"Hiking in the Rockies" 6.6.09

Woke up this morning to the beautiful view of the Rockies outside my front window. I gathered my Bible and devotional book and had a wonderful time with God. "He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ" - Philipians 1:6

After breakfast, we got our things together for our afternoon hike. We filled our water containers, packed trail mix (with extra M&Ms), some Clif bars and of course a camera. It was a windy day in Estes Park and the temperatures were running in the high 50's to low 60's. We put on a few layers and headed out after lunch.

Our trail of choice was the Glacier Gorge Trail. We entered the park and took a shuttle to the trailhead. On the way we spotted several elk and deer but we were hoping to spot some "many much moosin." (Brian Regan quote)

The trail to Mills Lake is 5.2 miles round trip and is has an elevation gain of 700 feet. It starts at about 9000 feet above sea level and the air is definately thinner than in Kentucky. About a mile into the trail we came up on the roar of Alberta Falls. We climbed to the top of the falls, had a snack and a drink and enjoyed the raging water. The rivers in the park are all running at full throttle as the winter snow is melting.

Ethan and Noah spent most of the time on the trail listening to their ipods. Noah said the music helped him hike. He has discovered TobyMac. Hey, when your the guy with the shortest legs, go with what works.

We kept going up and the air kept getting thinner. It didn't seem to effect us much but we kept drinking water and paced ourselves. The scenery was incredible. At ever turn in the trail it seemed the world would just open up. As we got closer to the end the trail became covered in snow and after two hours we made it to Mill Lake where we rested and celebrated reaching our destination.

The trip down the mountain was much easier but still brought breath-taking views. Back at the trailhead we found that we had completed the 5 mile jaunt in 3.5 hours. It was a glorious hike and a completely marvelous day. We all slept well that night. - Alan

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever." - Psalm 107

Mill Lake