The park has a shuttle bus system to get you up to the trailheads with limited parking. I went up to the Bear Lake trailhead. The view from the lake is very cool.

However, the trail round the lake was packed with people, so I headed off on a side for a three and a half mile hike, half a mile uphill to shake off the riff raff, then three miles downhill to a different shuttle stop. At high altitudes the aspen are already starting to turn yellow and red.

I took a short side trip to see Bierstadt Lake.

I made it back to the campsite by about 2:30, just in time to start cooking dinner. We made coq au vin for the entire group, followed by a chocolate tasting. Yum.