RMNP definitely is at a high altitude which can be tough coming from Nebraska. For this reason, we opted to have our first day spent hiking some simple lakes- which was a good plan. The next day we planned on tackling Flattop Mountain and possibly Hallett if we were still feeling up to it. Keep in mind that we are a bit out of shape from spending every waking moment studying or working, but this was a tough hike for us! So rewarding at the end though 🙂
Thunderstorms in the early afternoon are very common in the park. So if you’re planning on taking on a big hike, be sure to get an early start. We wanted to get some sunrise photos over Sprague Lake anyway, so we decided to start with those and then head up the mountain after that. The timing worked out perfectly! The sunrise over Sprague was quite pretty and we even saw two elk crossing the lake in the mist! From there we headed to Bear Trail Trailhead. The parking lot at this trail head fills up quite quickly each morning and we were there by 6:30am with plenty of spaces.
It was chilly in the morning but once we started our hiking we warmed up very quickly. Just dress in layers and you’ll be good because once you hit the summit it gets chilly once again. We started our hike just before 7:00am and the trail was easy to follow and not too crowded at all since we were hiking so early. The first half of the hike is below the tree line and mostly shaded. It was neat to pass by the lakes we had hiked the day before, but this time we were looking down at them. The trail is very steep the whole way and we were tired pretty quickly from the angle and the altitude. 
The second half is past the tree line where it got windier and sunnier. Lots of pretty views for the rest of the way! The trail takes a bunch of switchbacks and towards the end there was a large portion of snow we went through as well. Even in July there were still patches of snow throughout the entire route. We packed winter hats with us, but just light jackets. Light gloves could also be helpful, mostly to project against the wind. It was not unbearably cold at any point, and I was comfortable the whole way.
When we reached the top of Flattop Mountain, it was a little disappointing, not going to lie. It honestly is just what the name implies- a mountain with a really big flat top. There was no real “peak” and the views all around were panoramic, but a little tough to see since the flat part of the mountain extended for a while in all directions. However, it was still an exciting accomplishment to reach the top, and we made it in a little over 3 hours.
After eating lunch we debated whether or not to continue on to Hallett. It was so close! But we were pretty exhausted already. We talked with a few other hikers passing by and they estimated it would only take us about 30 more minutes to reach the top of Hallett, so we decided to go for it. And I’m so glad we did!
It really was not a whole lot farther to get to Hallett which we could clearly see on our left. It was lot more scrambling up rocks than true hiking to get to the top, but nothing nerve wracking. About 5 minutes from the top I got major altitude sickness. It truly came out of nowhere as I felt fine one moment and then ready to puke the next. I don’t remember a whole lot from the top of the mountain other than going to sit by myself and telling everyone not to follow me because I was going to throw up :-). Thankfully I didn’t actually get sick, but after sitting for about 15 minutes and still not feeling better I knew I needed to head back down as that’s really the only way to cure altitude sickness. We took a quick photo at the top and then started down. It was slow going for me but once I hit the area we had eaten lunch on top of Flattop, I sat for about 5 minutes and felt fine again. It’s crazy how quickly it comes and goes like that! The top of Flattop is at 12, 324 feet and Hallett Peak is 12, 713- who knew those last few hundred feet would make such a difference for me.
From there we started our descent back to the Bear Lake Trailhead. It took a lot longer to get down than I was expecting, mostly because we were just so exhausted. It got hot by the end as well, so starting early was a really good idea. The entire trip took us 8 hours including a bunch of rests and it was 10.3 miles round trip. The views from the Top of Hallett Peak were way better than Flattop Mountaing, so I’d really advise you to do the whole thing if you go!
By the end of it all, we could barely walk and limped through the grocery store later that day as we bought the soy milk that I had forgotten to pack. But by the next morning (and honestly just a few hours later after resting made a big difference) we were sore but definitely mobile. We spent our last morning watching the sunrise at Bear Lake and then headed home.
Fire Round the World 