On the Bear Lake Road, we first come through the beautiful meadow of Moraine Park with the lateral moraine on the far side of the meadow and on the skyline (L to R) Mt. Otis, Hallett Peak, and Flattop Mt. Abner Sprague pioneered in this valley in 1875, turned from ranching to the tourist business so successfully that by 1895 he had built a 3-story log hotel. In 1904 he sold the ranch to J. D. Stead, but he was so homesick for the moutains that he returned, built the Sprague Lodge on the Bear Lake Road and in 1915 built a dam to impound Sprague Lake (below) from which we get a magnificent view of the mountains: (L to R) Thatchtop, Taylor, Otis, Hallett and Flattop.
The best place for autumn color is along the Bear Lake Road (L); walk up the Bierstadt Trail (R) only a half mile and this magnificent panorama of the Front Range opens through the aspen.
The reflections in Bear Lake are always best just after dawn: (L to R) Half Mtn., Longs Peak, the jagged Keyboard of the Winds, Pagoda, a sliver of Chiefs Head, and Thatchtop. It's a spectaculat view in autumn ... or at Christmas.
Those who hit the trail early are often rewarded with reflections at Dream Lake of Hallett Peak (L) and Flattop
If one starts at the Glacier Gorge Parking Area a mile before reaching Bear Lake, one can easily hike to two magnificent lakes. [Hint: the view on the right shows that this is a spectacular fall hike.] On the left is Mills Lake (looking to Longs, Keyboard of the Winds, Pagoda, Chiefs Head -- with Spearhead in front of it) and by going up the other fork of the trail, to The Loch (Taylor Glacier on the left -- look for Timberline Falls, the outlet of Lake of Glass, below the glacier -- and the Cathedral Wall). Andrews Glacier is just barely out of sight on the right.
