Loch Vale Trail- Rocky Mountain National Park

 We chose a clear sunny Day for our snowshoe at Rocky Mountain. We started at the Trail Head at Bear Lake. The one at Gorge Glacier was full by 10:35 am when we got there.

This was more of a moderate hike since there were some steep climbs and skinny ridges we had to maneuver around.

There are several different ways you can get to the Lake. On the way there we took a shortcut that was mainly in the shade and trees.This was about 2.3 miles to the lake.

 This is a view from the ridge on the way back. We took the traditional trail on the way back and saw some spectacular views of the valley. It was also in the sun and had areas of no snow. We had to take off our snowshoes and put on our microspikes.

This is Loch Lake when we got to our destination. It was not all frozen , just sections of it.

Loch Lake

 Going back to the Trailhead was mostly downhill. It was so steep it was faster to slide down.
There was a hill at the very end 1/2 mile or so to the parking lot.

 It was fun to scramble around the obstacles and figure the best route without getting into the deep snow in parts.

Another view on way back. This way took us 3 miles for a total of 5.6 miles in about 3-1/2 hours.

This was our group that took the more scenic route.