Sky Pond

I hiked to Sky Pond in Rocky Mountain National Park earlier this week. The lake lies at the foot of the Sharksteeth, some jagged mountains near the Continental Divide in Rocky Mountain National Park. Along the way, there are numerous waterfalls to see and a couple of beautiful lakes. The trail starts at the Glacier Gorge trailhead off the Bear Lake Road. I got to the trail at 6:30 so I was able to find parking in the small lot. The first big attraction on the trail is Alberta Falls. The sun was just peeking over the canyon rim at 7:00 so it was luckily still in shade. I snapped a quick photo and then headed up the trail about 1.2 miles to where it divides with the Mills Lake trail. I veered right toward the Loch. The trail climbs steeply up some switch backs before reaching the lake in about .7 of a mile. The Loch is a pretty lake which often has nice reflections on it. It also had some nice trout surfacing so wish I had had my pole with me. I hiked onward about a mile until I came to Timberline Falls. The last .5 mile of trail went up some steep rock stairs to reach the falls. I love Timberline Falls. It is one of the prettiest waterfalls in the park. I climbed down below the first part to take in the whole falls. What a scene with the pure blue sky behind it. I then had to scramble up the right side of the falls. This isn;t normally a hard scramble but the falls were high so I got a little wet navigating them this time around. Once over the falls, I took in the scene of Lake of Glass. With the breeze picking up, it didn’t have much of a reflection per its namesake, but it was still very scenic. I then climbed above the lake to the right up in the rocks and made it the last 1/2 mile to Sky Pond. There aren;t too many lakes prettier in Colorado, that’s for sure.