Hike #2, Our first peak ascent

We decided this hike should be done after acclimatized to the elevation rather than do it 3 days after we arrived. Flattop Mountain was our original destination which made for an 8.8 mile round trip hike. After arriving at the Bear Lake Trailhead at 8:15am we set out around Bear Lake. Little did we know our chosen route circled the lake to meet up with our selected trail, a mere 0.5 mile detour which is actually fairly pretty.

The hike gets above treeline fairly quickly and the scenery was B-E-A-utiful!We saw two 4X4 bull elk 40 yards off the trail as well. They were perfectly content to sit and watch us hike by. On the right you can just see the ears of the second elk over the back of the one in front.

Our hike continued to Flattop Mountain, which is quite like its name, flat. It is hard to really tell where the "peak" is. This lead to to consider Hallett Peak, a mere half mile further, yet 700 feet of elevation. The beginning of which you can see behind the elk. We pushed on.

The last half mile was steep, and rocky... Hopping from boulder to boulder and catching our breaths every couple minutes we finally made the top. 12, 770 feet or so... Here is a picture of us at the top of Hallett Peak. In the background on the right side you can see Flattop Mountain. We had lunch up top while listening to a man video record the scene and say how beautiful it was about 89 times. It really was beautiful though.

A few more pictures of us on the way down. They almost look surreal.

For our info: 11 miles 2,300 ft elevation