Thunder Lake

Last weekend, I made my first hike of the year in Rocky Mountain National Park to Thunder Lake. The stunning lake, still frozen when I visited, is just over six miles and 2,000 feet above the Wild Basin trailhead but still a couple thousand feet beneath Mount Alice's towering face.

There's a patrol cabin built in the 1930 on the lake shore. Situated at 10,500 feet elevated, the cabin was still buried in deep snow. No other humans were around at my destination, but a confused river otter kept climbing out of the water and onto the ice before repeatedly jumping back in. I think he was hoping I'd be gone the next time he surfaced. Eventually, I was.