Emerald Lake (Part II)

Click here for Part I.

Emerald Lake was a welcome sight. But with the sun not yet fully risen and a stiff breeze at the higher elevation, it was a bit chilly.

Some other folks had found a good way to celebrate reaching the end of the trail -- sliding down one of the snowy slopes around the shore.

This clearly wasn't the first windy day. This dead wood had been intricately carved over time.

Pictures of scenery never seem to do justice to the actual view. These are no exception.

One lone tree at the eastern edge of the lake seemed to take pride in defying the odds and growing where nothing else did.

Have I mentioned before how visually interesting I find dead wood?

I believe this is Thatchtop Summit to the southeast.

The sky grew increasingly streaked with jet trails as the morning wore on.

That unspoiled patch of snow where I broke some trail on the way out? Subsequent hikers had apparently liked my thinking.

And remember deserted Nymph Lake? Not so much by the time I got back to it.

I meandered around for about two and a half hours, covering roughly four miles round-trip and gaining about 1,200 feet of elevation on the way in. I can't WAIT to go back with as many of my family members as will come!

Emerald Lake (Part I)

I'm late with this post, but back on Jan. 9 I got up bright and early and drove up to Rocky Mountain National Park with a pair of rented snowshoes from REI. Objective: Hike out to Emerald Lake.

I was at the Bear Lake trailhead by 9:30, before too many other folks had made it out.

But there was a nice group who offered to take my photo at Bear Lake.

I didn't expect the first leg to be as steep as it was, but it got the blood pumping.

Nymph Lake was peaceful. I actually had a hard time picking up the trail from here, and ended up following some tracks that turned out to be on a bit of a detour.

The little side trek did pass by some interesting snow formations, though.

My trail did eventually re-connect with the main one and lead me to Dream Lake, which was beautiful even with the sun not yet over the ridge.

I lost the trail again, and ended up having to despoil some more snow that had been gorgeously carved by wind to break one.

A breathtaking view was seemingly around every turn. Before coming it was hard to understand how someone could pick a particular parcel of land in a state with as much natural beauty as Colorado and decide it deserved to be a National Park. It didn't take long to figure it out once I got there.

Shortly before reaching Emerald Lake the sun had finally climbed high enough to brighten and warm the terrain. The hike was turning out to be everything I had hoped and more.

Click here for Part II.