Sunrise Hike in Rocky Mountain National Park

What does a "sunrise hike in Rocky Mountain National Park" mean, exactly? It means that we hiked during sunrise at RMNP, yes, but it also means we went to bed at a reasonable time Friday night, woke before 4:00am Saturday morning, were on the road with Shelly and Kevin before 4:45am, to make it to the Bear Lake trail in the park by 6:15am. Why, you ask? For these kind of views:

Yea, that's pretty nice. And that was just from the parking lot. We could already tell it was worth it.

Darkness with a sliver of sunlight.

Kevin, the RMNP bridge troll.

Which one? Dream or Emerald? (We went to both.)

IT WAS SO WINDY BY THE LAKES.

Throne at Emerald Lake. It's so comfy, and fun, to sit in.

When you arrive at your hike by 6:15am, everything is on an earlier time line so cracking a beer before 8:00am totally makes sense. And we chose the Great Divide Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti (a stout) for the occasion. A great breakfast beer!

Worth it.

So so very cold.

Everyone loved the throne.

View from the throne. It's doesn't get much better.

Finishing my beverage on the trail.

And then afterwards we brewery hopped our way home through Fate (which we arrived at around 10:30am), Avery, and 4 Noses.

We made it back to Denver around 2:00pm which was the perfect time to crawl into bed and take a nap. Worth it.

 -Breanna