I think we partied a little too hard celebrating Dunders first birthday the night before because this hike was a challenge running on maybe one hour of sleep. Let’s be real, I wish I had the energy to party like I was in college again. In reality, a deflating pillow and confused puppy made for a long night. 

We found a camping spot ½ mile from the trailhead. The trailhead can get you to Mount Harvard and Mount Columbia which are two fourteeners. If you’re camping, be prepared to hear vehicles heading up to the trailhead as early as 3am. 

The hike follows Cottonwood Creek and is pretty wooded for the first few miles. After the first 2 miles, the trail gets really dusty and there are loose rocks everywhere which makes the hike a tedious journey. I think Chris rolled his ankle four times. He’ll survive. 

The last two miles open up to a massive alpine valley with creeks along both sides of the trail. Bring your sunscreen! The last ½ mile to the lake is steep and again, be mindful of the loose rocks. When we got to the top, it felt like we were on another planet. A field of dry moss and large boulders. Bear Lake looks like an infinity pool which is so unique to find in an alpine valley. It’s a very large and pretty deep lake as well. AllTrails says this hike is heavily trafficked, but again, we had the lake to ourselves. Don’t forget bug spray! The lake is filled with mosquitoes. 

Dunder chewed on my watch charger in the middle of the night so my watch ended up dying when we had roughly two miles left of the hike. *crying face* We walked around the lake so we probably clocked ~13 miles with about 2,500 feet of elevation gain. The trailhead fills up quickly but we were able to grab a spot at a campsite just before the trailhead. I would recommend 4WD to get to the trailhead. It never ceases to amaze me the Prius that made it all the way but I wouldn’t want to risk banging up the undercarriage of my vehicle.