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With the alarm set for 4:00 AM, Suzy and I left home at 5:00, Saturday, July 14th 2018, for a hike up to Timber lake on the west side of Mount Ida, on the Continental Divide, in Rocky Mountain National Park. With a stop for gas and another in Estes Park for a quick breakfast, it was just before 8:00 AM when we arrived at the trailhead. Two hours and 20 minutes up the trail, we were boldly approached by a Dusky Grouse that came right up onto the trail in front of us and stopped; so, not knowing what else to do, I took its picture.
The bird was acting a little odd and started pacing back and forth from the trail back to an area on our right, and we started to wonder if this was some kind of protective behavior. We looked around and spotted a chick up in a tree about 10 feet away. We took a few quick shots and then to ease the tension, we slowly started moving away up the trail.
With a little more distance between us, I stopped for one more shot of the chick before we completely left the area. This was a fun little encounter to start our day with.
We were barely 10 minutes away from our grouse, when we came into a little meadow and saw this moose cow grazing down the middle of a creek. We expected to see a calf somewhere in the area, but there didn’t seem to be one. We passed carefully anyway since it was only about 20 yards/meters off the trail and keeping a close eye on us.
It was 11:05 AM when we arrived at Timber Lake, and I took this shot while we decided which way to go around. We chose to start off along the left shoreline and walked about a quarter of the way around to a rock perfect for a lunch break.
After eating my lunch Cliff Bar, I took this shot looking up the slope at the southeast end of the lake. I would love to have hiked up that way for the view, but there’s only so much you can do in a day. At that moment, I was too busy relaxing, and Suzy was more interested in soaking her feet in the cool lake water.
We decided to make our way around the rest of the lake, but we had barely made it back up to the trees when we ran into another moose: one with a calf this time. We kept our distance while we took a few shots of the calf. We both noticed that it seemed to have a much lighter coat than one we had seen above Lost Lake a few years back.
After a minute or two, they walked from one patch of trees to another, and in the brief time they were in the open, I got a good shot of the calf. This was definitely a great wildlife viewing day!
With our tour of the lake complete, I grabbed a shot of the lake sign and we started the 5 mile hike back out. There were a few more clouds drifting around and we hoped even more would come in to keep the afternoon temperature down, since the forecast for the day was hot.
For some reason, I had neglected to get any pictures of this on our way up, but there are numerous signs posted along the lower trail warning of active landslide danger. Apparently, the area is somewhat unstable.
While I noticed an area or two where the slope seemed to have pulled apart a bit, this was the most obvious slide along the trail. After dropping into the little gully in front of Suzy in this shot, the faint new trail comes up from about 10 feet down (left) and picks though the fallen trees. This area is roughly 50 yards across and takes a little care to get through.
It was about 4:30 PM when we finally got back to the car. Our time out was 8 hours and 30 minutes, with a round trip distance of 10.8 miles, including the walk around the lake. We were only about 5 minutes from the trailhead when my first blister showed itself on my right heel. If you’re going to get one, I guess that’s the best time. With no reason to hurry, and all day Sunday to sleep in and relax, we detoured down to Grand Lake for dinner and a couple beers before heading home. As we rehydrated on the patio of wherever it was that we ate, Suzy suddenly started waving. Two women from Boulder that we had talked to on the trail coming out had also taken the detour for dinner and refreshments.
National Park Service - Climbing and Mountaineering in Rocky Mountain National Park
Rocky Mountain National Park: The High Peaks
U.S. National Parks Net - Rocky Mountain National Park Hiking Guide
