At the edge of Grand Lake sits a sleepy giant. The reflection of the vast 12,007 foot peak towers over tourists who play in the water and on the shoreline below. And the views from the top cannot be beat. Technically it is called Mt. Craig but most call it Mt. Baldy because of the way it looks. And I call it this Summer’s hiking challenge.
Having visited Grand Lakes dozens of times, hiking to the top was on my bucket list. We set out on the day after my 43rd birthday to conquer the mountain. Because storms were forecast in the afternoon we decided to start super early to make sure we were off the balding peak before any threat of lightning. We strapped on headlamps and hit the trail head at 5am. To get there you park at the East Inlet trail to Adams Falls but just keep going.
The first hour was in the dark. It was a little scary as we were well aware of how much wildlife lives in Rocky Mountain National Park. I carried a can of bear spray and whistle in my hand. The first real wildlife we saw was around 6:30am. As the first morning sun was peaking through the trees we ran into a Mama moose. We quickly moved off the trail to give her space and saw her baby following behind. It was magical.
We made it the 5.5 miles to Lone Pine Lake by 7:30am. Unfortunately, that is where the trail ends. We had visited the lake before and a Park Ranger had pointed out the path up the hill but we couldn’t really find it again. There was a small path at the fork to the lake so we headed up the hill. The trail petered out and we were bush whacking the rest of the way up. Starting up the hill is steep and a bit of a cliff but if you stay near the stream you will end up in the boulder field at the bottom of a couloir. You do have to scramble over the huge rocks to get to this final stretch. Standing at the base is spectacular. You are in alone in a field full of wildflowers with the rushing waterfall to your left and Grand Lake off to the distance on your right. But it is also intimidating as the course then heads straight up.
This was the only way we could see to make the final ascent. And it was a challenge. To say that it is steep is an understatement. Near the top is a scree field with rocks so loose you have to climb on hands and knees. A huge rock came loose and tumbled towards us as we neared the top. A reminder that we should have worn helmets! I would say the climb from Lone Pine Lake to the top is between one and two miles but it takes 1-2 hours. (GPS could not keep up with how steep it was and seemed completely off) It is slow going not only because of how steep the hill is but also because of how loose the gravel is. But we made it.
The views did not disappoint. You can see both Grand Lake and Lone Pine Lake. We could see the storm coming so only took a brief break to take photos and enjoy the view before heading back down. It was just as steep and just even more slippery heading down. It took about the same amount of time to climb down. I would budget 7-9 hours for this hike and would definitely recommend both poles and helmets. We celebrated with a nice lunch and margarita at One Love in Grand Lake.
