Hallett Peak

Hike Name: Hallett Peak Location: central CO Length: 10 Submitted by: David Bard Date Submitted: 0/0/00 Rating:	more Colorado trail reviews Colorado national parks Colorado state parks
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Description
The Hallett Peak trail takes you through 3 climate zones, and into the clouds themselves. At nearly 13,000, we were truly on top of the world. The first section of the hike skirts the north shore of Bear Lake. This part of the hike is pretty crowded -- especially on weekends, so head out early for the Bear Lake trailhead. Once through the first third of a mile or so though, the crowds thin and you're left to enjoy the aspen groves pretty much to yourselves. The aspen give way to towering fir and spruce. Here, the tril meanders through the forest and is ringed by bearberry, grouseberry, and hollygrape. Soon though, this disappears, and a deep gorge appears beside the trail. Huge stones line the bed like massive cobbles. And then... what every hike dreads the most appeared -- switchbacks! Crossing a good half-mile or more of them, soon we were catapulted into a clearing. Unexpectedly, we looked stright down -- into Dream Lake a thousand feet below! Hallett stood behind, its tilted head appearing distant. The path continued upward through a subalpine wonderland. Trees grew low to the ground, bend and twisted by the wind. Not much below timberline, and we came upon the Emerald lake overlook. At 1300 feet below us, the lake certainly did appear as its glimmering namesake. Soon, the trees vanish and we sucked at the cold air nipping at our bare legs. Crossing one of the remaining snowfields -- even in July -- and cresting a rise, we reached the still rising summit of Flattop Mountain. Flattop is a good place for lunch, so we dropped our packs and inhaled our fruit and sandwiches. The view from our stone couch was beautiful, nearly 360 degrees of towering, snowcovered peaks. Yet, there was still a short way to go. So, shouldering our gear, we headed up the boulder-strewn side of Hallett Peak. There is no trail through the sharp, jagged boulders, so one is left to pick the "best" route possible. Often, this means a zig-zagging approach. There are a few cairns left behind by well-meaning hikers, but these are too often no better than other ways less well defined. So, choose wisely. Looking up the side of the Peak is a little imposing. The slope is probably 45 degrees. It is also defined by tiers, or levels. Upon reaching one level, you cannot see the top of the next until you're right upon it. Luckily, there are only about five levels to ascend. As it was, I was over the top of the last tier before i even knew I had reached the summit! But once there, you have a view fit for a king! A truly panoramic view from atop the world. It's a wonderland, where lakes glimmer in the distance below you, and white, puffy clouds float by on invisable currents of air. To the southeast is legendary Longs Peak, reaching 14,256 feet into the sky, flanked by the soaring buttresses of Keyboards of the winds. You can even look south and see Pikes Peak! It's good to linger, but start early and be up on top early, as afternoon thunderstorms are almost a guarantee in the afternoons. We knew it was time to leave when the clouds crawled up Tindell Glacier beside us, and covered the peak, and us in a cool, damp blanket. Th temperature dropped at least 15 degrees in as many minutes -- out came the jackets -- and in 20 mnutes, our view had vanished completely; we couldn't see any further than the edge of the Peak we stood upon.
So, down we went, ahead of the rain and thunder, grinning like school-kids at our experience. We departed the same way we arrived, taking new memories home to keep us going until the next hike -- wherever that may be!

Directions to Hike
Once in Rocky Mountain national Park, take Bear Lake road south from the Beaver Meadows entrance for 9 miles. If you arrive at the lot too late and it is full, backtrack a bit. 4.8 miles before the main Bear lake lot, you'll find shuttle bus lot. Park there and take the shuttle to the trailhead -- it's free.

Contact Information
Rocky Mountain National Park:
970-586-1206

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