Fall Hike: Glacier Gorge Trail in Rocky Mt. National Park
by Allie Comeau on October 20, 2008 
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Last weekend I took another trip up to Rocky Mountain National Park to take a hike and enjoy the fall colors. As usual, Mother Nature did not disappoint.
After a short drive up Trail Ridge Road, I knew this was going to be a beautiful hike. There was blazing color everywhere – the aspens were blazing yellow, orange, and even red in spots. Looking out over the valley and back towards Estes Park, I could see golden swatches cutting through the dense green of the pine forest.
I decided to hike the Glacier Gorge Trail up to Mills Lake and then on to Black Lake. I’d never been up to Mills Lake before (the trail can get crowded in the summertime) so I wasn’t sure what to expect.
The day was overcast, which was kind of a bummer for photos, but made for excellent hiking conditions. During the first mile, aspen stands crowd both sides of the trail, making for the best leaf viewing of the hike. The contrast of yellow against dark green was stunning – almost like rays of sunshine. With colors magnified by the gray sky, the aspens were like candles lighting my way up the trail.
Once I climbed to Mills Lake – an enormous alpine lake in Glacier Gorge – I saw few other people. Fields of tall golden grass lined the lake while burnt oranges and reds speckled the cliffs on the opposite shore. The water is so clear in the lakes in Rocky Mountain National Park that you can see every last rock, fallen tree, and rainbow trout at the bottom. The water, of course, is frigid, but clean as any you’ll find, fresh from the glaciers above.
The trail from Mills Lake to Black Lake is pretty steep in spots, but nothing anyone with a relative level of fitness can’t handle. The most interesting part of the hike is a warm, wet valley between the two lakes that seems like it doesn’t really belong. It’s almost like marshland, with split log bridges spanning the distance between patches of solid ground. Moss and lichen covers the rocks and the humidity level is noticeably higher than the trail below and above it.
Once out of the gorge valley, the climb gets even more intense as you walk beside beautiful water falls and a small boulder field before reaching Black Lake. Looking back the way I came, I was rewarded with an absolutely breathtaking view of Glacier Gorge, the Keyboard of the Winds, and the west side of Longs Peak.
Turning back around to Black Lake, I immediately saw the reason for the name. Black Lake is black – it must be infinitely deeper than Mills as the bottom is nowhere to be found.
Black Lake is shouldered by tall peaks on every side. You can see dark lines from glacier runoff spilling down the cliff walls. I could have continued on to Frozen Lake had I more time, but as is usual in Rocky Mountain National Park in the afternoons, nasty weather had begun to set in. Dark clouds and a sharp temperature drop were enough for me to know it was time to head back down the way I came.
It was a good thing, too, because it soon began to snow at Black Lake. Once I made it back down to Mills Lake, the snow had turned to rain which continued until I got back to the car. Once I got back on the road, the peaks above Black Lake were no longer visible due to the storm.
That’s the thing about Colorado, especially at the higher elevations… the yellows and reds of fall are followed oh-so-closely by the bright white of winter.
