On long weekends, we typically plan to disappear into the backcountry, as far away as possible from the holiday crowds. It definitely didn’t work out that way this year.
In the week before Labor Day weekend, plans A-C fell through for various reasons. This is not an unfamiliar situation for us; over the years, I’ve learned to have multiple backup plans in place because Labor Day weekend seems to fluctuate between absolutely perfect weather, suffocating forest fire smoke, and endless storms.
This year was a combination of all three – hence our cancelled plans. It ended up being for the best, though; we had a long list of things to do around the house. So after an unsuccessful attempt to find a plan D, we decided to just stay home and use the time to tackle our to-do list. It felt really good to get everything done.
And by Sunday, the unseasonably wet weather pattern that had been dumping many inches of rain over Colorado for the past week had finally moved along, so we decided to take advantage of the sunny skies and go for a hike.
Of all the hikes we could have chosen – and it’s an endless list, we had many options – we decided to pick the one that required us to head into the most crowded area of Rocky Mountain National Park on a holiday weekend. In fact, it was a battle to obtain the required timed entry permit; I just barely managed to reserve one.
When we showed up at the Bear Lake park-n-ride at 6:40am and there was already a long line for the shuttles, I began to regret our decision. We ended up standing in line for half an hour, which is the longest we’ve ever had to wait. With lines this long so early in the morning, I was worried we’d return to the trailhead after our hike and be stuck in line forever waiting for a shuttle back to our car.
Thankfully, this ended up not being a problem and our lengthy early morning wait was simply because the shuttles weren’t up to capacity yet. By the time we finished our hike, they were running at their typical 5-10 minute frequency so we only had about a 10 minute wait.
Anyway.
We disembarked at Glacier Gorge Trailhead and set off, following signs for Loch Vale and Sky Pond. This is a trail we’ve hiked many times before so we made quick work of it. For more specific information on the route to Loch Vale, I’ll direct you to the first section of this post.
From Loch Vale, we followed the trail around the north (right) side of the lake and beyond. Sky Pond is one of the most popular hikes in the park, so there were quite a few other people headed this way. When we reached the turnoff for Andrews Glacier, though, we left all the people behind.
There is a sign at this junction, but it’s slightly misleading. At first, we walked all the way across Andrews Creek to the sign and then turned right, as it was instructing us to do. From here, there was no obvious trail. The actual trail travels up the large rock slabs immediately adjacent to the creek. You basically have to walk halfway across the bridge and turn right before you reach the sign.
Andrews Glacier is located in a cirque on the east side of Andrews Pass, roughly 1 mile (1.6 km) and 1000 feet (305 m) above where we stood. We had a steep climb ahead of us.
Initially, the trail ascends along the creek, weaving in and out of the trees. This is an official trail and is maintained by the park service, but the narrow path makes it clear that not many people go this way. It was quite a stark contrast from the well-traveled path we’d been on up to this point.
After a short distance, the forest gave way to a wide open and rocky landscape. From here, route-finding became more challenging. This is very much not a beginner hike.
While the trail was obvious through the grassy areas, it was often difficult to find through the rocky sections. We found ourselves carefully picking our way across the talus slopes and then pausing to search for the next few cairns that marked the route.
At one point, we ended up off-route. We were nearing the end of the hike, with only the final climb in front of us, when the trail forked. Both routes looked evenly-traveled and we couldn’t see any cairns. We decided to take the right fork since it was more direct.
We definitely should have gone left. The right fork was very steep and the rocks were not very stable. Also, once we made it up and turned to look over our shoulders, we could see that the left fork was very obviously the trail.
Back on the actual trail, we ascended the final two switchbacks and found ourselves looking up at Andrews Glacier. A few more steps, and the turquoise tarn at the base of the glacier came into view. We’d made it.
And on a holiday weekend, as thousands of other hikers flocked to the more popular lakes in Glacier Gorge, we were completely alone!
After previously hiking to a handful of other “glaciers” in Colorado, I’d learned there are no longer any true glaciers remaining in the state and that they’re all now just permanent snowfields. (To be classified as a glacier, the mass of snow and ice has to move downhill under its own weight.)
However, this article from the park website reports that Andrews Glacier still is a real glacier. Apparently Colorado has a glacier after all.
Glacier or not, we absolutely loved it up here!
Andrews Tarn is a color we’ve so rarely seen in Colorado – presumably due to the lack of glaciers, as this shade of turquoise is almost exclusively the result of glacial silt that accumulates in the water. Add in the jagged peaks that surrounded us, the bright gold of the autumn tundra, the adorable pikas (my very favorite alpine creature) darting amongst the rocks, and the utter peace and solitude – we could have stayed here all day.
While we couldn’t actually stay all day, we did spend a full hour here. We snapped far too many photos, climbed up the boulders north of the tarn for some even better views, enjoyed some snacks while marveling at the landscape from this vantage point, and then followed the trail the rest of the way around the tarn (there’s a visible path on the south side) to the foot of the glacier.
Eventually, though, it was time to begin our descent.
We managed to stay on the actual trail the whole way this time (turns out it’s much easier to see it from above), following cairns through the endless boulders and finally back to solid ground as we descended along the creek. From here, it was back to the main trail, where we encountered the throngs of holiday weekend hikers.
But even the busy sections of trail couldn’t dampen our enthusiasm. My husband and I agree this is a top five Rocky hike for both of us, and absolutely a trail we would hike again.
I’m so glad we decided to brave the holiday crowds, because we couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day in the park.
I’m so thankful we live so close to such a beautiful place and have the option to head up to the park for the day.
And I love that even after so many years, we’re still able to discover such amazing places in Rocky Mountain National Park.
Andrews Glacier truly is a hidden gem!
Up next: hiking in Deer Creek Canyon
The Important Stuff:
- Getting there: this hike departs from the Glacier Gorge Trailhead on Bear Lake Road; consider leaving your car at the park-n-ride and taking the free shuttle to the trailhead, as the parking lot typically fills by 5:00am in the summer. From the trailhead, follow signs toward Alberta Falls, Loch Vale, and Andrews Glacier.
- Fees and passes: there is a $30/car daily or $35/car weekly entrance fee to RMNP; America the Beautiful passes are accepted. From May-Oct, if you arrive after 5:00am you will also need a timed entry permit to access this trailhead.
- Hiking: round-trip distance to Andrews Glacier from Glacier Gorge Trailhead is 9.4 miles (15.1 km) with 2590 feet (790 m) of elevation gain. 1000 feet (305 m) of that gain is in the final 1 mile (1.6 km) of the hike, which travels through steep, rocky terrain and requires moderate route-finding skills to remain on the trail.
- Other: to reiterate what I said above, while the first 3.5 miles (5.6 km) of this hike is very straightforward, the final mile is not. It’s steep and rocky, and it’s very easy to get off-route. I would not recommend this hike for beginners or for those with limited experience hiking trails that are marked only by rock cairns.
- For more information on visiting Rocky Mountain National Park and navigating the timed entry system, shuttle system, and trails, see this post.
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