Descending from Bierstadt Lake

From the lake, the Bierstadt Trail descends very, very steeply for 1.7 miles! It is a rough and rocky trail. I feel sorry for those people who don't talk to the rangers, and who end up hiking UP this part of the trail. It is not a trail for the weak-kneed or those with ankle problems. I even fell myself, wham, flat on my behind, jarring my back, and jamming my right arm up into its socket so hard I couldn't move it for 5 minutes... I thought for a few minutes my shoulder might be broken from the impact, but after a few minutes rest I could move it again, and the pain subsided greatly within 10 minutes. By the time I got back to the car, I could hardly tell I'd hurt it. This trail is one of the steepest and rocky-est I've hiked in this park -- for the whole 1.7 miles. I was ding-dang glad I was going DOWNhill. The entire trip down has unbelievable views. You can see just how steep this trip is. The parking lot is way down in the bottom of the valley. It's a long way down. There is no way I could have hiked this trail going up. The little hammock below is where I was able to catch a couple of photos of ruby-throated hummingbirds which are fairly rare to photograph. I've put those photos in a post below... check them out! Classic Rocky Mountains scenery! I've been walking downhill for half an hour and still have a long way to go.

This side of the mountain is fairly open meadow, but there is an occasional tree now and then (above and below).