Mount Ida

Our "big" hike in Rocky this summer was the summit of Mount Ida, which one site had recommended as their #1 hike in the park for the spectacular views--and were they ever spectacular! This was our family's unanimous favorite hike that we have ever ever done.

The day before we drove the Trail Ridge Road to do a little reconnoitering and figure out where the trailhead was, since we knew we needed to be hiking early in the morning in order to be off the exposed tundra before the afternoon thunderstorms blew in.

This picture shows Mount Ida--it's the snow peak centered in the photo. Totally looks like something to hike with six kids, right? ;-) And as you can see, it was pouring rain when we did our little research trip!



We got our packs ready the night before, then got up bright and early to drive the 75 minutes to the trailhead (we were pretty worried about parking, too; thankfully that wasn't an issue and we snagged a spot pretty easily). As we were loading up, a ranger came over and asked where we were headed; when we said the Mount Ida summit she asked if she could take our picture for park promotional materials. I really really wish I had thought to ask her where it would appear (I stalked the park's social media feeds for a week before I gave up). 



This is the lake at the base of the trailhead. So pretty! Apparently moose frequent this lake but we didn't see any the 3 times we drove past it on this trip.



The AllTrails reviews of this hike all talk about how steep it is INSTANTLY and holy cow, it was intense. Easily the steepest initial ascent of any hike I've ever done. Matthew was almost instantly crying and saying "I hate hiking! I do not want to hike today!" We had anticipated this and bought literal bags of candy in Estes Park the day before, so we heavily bribed Matthew (and everyone else) with insane amounts of sugar to keep going on this hike. 



No moose, but we saw tons of droppings, some skulls, etc. We made a game out of all the droppings so that Matthew got a piece of candy every time he found either elk droppings or hoofprints. Ah, memories. 





Neil told Matthew he would carry him as soon we we got above the treeline...the trees just kept coming every time we topped a rise! But finally we could see the tundra ahead of us. 

I vividly remember this spot in the picture above because it was the first time I'd had cell service in a week or so. My phone went crazy and I did some very rapid-fire message triaging!



Along with some really confidence-boosting signs. Lightning was a major worry because there had been SO many storms in the park every single day that we'd been there. We were determined to hike fast and turn around if we needed to (but I really really did not want to turn around so mostly I just kept encouraging everyone to hike as fast as possible!). 




As the trees fell away we could start to see bits and pieces of the Never Summer Mountains, which is quite possibly my favorite mountain range name yet.

As we came out of the treeline and the views spread around us I started singing "The hills are alive with the sound of music" and everyone joined in. Totally cheesy, yes, but gosh we were all just in total amazement of how insanely beautiful the views were! The real appeal of this hike (aside from summiting without climbing gear) is that you're hiking along the spine of the Continental Divide and you have amazing panoramic views for miles and miles and miles. 

And those views just got better and better and better with every step!

One of the things we were REALLY hoping for on this hike was to spot some bighorn sheep. Can you see them in this picture? We about went crazy with joy at those distant specks! Little did we know...



After watching the sheep for awhile, we started hiking again. Up...and up...and up.

We stopped for quite awhile to watch these marmots--there were about a dozen of them inhabiting this particular rock pile. Wrestling and whistling and having a blast!

The route was generally really enjoyable across the tundra. Some really steep bits, but there were a good 2-3 miles that were mostly level where we were just looking around at everything and watching the clouds blow across the sky. Counting lakes, marmots, sheep...

Can you see that little teeny thread of trail stretching out behind us? 

Turning to look back and down at the sheep...we kept watching them until they were out of sight!

Eventually we started going up again on the shoulder of the unnamed mountain before Mount Ida...

I was a little ahead of everyone with a couple of the kids and suddenly we heard a wild scrabbling and a ewe ran right across the top of the summit just above us, followed closely by three of her kids. We were SO excited!! I could not believe how insanely fast they were and just managed to snap a picture as they rocketed by. 

As we started down the saddle, we started to get the first glimpses of where we were headed...

And we finally saw some other hikers, who offered to do a photo swap! 

As we crossed the saddle and started to head upwards, the terrain got noticeably trickier with wide bands of talus, so we were picking each step carefully and watching for the cairns marking the path up, since there was no discernable trail. 

Not gonna lie, this was HARD. It was really exhausting, every step was tricky, and we were up well above 12,000 feet at this point. It was legitimately hard to breathe when we were working so hard to get up a steep slope on unsteady footing. Neil did a lot of this with Matthew on his shoulders and I have no idea how he managed it. Most of us had altitude headaches by this point, despite drinking significant amounts of water (each of us carried 2-3 liters). 

See that promontory in the photo? THAT WAS NOT THE SUMMIT. 

But eventually we made it!! All the way up to 12,889 feet. 

And oh gosh were those views worth every step!!

We ate our lunch at the summit and talked to a group of 20ish-year-old guys from Israel who had all just completed their military service and were hiking all over the US. They were headed to Teton & Glacier next, so we told them all our favorite hikes at those parks. 

The lake views up there were just spectacular--but don't miss the marmot in this photo!! He was very much ready to nab some sandwiches of his own. 

The skies in the east were starting to look pretty threatening, so we ate lunch quickly and then headed back down. It was still tricky, but not nearly as fatiguing as going uphill--and we had the most amazing sheep sighting!!

I MEAN CAN YOU EVEN BELIEVE THIS WAS REAL?!!!





Eventually the skies got dark enough that we really did have to go...

It hailed/snowed/rained for a bit, but thankfully we never saw any lightning. 

But we did see more sheep!!

Soooo much easier going downhill for the kids, but Neil and I were aching! We could barely keep up!

In fact, I'm editing this post to include a photo Abigail just sent me of her viewpoint when Neil and I were hiking way back with Matthew. Can you see us? 

The wildflower variety on the tundra is amazing. Just so so so many different gorgeous flowers everywhere!

Pretty much my version of heaven. 

All in all, it was a pretty perfect day. We raced the rain back to our car and got back to the parking lot just as the downpour began--it was seriously the most amazing hike and we could not have asked for a more perfect experience! One of our best family days ever ever ever.