down the path for the falls, even as we felt the first sprinkles from the sky.
The hike to Timberline falls actually wasn't too bad until the final approach to the falls, where the trail got really steep and really crowded. Obviously the more popular of the trails in the area, the trail to the falls was choked with people and we often had to wait for lines of hikers to pass on their way down while we climbed up. To be honest, I didn't mind the breaks; I could catch my breath. Then we got to the falls themselves, and I didn't need the rest. Our path lay ahead, and you had to climb up the falls in order to proceed. We got in line and took turns climbing up with those climbing down from the lake above, being very cautious about where we put our hands and feet on the slick, wet rocks. We made it up though, and The Lake of Glass stretched out before us almost to the back cirque of the mountains, and it looked angry. The storm we had been watching finally arrived, and we sheltered under an overhanging boulder as we packed our cameras and phones into waterproof pockets while debating the merits of continuing on to Sky Pond, or finally calling it a day and heading back down, knowing full well we still had miles to go before we got back to the car. In the end, we headed down, leaving Sky Pond for another day. Resigned to being wet, we downclimbed the even more slippery falls and trudged back into the rain-soaked forest, now thinking of dry clothes and the warm car, with the fact that we had hiked to and touched a glacier earlier that day blazing in our chests.
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