Mt. Ida

 I'll call it a 10 mile/3000 feet hike and another mission accomplished. It was meant to be 9.5 mile/2500 feet, but I added at least another mile and several hundred feet of elevation gain by getting off the course. I lost the trail on the way coming down and went down the valley instead of staying on the ridge, turning what was an easy downhill portion into a scramble through the rocky field.

I was on schedule for a change and got to the trailhead at 7:10AM, and was on trail by 7:30. (OK, a little late, but I have an excuse note from the moose on the meadow and that big heard of mule deer that blocked the traffic.) Then I made to the top with almost no stop driven by the exhilaration and cold wind. Soon after the tree line where I briefly stopped to put sunscreen and sunshades on, the wind started to blew and temperature dropped. My finger was getting numb from the cold and I soon started shivering. I should've put on my goretex jacket over the fleece. The weather at the trailhead looked fine, so I didn't. I marched on with the full view of the mountain range to the right. Near the top, I ran out of gas and had to take another brief stop.

At the top, the view of alpine lakes opened up to the left. At a distance on the right was Granby and Grand lakes. It was another 270 degree view of the mountains and valley, well worth the effort getting there. 

The jagged mountains of Sierra are as high as the Rockies. The mountains in RMNP, however, are more portly. That makes them look more massive. Driving the Trail Ridge Road, you have to marble at these massive mountains seemingly spread out in all directions. This road cuts through the Rocky Mountains, thus affording the view of the mountains on both sides of the road. It's a rather long road and pulling out at various vista points and doing short walks will take all day. But it's something everybody should do at least once, like the Rim Drive of Grand Canyon. I'll have to do it again; I was dead tired after Mr. Ida, and I hardly stopped at any of the vista points.

Camping here at Glacier Basin is not that convenient. Not only is it big and crowded -- you can't take a bath here -- it is also in the bear country. Which means you have to shuffle your food and cooking implements between your car and tent every time you cook. On top of it, I have to move to different campsite, twice. In retrospect, a motel room in Estes Park at $60 would've been a more convenient and cost effective option than $30 campsite. If it weren't for the park entry permit, I would've. Turned out, I only needed the permit for Glacier Gorge trail. All others I could enter without the permit before 9AM. Oh well. The view of the mountains from the campsite is nice though, and that makes all the inconveniences worthwhile.

Now that I'm done with Mr. Ida, Sky Pond Via Glacier Gorge lost some of its luster. I may even skip it if I don't recover from Mt. Ida by tomorrow.