Colorado vacation suggestions (late July)

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1) What are the best alpine lake hikes in Rocky Mountain National Park?

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Bear to Nymph to Dream to Emerald is nice. It's also one of the most popular so get there early.

Whatever happened to milehigh?

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Are the Maroon Bells worth a 3 hour drive from Breckenridge?

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Maroon Bells are nice but not 3 hr drive nice. I used to ride my bicycle up there when I worked in Aspen one summer. It is a nice drive up through Leadville and over Independence pass to Aspen. Leadville is good for a couple of hours poking around and checking out Camp Hale, the WWII training base for the 10th Mountain Division Snow survival/ ski fighting troops. I did some design work years ago on restoring Camp Hale and creating interpretive exhibits but I don't think Congress ever funded it. I did get to meet a lot of the old guys who trained there and went on to establish ski mountains in Aspen, Vail and other places after the war.

Minturn Saloon in Minturn is a cool spot to have lunch.

Since I have to go see The Fray and Train in Denver for my wife's birthday, I think you should have to, too.

Tons of hiking around there...

1)Drive/hike up to Rollins Pass

2)If you're really adventurous hike up Byers Peak~12,800', beautiful, but exhausting...

3)Eat at Hecks Restaurant at Devils Thumb Ranch in Tabernash, the patio opens up to the Continental Divide

4)Drive Trail Ridge Road in RMNP

5)Do Long's Peak, or at least get to the boulderfield on the keyhole route

6)There's a brewery in Grand Lake last I checked, pretty good

7)Check and see if the Granby or Winter Park Rodeo is still going on. All the local wranglers from the ranches always enter.

8)RMNP- Stay away from the popular spots and just get into the wilderness, too many tourists go to one or two overcrowded spots

I worked at a ranch out in Granby for a summer back in college. It's beautiful out there.


ETA: If you're taking I-70 out there, you'll go across Berthoud Pass. You can hike from there to Colorado Mines Peak and blue lake to get a fantastic view of the divide.

venture out to the wild side -- check out the western slope. Its another world, but not for everybody

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within an hour of Grand Lake?

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I've stayed in Estes Park and hiked RMNP for more than 20 summers. Used to go every summer but not a lot in the last decade. First point - I don't think any east side hikes are within an hour of Grand Lake. Maybe barely. But I'd mostly stick to stuff on the west side of the divide.

Consider doing Mount Ida instead of Flattop/Hallets. That's a nice hike too but Ida is much closer, you start higher, the crowds are less, and the views are great too. Mt. Ypsilon is another great one that goes higher than Hallets but is probably a bit easier since you start higher, and it is closer to Grand Lake.

Start your hikes as early as you can. The number one reason is lightning and rain in the afternoon. It happens most days. We got stuck in a lightning storm on Mt. Ida because my brother's bitch of a wife refused to leave early for that one. Someone a few miles away was killed by lightning in that one. Seriously, get on the trail as early as you can. For Flattop/Hallets we used to start before sunrise and use flashlights.

Don't do any strenuous/long hikes for the first 3 days or so to give yourself time to get used to the altitude. Any hikes well above timberline ought to be at the end of the week.

Take rain gear, sunscreen, aspirin, and water (don't drink from the streams).

The drive over Trail Ridge Road is incredible. It's also long and slow and you will have to do it every time you hike east of the divide. The views are awesome, though, and I love making that drive.

Colorado in late July is heaven after a summer in the humid south.