Diamond Lake

Out for another hike today, this time with my former Examiner.com colleague Travis Henry.  The Diamond Lake Trail from the Fourth of July trailhead by Eldora seemed like a good stretch of the legs, and something neither of us had done before.

If you like waterfalls, this is a hike for you.  This one is actually coming down from Diamond Lake.

Conditions were pretty overcast all morning, but there were still some nice views back to the east.

Did I mention waterfalls?  The trail literally went right through this one.

Waterfalls?  The trail crossed a bridge about 30 yards downstream from this one, but it was easy enough to walk up to it for a closer view.

Getting to the lake itself took just 1:15 over 2.5 miles with only 768 feet of net elevation gain, though there is a little down-and-up stretch as you cross the north fork of South Boulder Creek that adds roughly another 500 feet to the total round-trip gain.

Hung out at the lake for about half an hour, and the sun broke through the clouds for about one minute.  But it was a pretty minute.

Ginny doesn't usually sit quite this perfectly.  Not sure why she listened to me so well for this pose.

Waterfalls?  Another one was visible coming down from Upper Diamond Lake.  I believe that's Mount Jasper on the right.

Somewhat surprisingly, the sun shone brightly almost the entire way back.  Gave a different look to the waterfall you walk through.

Took less than three hours of actual hiking time to cover the five miles.  Really a nice way to break up the week!