Bluebird Lake, RMNP [AAW15]
Wild Basin is in the southern part of Rocky Mountain National Park. It is less developed than other parts of the park and is popular enough that early morning arrival is necessary in the peak summer months of you want a parking space. We did this walk on July 2, 2014. Our 06:00 arrival assured us a parking place. Our destination is Bluebird Lake.
The first few miles of the trail weaves along the creek in the trees. The trail is wide, rocky and dusty - this section takes the brunt of the visitors. We take the Bluebird Lake route and the trail narrows and soon begins to climb a bit. We come out of the trees along the crest of a lateral moraine and suddenly the view opens up. This is what we were after.
Bluebird Lake trail along a moraine crest.
Some beetle kill was evident all along the trail and up here too. The only consolation is that the views will become even more dramatic as the majority of the trees die off during this beetle infestation.
Thunder Lake Basin from the Bluebird Lake Trail
Longs Peak is visible just over the ridge to the north. Mount Meeker, to the right, is a bit more visible.
Longs Peak and Mount Meeker from the Bluebird Lake trail
The moraine joins the bedrock edge of the cirque and we steadily climb into alpine lake country. Water and rock give me a clean primeval feeling. The basic constituents. At least from the big picture view. Of course there is plenty of plant life, soil, and other distractions. But today I'm after water and rock. Bluebird Lake does not disappoint.
The trail gets even more interesting as we approach the lake. It is covered in a steep and slick snowfield. We circle around and find a route a bit less steep with sections across bedrock and come up over the last rise to Bluebird Lake. The panorama is one of the better reveals in the park.
After about 6 miles and 2,500 feet of elevation gain, it's time for peanut butter sandwiches, water and some serious landscape study. There are 5 people up here today. Two in our party and three in another party down along the lake shore. A nice breeze evaporates the sweat and the sun is intense. The fair-weather puffy clouds are slowly moving by and the lake is almost smooth. Only slight ruffling from the breeze.
Further up the cirque are Dark Pond and Pipit Lake. Junco Lake is located up a tributary to the south. Mount Copeland is a 13,176-ft peak located immediately south of the lake. No one up there today - at least as far as I can see. There are a couple of backcountry campsites nearby and I will have to get back here a spend a couple of days. There are lots of possibilities.
The beauty of being on foot is that an area of just a few square miles becomes a vast playground. The world gets bigger the slower you move. And I move pretty slow.
As always, the return trip looms. It is mostly downhill. The knees get a workout as the lungs get a rest. It gets warmer as we go. Sweaters are stuffed in packs, zip-off long pants are converted to shorts. More sunscreen is applied. I am developing what a friend-of-a-friend calls hiker stratigraphy on my skin. A layer of sunscreen, a layer of dust, a layer of sweat evidence by white crusty dried salts and repeat as necessary. Luckily the mosquitos have not been a nuisance today so I did not need to add a layer or two of DEET to the stack. We see only a couple of other hikers until we get within a couple of miles of the parking lot. The dusty wide trail again and probably 75-100 people in the last mile. When we get back it is mid afternoon and the sun is hot, we are dusty and dry. Luckily, there is cold liquid refreshment securely stored in the vehicle. Another fitting ending to another typically spectacular day on the trail.