West side RMNP suggestions

[wncpisgah]

Looking for suggestions for any must-do dayhikes on the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park. My wife and I will be in Grand Lake for a couple days and have Fri, Nov 13 and Sat, Nov 14 wide open for 2 different hikes. I was planning on keeping the hikes to RMNP to avoid any conflict on the last weekend of deer/elk season. With Trail Ridge Rd closed at the Colorado River TH, we're obviously limited to the trailheads we can reach.

Here's what we are looking for:
- Up to 15 miles each day
- Want to steer clear of any potential avy terrain. We will not have crampons/ax, so don't plan on doing anything too terribly icy/steep anyways. Will have snowshoes if conditions permit.
- Want one of the hikes to be down near the Never Summer Range (e.g., Thunder Pass, Skeleton Gulch, Lake of the Clouds, etc.). Not sure if the last part of Lake of the Clouds would be avy safe though.
- The hikes don't have to be summit hikes. Just looking for long hikes that enable us to enjoy the scenery.

Given these criteria, let me know if there are any "can't miss" hikes that you would recommend. Thanks!

[mike_kadow]

RMNPforums.com is loaded with info if no one here has suggestions off the top of their head.

Plus, the folks their are friendly enough that if you copy and pasted what you typed here, you'd be sure to have a number of responses within hours (if you didn't want to search around the site).

-Mike

[adriang]

Lake of the Clouds is beautiful, but the push up to the lake from Hitchens Gulch would probably be prime avalanche territory. I made it up there in the middle of the summer to get to Howard and Cirrus and remember it being surprisingly steep to get up to the Lake.

If 15 miles is your max roundtrip then I would highly recommend a hike up to Lake Verna. I caught a decent shot of the sunset that you can see here... http://garrettadrianphoto.com/colorado061.html although the better views are up the valley towards Mount Alice and Boulder Grand Pass. I'm pretty sure it's about 7 miles up to the lake so it should be within your length. If you're not quite as bold you could stop at Lone Pine Lake, which is probably a mile closer to the TH (I think the trail is east inlet trail).

If you want to be really adventurous go to Lake Nanita via the North Inlet trail. It's probably the prettiest lake in the park with the cliffs Ptarmigan Peak rising straight up from the lake http://garrettadrianphoto.com/coloradow037.html. I think that one is 10 miles from the TH though so it might be out of your range for the day. It's a really easy hike though. We camped at Porcupine, which is over 7 miles in and I think I made it there in just over 2 hours.

You could also walk along the Grand Ditch Trail. It's almost completely flat and offers great views of the western part of the Never Summers. No avalanche danger there. And, my final suggestion before I ramble on too incredibly long would be to go to the American Lakes from Cameron Pass (it's not in the park, I know). You could even try an ascent up Lulu Mountain. I haven't done it myself but this is a highly recommened hike by my aging old papa

Enjoy the western side of the park. It's probably my favorite area of RMNP since it is not crawling with people. Take a picture for me as I am now officially moved out of Colorado to Iowa

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http://www.garrettadrianphoto.com/blog/

[Kane]

I would expect some snow on this side of the range but not as much as the east side. However the east side gets tracked up and the west side will leave you to do the trackin. I would bring snowshoes. Twin Peaks, Mount Adams, Watanga, Hiamovi, and Irving Hale go without avy danger, especially now. If I were you, I would do a hike up Irving Hale, great views and the option to keep going to Hiamovi Mountain. I would like to photograph a sunset from Irving Hale, the view into the Lone Eagle Cirque is outstanding.

Here's a link to my SP page for hiamovi. I've added Irving hale to this page too.

Have Fun!!!

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[wncpisgah]

Thanks for the suggestions so far. We had initially considered Hiamovi and other hikes in Indian Peaks Wilderness, but decided against it since it will be the last weekend of elk/deer season. Figured we could easily be hunter-free staying inside RMNP. Are there typically a lot of hunters in the west side of IPW near Grand Lake? We would certainly reconsider doing something there if hunters will generally be a non-issue.

[Tory Wells]

Not in RMNP but very close is the hike to Lone Eagle Cirque, one of the best shorter hikes in the state. It is a magical area and better than anything you'll find in the park. Here's my TR and another:
http://www.14ers.com/php14ers/triprepor ... m=tripuser
http://mycolorado.org/images/trips/lone ... eagle.html