RMNP - Hallett Peak

Since I took my daughter and son-in-law to Flattop Mountain, I've always wanted to tackle Hallett Peak (12711').  Today was the day to tackle that.  It was not the best day to hike, the weather was cloudy, it was cool, and their was a small chance of snow, but off I went.  Since I would be parking at the Bear Lake trailhead, I knew I needed to get a reasonably early start, otherwise the parking lot would be full.  Sure enough, when I got there the lot was filling up, even on a less than glorious day.

Some color at Bear Lake

This is a pretty cool look over Emerald Lake

A cloudy and cool day

The hike to Flattop Mountain is long, steep, and uneventful.  It is a popular trail in that it provides stellar views, connects to the trails on the west side of RMNP, and tops out at 12000'.

Color, Color everywhere (below the cloud layer)

Along the trail near Bear Lake (this was taken later in the day)

Note the horses just at the bend in the trail

Flattop is not a trail for the faint hearted, because it is steep and with much of the trail above 10000' there is not alot of oxygen up there.

Long's Peak from along Flattop trail

Joe Mills Mountain (there is a bushwhack up to there somewhere)

On the hike up, I met up with the park rangers that were out looking for elk.  I suggested that there might not be many elk at 11000'.  They agreed, but said they were tracking the radio collar signals of the elk and that 11000' would be a good place to do that.  I agreed.  As we continued to talk for a bit, they mentioned that this is also a way for them to find elk in distress or dead.  It is much easier to locate a non-moving radio collar than searching the ground.

I soon reached the horserack near the top of Flattop, where I sat and took a break.  Soon a couple came up.  They had some rather funny accents.  It turns out they were from Wales.  I suggested that the weather wasn't all that uncommon for them.  They agreed, but said the elevation was quite the challenge.  This was their third day in Colorado.  There were staying with an aunt in Boulder.  We split up, but would meet again at the top of Flattop, where for the first time, I had someone take my picture.  Turn about was fair play after I took their picture.

Robb

Robb

The hike to Hallett from Flattop is along a jumble of boulders and talus.  It is a rather steep ascent but very doable.  I'm sure the view when it is not snowing is spectacular.  Maybe another day.

Tyndall Glacier from above

McHenry's Notch (this is just north of Snowbank Lake)

Glacier basin and the rock wall from Tyndall Glacier 

Looking North along the Continental Divide

Hallett Peak (later in the day)

Summit Hallett Peak (12711')

I can now check Hallett Peak off my list.

Overall Track Statistics for RMNP - Hallett Peak,   1455 data points

 Length 9.764 miles  :  Garmin Length 10.163 miles

 Start Elevation - 9514.70 feet

 Maximum Elevation - 12711.15 feet

 Minimum Elevation - 9318.01 feet

 Date of Hike - Sep 21, 2016

 Start Time - 07:47 AM

 End Time - 01:11 PM

 Total Duration -     5:23 hours:min

 Total Ascent - 3470.08 feet

 Total Descent - 3666.77 feet

 Net Ascent - -196.69 feet

 Maximum Grade - 30.78%

 Average Speed -  1.81 mph :  Garmin Average Speed  1.88 mph

 Maximum Ascent over Mile - 866.83 feet

 Maximum Speed over Mile -  2.68 mph
 Maximum Gain over Mile (%) - 15.67%