This is a wonderful area to explore from Boulder, although the construction on the road up the canyon makes for a slow trip. Plus there can be a wait at the gate, which is regulated to make sure the parking areas don’t overflow. You can’t make reservations like up at Rocky Mountain NP. Here we arrived about 11 am and were directed to the Day Use Parking Area near the east end of Brainard Lake. I’m sure it’s more crowded on weekends. It worked fine for us. We walked by Brainard Lake and then up around Long Lake, about 6 miles altogether. There were lots of other people, but it didn’t seem overcrowded. Nearly everyone on the trail was wearing masks, or pulled them up as they passed others. The views are absolutely breathtaking, as was the altitude (10,600’). There’s also camping at Pawnee, but reservations are hard to come by, and having a reservation doesn’t save you from waiting in line.