Flattop Mountain was our first hike in Rocky Mountain National Park.  It starts at Bear Lake and goes up from there.  I must have misread something because I thought it was an “easy” hike.  It wasn’t.  It was 4.5 miles up the mountain.  There were no flat portions.  Luckily, we are in good shape otherwise it would have been impossible.  My wife started really feeling the altitude right at the tree line.  I felt it at about 500 feet above the tree line and it hit me harder than my wife.  I felt like I had hit the wall in a marathon.  Actually, it wasn’t that bad, but it was tough.  Altitude makes it difficult to breath and your heartbeat is accelerated.

The hike itself is absolutely worth it.  Before the tree line you are surrounded by beautiful trees, including aspens.  The vistas you can see throughout the hike are amazing.  You can look back and see the valley with Estes Park on one side.  On other sides there are even higher mountains.  We were there in September and there was still snow.  You can still see glaciers in their valleys high in the mountains.  There are two lake overlooks, Dream Lake and Emerald Lake and from several thousand feet above them, they are spectacular.  We did not see any animals other than birds, chipmunks and squirrels.

When we were getting towards the top of Flattop Mountain, it started clouding up.  We were talking to a local hiker and she said as long as you see any blue in the sky, there should not be lightening, but the second you hear thunder or there is no more blue anywhere, get below the tree line.  She said the clouds have to be bumping together to cause lightening up there and you certainly do not want to be the tallest thing.

It is really cool to see the transition from trees, to smaller trees, to shrubs to ground cover as you hit the “tree line”.  Each region has its own sort of beauty.

The top of Flattop Mountain is actually a little hard to determine.  I was hoping for a, “here is the peak at 12,324 feet, but there wasn’t anything.  I’m sure we were at the top because there was nothing higher (except a few other peaks around us).  Right before the top there is a triangular set of logs.  I didn’t get a picture, but I believe it is a hitching post.  You don’t see those every day.