The Sky Pond Trail is a beautiful hike and is one of the best day hikes you can do in Rocky Mountain National Park. You’ll hike up a mountain to some absolutely gorgeous alpine lakes and the scenery is just incredible. Sky Pond was one of the highlights of my 10 Days in Colorado. That said, it’s not an easy hike. If you are like me and dislocate your knee with four miles to go, that hike becomes even harder.
So while I recommend hiking the Sky Pond Trail if you are able, I do not recommend dislocating your knee while completing this hike.
Getting to the Trailhead
The trail to Sky Pond is located in the Bear Lake corridor where timed entries are required. I booked my entry the day they went on sale. I got an entry for 6:00 am to 8:00 am. Sunrise was at 6:37, so I got here just before 6:30 am. Despite the early hour, I still waited for a solid ten minutes to actually get into the Bear Lake corridor.
If you’re planning to hike to Sky Pond, ideally you want to park at the Glacier Gorge parking lot. This is where you’ll find the trailhead. The problem is this lot is small and fits maybe 20 cars, so it fills up fast. I arrived just after 6:45 and got the very last spot. If you don’t get a spot, keep driving on Bear Lake Road. The parking lot at Bear Lake is massive so if you arrive early in the morning, you should be able to get a spot without too many headaches.
The first major stop on your hike is Alberta Falls, which can be reached from either the Glacier Gorge Trailhead or the Bear Lake Trailhead. Starting at Glacier Gorge will save you a little bit of hiking. Since the entire hike to Sky Pond is nearly nine miles round trip, it’s a good idea to try to conserve your miles.
If you don’t want to hike from the Bear Lake Trailhead, you also have the option to take the free park shuttle from the Bear Lake Parking Lot to the Glacier Gorge Parking Lot. This shuttle starts incredibly early and was already running when I arrived at the park.
Starting the Sky Pond Trail
I started my hike at 7:00. It was cloudy and foggy and I was nervous that it was going to be like this all day. If I’m going to hike nine miles, there better be some good views! As I climbed higher in elevation, the fog eventually lifted. By the time I reached Sky Pond, skies were clear. Unfortunately, the clear skies were due to the elevation. Once I descended, I was right back in the fog.
As you hike, you’ll come to a handful of milestones. Each of these make great turnaround points if you don’t think you’re able to go all the way to the end of the Sky Pond Trail.
Alberta Falls
Alberta Falls is a nice waterfall and you will reach it not even one mile into your hike. If it was clearer, it may have looked nicer. I don’t have many photos of it because I was optimistic the weather would improve by the time I came down.
It didn’t.
Plus, by the time I passed Alberta Falls on my way back down, I was just ready to be done with this hike. My knee was in pain and I wanted nothing more than to just collapse on the bed in my hotel room with a huge bag of ice.
The Loch and Mills Lake Junction
This isn’t so much a viewpoint as it is an important junction. Up until this point, everyone who is hiking to Sky Pond or Mills Lake has been on the same trail. It’s here you need to make your decision about where you want to go. If you’re following the trail to Sky Pond, head right.
The Loch
When I reached The Loch, the fog finally lifted (at least for a little bit). This was my first view of what an alpine lake really looks like. What a difference having clear skies and great visibility makes!
Timberline Falls
In my opinion, this is the hardest part of the hike. Up until this point, the hardest part of this hike has been the elevation gain (on top of the already high elevation). But here, you’ll be doing a little rock scrambling along some wet rocks. This was where I noticed most people gathering. People were either ending their hikes here, taking a break, or trying to figure out the best approach to safely climb the falls. Take your time, go slow, and know your own limits.
I watched several other people go up before I went myself. I went slow, but made it to the top with no issues.
Lake of Glass
The fog was back, but it didn’t last long. Lake of Glass was a gorgeous aquamarine color and even better than The Loch.
Sky Pond
I made it! Skies were clear and the view at the top was worth it. I wish I could have stayed here a bit longer. However, as amazing as the views were, it was very windy. When you’re at that elevation and not moving, it gets very cold. Plus, I was feeling great. I thought that if made good time, I could add in a little detour to Mills Lake on my return. Oh how wrong I was!
The Return from Sky Pond
I started my hike back down and in the beginning, it was going well. So well, that I was confident about detouring to Mills Lake on the return. I felt great! I hiked down from Sky Pond and had just passed Lake of Glass. My biggest obstacle was Timberline Falls. If I could get down from here, it would be pretty straightforward (dare I say easy?) to get back.
Since I was climbing down uneven rocks, I was taking my time, but with plenty of people waiting (both to come down and go up), I didn’t want to take too long. I decided that sitting down and sliding my way down, one rock at a time, would be my best method. Who cares if I had a wet butt because I sat on a wet rock? At least I would have gotten down safely.
In my head, I was doing absolutely everything right. I was going slow, I was scooting down to give myself extra support, and I was aware that this was a tricky spot. But as you may have guessed, it didn’t go quite according to plan.
Things Go Wrong
It happened so fast that really all I can say is that I sat down, scooted forward to get down to the next rock, and then it happened.
I went one way, my left knee went the other, and down I went.
A very nice man (who was waiting for me before he climbed up) saw me fall and immediately came over to help. He asked if I was ok, obviously assuming that I just fell over. I told him with absolute certainty that I had just dislocated my knee. I couldn’t see his face, so I’m not sure what his reaction was, but that wasn’t important. My knee was not in its socket and that is not a comfortable feeling.
At this point, I hadn’t looked at my knee, but I didn’t need to. I could just feel it that it was right. There was absolutely no doubt in my mind that my knee was dislocated. I could feel that it was not where it was supposed to be.
It should also be noted that this is not the first (or second!) time that I dislocated my left knee. I’m also sure it won’t be the last. It had been nearly twelve years since the last time I dislocated it (and close to twenty years since I dislocated it the first time), but I still clearly remember what a dislocated knee feels like. It’s one of those feelings you don’t forget.
The nice man (whose name I unfortunately do not know) called to his friend Dale, all while reassuring me it would be fine. I knew it would be fine. As soon as my knee was back in its socket, everything would be so much better. But it was nice to know that he was hiking with a friend who happened to be a doctor. That was a huge morale boost.
Dale came over and we got my knee popped back in place in no time. Whenever I tell this story, people ask me if it hurt to have my knee shoved back into place. The answer is firm no. When your knee is outside of its socket, it hurts and it’s incredibly uncomfortable. When your knee is finally set back into place, all you can feel is relief. In the three times I’ve dislocated this knee, I’ve never felt pain when it was set back.
Dale and his friend sat with me for a few minutes and we talked. Dale was a bit concerned because even though my knee was in place, it was still too loose for his liking. This was when I had to explain that my knee kind of sucks and that looseness is normal. That was actually the first time I realized that can’t just wiggle their kneecaps as much as I can. Who knew?
I Just Dislocated My Knee – Now What?
Now here’s where the problem came in. I’m sitting on some rocks at Timberline Falls and still have a solid 3 to 4 miles to get back to my car. I didn’t have a choice. Even though I had just dislocated my knee and had it set my a stranger (thanks again, Dale!), I had to hike all of the way back to my car.
I safely got down the rest of the way from Timberline Falls and felt relief once that was over. From here it was just a normal trail. Although it was long and I was in pain, at least there wasn’t any more rock scrambling.
I descended down into the fog, letting every hiker who came up behind me pass. As they came up I said, “I’m going to let you go ahead since I’m moving really slow.” About half of the people said something along the lines of “Oh I’m slow too, no worries.” I don’t care what your average pace is, I guarantee that I am slower today. But slow and steady is the only way I was going to make it back to the bottom.
I originally planned to take a break every fifteen or twenty minutes of hiking, but the longer it went on, the harder it was to get started again. Taking breaks and resting actually started to hurt my knee even more. By the end, I was minimizing my stops to absolutely necessary stops because I just wanted to get done. My knee was hurt, my pride took a beating, and all I wanted was to go back to my hotel room and cry.
Finally, seven hours after I started the hike to Sky Pond, I reached the trailhead and saw the parking lot. In that moment, it was the best view of the entire trail. Seeing the parking lot (and my car) and knowing that I was almost done gave me the boost of energy I needed to finish.
The walk to my car did feel incredibly long. I guess it was because my car was in the spot furthest from the trailhead because I got the last available spot that morning. However, I definitely sagged in relief when I finally made it.
I wanted to take a minute and just sit and let out some emotions, but Bear Lake Road is a busy place and a passing car saw me get into the driver’s seat. They immediately turned to pull into the parking lot. The lot was full, so as much as I wanted to have a good cry right there and let my all of my emotions out, I started the car, backed out, and let them have my spot. I hope they enjoyed their visit.
Later That Night
When I checked into my hotel room the day before, I didn’t realize that my room was the furthest from the ice machine. That is the exact opposite of what you need when you’re traveling solo and need ice because you just hiked four miles after dislocating your knee. After cursing the situation, I grabbed the ice bucket, limped down the hall, and got as much ice as I could. I spent the rest of the night with my knee elevated and a bag of ice set on top.
Thankfully, I still had leftovers from the night before so I didn’t have to worry about dinner. After that hike, I was hungry, but there was no way I was going to go out for dinner unless it was a drive thru!
The Next Day
Originally, I had planned to spend the next day doing some more hiking. Those plans went out the window as soon as I dislocated my knee. I already had a timed entry for Bear Lake Road, so I spent my time doing all of the accessible trails in the Bear Lake Corridor and the western part of the park.
I stopped at three lakes, walking at maximum a quarter mile at each. Arguably, I really shouldn’t have done that and should have spent more time resting my knee. However, it was my last day in Colorado and I decided “screw it, I’m going to see whatever I can even if it causes me more pain”.
My knee was still in pretty rough shape. Overnight, it had swelled to nearly twice it’s normal size, so I couldn’t do a lot. Still, I’m glad I got out to see a little bit more of Rocky Mountain National Park, even if the fog was still firmly in place.
I also picked out a parking lot in Estes Park that was nearby some souvenir stores I wanted to visit. I did very minimal shopping in Estes Park, but I did have a chance to grab a few souvenirs before I said goodbye and headed for Loveland, where my last hotel for the trip was located. Unfortunately, the fog was so thick that I couldn’t even enjoy my last scenic drive of the trip.
The next day, I left Colorado and flew back to Wisconsin. I then spent the next week trying to avoid all movement.
So What Would I Have Changed?
In that exact moment, I’m not sure what I could have changed. It was a freak accident and it happened. That said, I think a set of hiking poles would have been helpful here as it would have given me something sturdy to hold on to. They also would have helped tremendously as I hiked back to my car.
In Conclusion
I’m tougher than I thought. If I can hike nearly four miles on a recently dislocated knee, I can do a lot more than I thought. The hike to Sky Pond was hard, even without the dislocated knee, and I’m so proud of myself for what I did.
If you are able, I do recommend hiking the Sky Pond Trail. I just recommend being even more careful that I was at Timberline Falls (even though I thought I was being careful!) and not dislocating your knee. An injury like that can really change the mood.
However, if you are going to injure yourself, Timberland Falls and Lake of Glass are two of the best places to do it, simply because this is where so many people stop (either for to take a break or as the end point of their hike). Even if Dale and his friend hadn’t been right there, there were enough people that I have no doubt, someone would have been able to help.
And if something similar happens in the future, I forced my brother (who is about to graduate from medical school), to teach me how to reset my own knee. Although, here’s hoping I’ll never have to use that knowledge!
Continue Your Adventure
Rocky Mountain National Park: Learn about the timed entries required to enter Rocky Mountain National Park. For non-hikers (or injured hikers), learn what to do at Rocky Mountain besides hiking. Plus, check out my guide for Rocky Mountain National Park.
Colorado National Parks: Colorado has four national parks. Besides Rocky Mountain, you’ll also find Great Sand Dunes, Mesa Verde, and Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Parks.
Colorado Itineraries: For an epic road trip through Colorado, including Sky Pond, check out this 10 day itinerary. Or if you don’t have ten days, try one of these 5 day Colorado itineraries.
More Epic Hikes: If you like hiking and are looking for a challenge, consider hiking to the Top of Texas at Guadalupe Peak.