Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Finally, the stars aligned and we could go hiking again! This was a glorious autumn day, so we headed for the hills. Rocky Mountain National Park, to be specific.
Traffic was heavy the first part of the drive, until we got past the last Boulder turnoff from highway 287. A lot of people were avoiding the construction on US 36, evidently.
We were a little concerned about the highway between Lyons and Estes Park since large portions of that road washed out completely in the massive flooding last year. However, they have really been working hard on it and they seem to be on target for their end of this month deadline for reopening the whole thing. We had a couple of minor delays, but that’s all.
Since it was such a lovely day, the park was crowded! In fact, they had signs out all along Bear Lake Road stating that most of the trailhead parking lots were full, please park at the Park-N-Ride and take the shuttle bus. We had already planned to do just that! The Park-N-Ride was over half full for a change.
Our bus arrived after a short wait and almost everyone waiting got to board it. The shuttle was so popular that some people had to wait for the next bus. Buses run about every 10 minutes or so, make three stops between the Park-N-Ride and Bear Lake before reversing the route. Almost everyone on our bus was headed for Bear Lake, as were we.
We started up the trail about 10:30. The aspens are in full glory today! The photo on the left shows part of the early portion of the trail, as we start to enter a layer of aspens.
The total trail to Emerald Lake is 1.8 miles with a 610 foot elevation change. It sure seemed longer and steeper than that!
Half a mile from the Bear Lake trailheads is Nymph Lake.
The three photos above are different views of Nymph Lake. It's covered with a thin layer of waterlilies. The photo on the right shows a mountain reflection among the water lilies and was taken on our way back down the mountain, when the light wasn't as harsh.
Six tenths of a mile beyond Nymph Lake is Dream Lake, which lives up to its name.
There's quite a hike uphill between these two lakes. The photo on the left shows some of the hikers we kept running into on the hike. This was a good stopping spot to look back down onto Nymph Lake, as you can see in the photo on the right.
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The three photos above were also taken between Nymph and Dream Lakes. The photo on the left shows some hikers looking back over the valley below. The center photo is about what their view was, looking at the mountains. The photo on the right shows some of the many peaks in the area through the branches of an aspen.
And we finally arrived at Dream Lake. The photo on the left shows a view up the length of this lake. The center photo shows some tourists admiring the view of the lake. The photo on the right shows some sun sparkles off the lake. Our trail kept to the shoreline most of the way down the length of the lake. It's a popular location for fishermen.
Seven tenths of a mile beyond Dream Lake is Emerald Lake and the end of the trail.
The photo on the left above is our parting view of Dream Lake before the trail starts climbing again. The center photo shows some of the gorgeous color we saw as we climbed higher. The photo on the right shows our trail going up and up and up. Not as high as the peaks on the background, but it sure felt like it!
The portion of the trail between Dream and Emerald Lakes is dotted with waterfalls. The photos above show a sample of these.
After the first two lakes, Emerald was almost a disappointment. It’s almost above the tree line and is surrounded by lots and lots of rocks and dead trees. There's also no trail around the perimeter. Both of these photos show Emerald Lake as seen from the one access point it has.
I stopped to rest part way between Dream and Emerald Lakes as the altitude was getting to me. After a ten minute rest, we pressed on and discovered we had only been ten easy minutes from the lake!
We had a late lunch at Emerald Lake (we arrived about 1:15). And the squirrels begged for handouts the whole time. One was particularly obnoxious, tapping each of us on the back at one time! Really startled me....
After about half an hour at Emerald Lake, we headed back down.
The three photos above show more of the waterfalls between Emerald Lake and Dream Lake. The photo on the left was taken on a bridge at the top of the water in the center photo. The center photo shows the autumn trees topping a canyon where the water tumbles down (lower mid frame). The photo on the right is yet another fall. Lots of water tumbling down hillsides.
We liked this one overlook between Dream and Nymph Lakes so much that we stopped to try this photo (left) again. The first time, there were too many other hikers walking through and taking their own photos!
We arrived back at Bear Lake (right) a little before 3 and walked out to see the lake itself. We thought about taking the nature trail around the lake, but were too pooped. Another time.
So, back on the shuttle bus to our car and headed home. We got home a little before 6 and headed straight for the hot tub!