Sky Pond and Glacier Knobs.

I'd been wanting to go for something big this week, but when the suggestion of Sky Pond came up, a shorter day felt ok.  Plus I had two attempts and two failures at this body of water over the winter, and wanted to get to it quite badly.  

On my most recent attempt in early April, I encountered quite slushy snow conditions on the way back, and I remembered thinking, "This will be good to go in a week or two.  Unless it snows again."  And then we went on to have one the snowiest Aprils on record. 

Alberta Falls now melted out and spectacular. 

We encountered this guy and later a female around East Glacier Knob.  No calves were seen, but just keep your eyes open.  He did not want to give up the trail, but I found my deer removal technique (which is to skitter a rock along the ground in front of them) worked well here, despite my bad aim. 

Looking up to Loch Vale- similar view here in winter.

At The Loch.  The predominate rock face in the middle separates the way to Sky Pond (left) and the way to Andrews Glacier (right).

Here is Dan ascending the standard route, which had previously been buried in snow and had corniced snow atop it.  There is still some lingering snow and ice, and the waterfall has wet some of the rock as well, making things a bit slippery.  Use caution!
You circle around Glass Lake, hop a little talus, and then....

Powell Peak as seen from Sky Pond.  It was nice to finally be here after several attempts!

And I sighted the first Marmot of the year, and witnessed it apparently eating lichen off of some of the rocks in the area.  Either that, or they eat rocks.

Dan remarked that Powell Peak is the only peak on this region of the divide which he has not done yet.  Which means we will probably be on top of it soon.

Taylor Peak.

From looking at the zero feet of snow right next to it, this snowfield appeared to be about 12 feet deep. 

Glass Lake was quite pretty as well.

Back down to The Loch and beyond.
Dan had a big day on Sunday, ascending McHenrys Peak, one of the hardest in the park.  I had earlier suggested adding on Glacier Knobs since we go right by them and had talked about doing them at some point.  It was only now that he said yes.

Timberline Falls.
I have described how to find West Glacier Knob here.  It can be a bit tricky, as there are two high points in this area, and the western one of those looks like it is higher.  But West Glacier Knob is actually the eastern high point here.

Hopefully that explains it a little better.

A little guy came out to look at us longingly as we snacked. 

Back up to Loch Vale.

And into Glacier Gorge, Half Mountain and Storm Peak visible on the ridge line extending from Longs.
We got back down to the trail and continued down.  Shortly after reaching the fire trail, we started our ascent of East Glacier Knob. 

We ran into this cow Elk pretty close to where we saw the male.  We took cover behind a rock in case there was a baby around, but all she did was look at us.  We made our way through the forest opposite her direction.
While there is a class two way up, we decided to tackle a more direct route that was in the fourth class, which added some fun adventurous scrambling to the day. 

Krumholtz looking like a large Bonzai with Glacier Gorge in the background.

This is a great shorter but still somewhat challenging ascent, which offers very rewarding views of the surrounding locale.

Don't slip!  We headed north to find the second class ramps that head up the mountain.  Easier going, but just as exposed.
I didn't pay attention to the time when we got back to the car, but it was early afternoon.  A refreshing beverage was had before we started to make our way down.  Every week we can see an increase in the amount of cars in the parking lots, more people on the trails, and many more people in Estes Park.
It was great to get to Sky Pond after several attempts.  It does offer a very pretty place to have a bite to eat and relax for awhile.  There is still snow covering the trail once you pass The Loch, but the way is pretty well beat in and relatively posthole free.  Glacier Knobs are fun and really do not add that much more difficultly and do offer a great view and sense of reward (particularly the East one).  Consider checking those out next time you are up this way!
Sky Pond and Glacier Knobs:
Sky Pond: 4.4 miles one way, 1720 foot gain.  Moderate +.
Glass Lake: 4.2 miles one way, 1640 foot gain.  Moderate +.
Timberline Falls: 3.9 miles one way, 1300 foot gain. Moderate.
The Loch: 2.9 miles one way, 1000 foot gain.  Moderate.
West Glacier Knob: 2.6 miles one way, 1100 foot gain.  Moderate.
East Glacier Knob: 2.3 miles one way, 1045 foot gain.  Moderate.  Second class at least.

Glacier Knobs and Sprague Lake.

Man, almost a month of sitting at home.  I know we need the moisture and all, but it's been happening on my days off for four weeks in a row now!  This week I was able to get part of a nice day out on Tuesday, but today, on the first of May, we've gotten a good amount of snowfall.  Added to the record breaking amount of snow we got in April, those of us headed to higher altitudes are going to be carrying an ice ax and crampons along until June at least.

Driving into Estes and then into RMNP reminded me why I love this place so much.  The overwhelming scope of the scenery and magnificence of beauty located here is simply unparalleled.  And I thought, 'If this sight ever stops bringing up a depth of emotion in my soul...'.

The moon sets over Thatchtop.
I started from the Glacier Gorge TH and made my way past the still frozen Alberta Falls, though I could hear water running under the snow this time.  The trail was pretty well delineated and I was able to make it nearly up to the split for Glacier Gorge in boots only, though the going was a little slick at times.

It looks like a warm day ahead....
Very shortly before the split, I took off in a north easterly direction to head towards the summit of East Glacier Knob.  The recommended route has you going north east to avoid some of the cliff faces, and then hook back south east to gain the true summit.  Well, I took a slightly more direct route which involved some class 3 and 4 rather than the class 2 of the route described in the book.  I wanted a little more adventure I guess.

Dueling summit cairns frame the view to the north on East Glacier Knob, 10225 feet.
The way up the hill was ok in the snow, it was never enough to make me put on my snowshoes or crampons, while I continued using trekking poles for balance and stability.  This is a cool little summit, not too hard to attain, and with some good views, like...

Glacier Gorge.  But wait, there's more!

Loch Vale and Andrews Glacier.
I followed my tracks back down and the descent seemed to take no time at all.  Judging by the topo, you do only gain 400 or so feet from the trail to summit.
I headed back up the trail towards Loch Vale.  In the book, Lisa Foster describes a "miniature, lush grotto" on the north side of the trail, two tenths of a mile after the intersection with the Glacier Gorge trail.  I have no idea what that means really.  So I'd say to go for maybe ten minutes past the intersection, and then when you find a good looking place, turn right and head up hill.  If you hit cliffs...

as I did, just head left or west along the base and when they end you can continue up.
Alternatively, when I descended back down to the trail, I ended up right near this rock...

And found it was maybe two minutes farther up the trail than where I decided to head up from.

Again, I went without snowshoes or crampons, though I was post holing up to waist deep here and there.  

Hitting the cliffs did provide me some unique views, like these ten foot tall run off icicles.
Over all, I felt it was somewhat easier to obtain the top of this Knob, perhaps because this time I tended to follow the path of least resistance.    

The summit cairn of West Glacier Knob, 10280+ feet.  I'd say this one gave some even better views.

 Which weren't too great at first.

But then I turned around.  Sexy Lake in full effect, with Glacier Gorge looking magnificent.  Half Mountain, Longs Peak, Keyboard of the Winds, Pagoda Mountain all visible.

Just a little bit closer in because look at that view.  This is far from the most difficult peak I have done, not the farthest in either, but look at that.  This is why I love this place.

Looking up to Loch Vale.  I could see the route up to Sky Pond, which looks even snowier than last time.

I was thinking about descending almost directly west to the small unnamed lake in the saddle between it and Otis Peak, and then going north from there to Lake Haiyaha, but the snow looked a little steep.  Now to talk about irony....

Last time I was up here I decided to try for Lake Haiyaha, but didn't know this was also the winter trail for Glacier Gorge and got pretty far down before realizing my error.  This time I was on the lookout for footprints breaking off the trail about ten yards from the sign.  I found them, and followed.  These footprints eventually met up with a more established trail, and when they broke, with the more established trail heading west, while the single footprints continued north, I decided to follow the more established trail.  

This was a mistake.  I should have stopped and looked at a map, and then I would have continued on the correct path.  But I basically followed the trail up the small creek that flows from the unnamed lake I was thinking about going to anyway.  So I pretty much went in a big circle, which took a good amount of time out of the day.  

I thought hard about what to do here- I wanted to go on and had food and water, but at the same time, the sky was now completely overcast and the temperature had dropped noticeably.  I knew the snow today was supposed to roll in in the afternoon as rain, and wanted to be back at the car before that.  So after a lot of debate and reluctance, I headed back and took the winter trail back to the trail head.

I was feeling kind of defeated here- a stupid mistake cost me some more time.  I took a look in the book, trying to figure out something else to do while I was up here.  After all, it is about an hour drive and 2+ gallons of gas each way.  I decided to head to Sprague Lake and walk it.    

Though I would probably try my best to avoid this in the summer and tourist season, I found something here today.  This is probably the easiest hike in RMNP, and I would recommend that you take 15-20 minutes and amble the trail around the lake.  It does offer some great views and some peace and quiet if it's not too busy.  I went from feeling somewhat disappointed and upset to feeling humbled by this place.

Duck, duck, goose.

A full moon under Otis Peak.
The last time I was here was with my parents when they came out to visit a few years ago.  It's been awhile since I've seen them since we couldn't go out for the holidays this winter.  And of course, I miss them and my sister immensely.  I was able to get cell reception here and called them and left a message that I was thinking of them.

Taylor, Otis, Hallett, Flattop.

 Geese in the water.

Ducks swim beneath the continental divide.  And life goes on.  This day really meant alot to me.

Until next time my love.
Glacier Knobs via Glacier Gorge TH:
East Glacier Knob:
2.3 miles one way, 1045 foot gain.  Moderate.
West Glacier Knob:
2.6 miles one way, 1100 foot gain.  Moderate.
Sprague Lake:
.5 mile loop, 0 foot gain.  Easy-.