Friday, 20 July 2018
Today is our final day of hiking together. Six of us will be taking it easy, going only to the Loch. We will walk at a slower pace, the better to accommodate my still sore leg and the rest of this group’s desire for a leisurely walk and frequent rest stops. Since I have five other companions to hike with, O elects to go with the group of nine who will proceed at Rob’s fast pace, up the steeper fire trail, up the rocky waterfall and on to the alpine meadows and Sky Pond.
My group has a fine time. Even Evelyn and Larry are enjoying the hike. We stop frequently to rest, look at trees and wildflowers and admire the scenery. We arrive at the beautiful Loch around 11:30 and pick our way around the shore to a rocky promontory. Here we watch other hikers as they fly fish. Jim and I take our boots off, roll up our pants and bravely immerse our feet in the icy water whose source is the snowpack melt just above us. I manage to get my whole right leg in up to my knee. I figure the icy water should be therapeutic.
Far across the lake we can see climbers by the waterfall. We can’t quite make them out definitively, but we believe we see members of our group climbing the rocks. I take a series of photos, zooming in on the rocks, hoping to capture some of the group as they climb. Dave, another of our group, has a huge telephoto lens with him. He also takes some shots.
At 12:15 we begin our hike back to the shuttle stop. Rob is expecting his group to get down by about 3:30 and we want to get a head start. By 2:30 we are back to the trailhead waiting for the rest of the group. We have hiked just over 6 miles. The hike turned out to be a bit longer than anticipated, as we had not accounted for the fact that we did not take the fire trail shortcut. By 3:45 we are taking bets as to when the rest of the group will actually arrive.
O meanwhile, hikes up the fire trail, around the Loch and up to the base of the falls. There are many steep steps going up. Rob and John coach the group up the rocks beside the waterfall. Rob is in the middle of the tumble of rocks and John is at the top. Half way up the climbers side step across a ledge. They reach for a handhold that is out of sight and pull and push themselves over the top. Once up the ledges there is a hike through a lush alpine meadow to Sky Pond. Here they rest and eat lunch, then retrace their steps to the waterfall. There is some tricky maneuvering to climb back down the rocks. Before descending further, the group walks over to the base of the waterfall. It is quite impressive and the pounding torrent is backlit by the sun.
From here, the hike down is fairly routine, except for a brief stop at the Loch where one of the backpacks is raided by a hungry marmot. The group of nine finally arrives back at the shuttle stop just before 4:30. We return to the lodge, make ourselves presentable and head to Estes Park for our last dinner together.