Or, Rhiannon <3 Microspikes
Last week Mitchy and I visited Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) for the first time. I reached a new understanding of how beautiful the world can be, and a new understanding of how important microspikes are. My experience in the park was magical.
This trip had a lot of firsts for me – first time hottubing while snow was falling, first time hiking in snow, first time binge watching three seasons of 30 Rock. Of course, I now have a lot of lessons learned based on my experience. Without further ado, below are my three main tips for hiking Rocky Mountain National Park in wintertime:
1. Review research sites
There are a lot of websites with important information on Rocky Mountain National Park trails and weather conditions. Entrance to the park requires purchasing a car pass, which may be done in advance. In peak tourist season, sometimes time permits must be scheduled as well. All of this information is available on https://www.nps.gov/romo/planyourvisit/fees.htm. Avalanche warnings are available on https://www.avalanche.state.co.us/, and fantastic trail reviews for specific hikes may be found on https://www.alltrails.com/.
2. In particular, review Alltrails.com
AllTrails is a brilliant resource because there will often be recent reviews from people who hiked a specific trail a few days before. Often these amazing reviewers will give recommendations about what gear to bring, how long a certain trail took them, even details on how full the trailhead parking lot would be at any specific time. I stalked the AllTrails pages for the specific hikes that I wanted to do at RMNP for the weeks leading up to our trip, and I’m so glad that I did. Those reviewers gave me excellent ideas for gear that I never would have thought of otherwise. That leads to my final lesson learned:
3. If you’re on the fence about Microspikes, get some and thank me later
Prior to March 2022, I had never heard of microspikes. But as I read the AllTrails reviews, I grew more and more intrigued with these mysterious items. Hikers everywhere mentioned microspikes, thanked goodness for microspikes, and said things like “carried poles and snowshoes but didn’t need them, wish we hadn’t brought them. All we needed were microspikes.” I had multiple serious discussions with Mitchy (“do you have any microspikes? Do you think we should get some? All the cool kids seem to have microspikes”).
I dithered about microspikes for quite a while, as I am wont to do when considering expensive purchases merely based on the advice of random strangers on the internet (now that I put it that way, my dithering sounds like a good habit that I should be more supportive of. Rory tells me that the Instagram influencers I follow do not need more of my business). Finally I ordered some, swayed by a review that mentioned microspikes could be bundled up and carried in a pocket when not worn.
Those microspikes were lifesavers. The first trail that we embarked on was covered with people slipping and falling. People who clearly hadn’t read Alltrails, and hadn’t brought microspikes. A lone park ranger armed with a shovel was struggling to help all of these lost souls and loudly repeating that microspikes could be rented down in the valley.
Even though I was suffering from a miserable head cold, the subsequent schadenfreude was powerful enough to boost me all the way from Bear Lake Trailhead to Emerald Lake, and again the next day from Glacier Gorge Trailhead to Sky Pond. Everywhere we went, people with snowshoes and poles or regular hiking boots were forced to tiptoe along the trails. Mitchy and I skipped past like mountain goats, the snow gaily crunching under our feet. I’m an honest and persnickety reviewer, so I’ll admit that the crunching is the one flaw to microspikes – they’re extremely loud. Do not expect to successfully sneak up on anyone while wearing microspikes, because they will hear you half a mile away.
However, the way microspikes hampered my ability to perform childish “boo” tricks was literally the only downside to wearing them. With microspikes on my shoes, I could walk on uneven ground that was completely iced over with the same confidence that I would normally feel walking down a sidewalk.
If we hadn’t brought microspikes, we would not have been able to complete any of the trails that we started. Partially because it would have been physically impossible, and partially because I’m not sure I could have managed the last couple miles to Skypond without the ego boost of passing all the people struggling along without microspikes.
Conclusion
That concludes my lessons learned from the gorgeous Rocky Mountain National Park. Thank you to the wonderful people who contribute helpful reviews on AllTrails. This trip had a sublime impact on my writing, so for those of you who are regular readers of Chip, this won’t be the last you hear from me on RMNP. Wishing you happy hiking and happy writings!
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