Rocky Mountain National Park

I got up early the next morning to catch sunrise. None of those pictures made it into this post, since I snoozed a bit too long after my alarm. I watched a beautiful sunrise, but was not in a good location to photograph. Stunning around me, just not photogenic.

So after the sun rose and the golden light faded, I finished hiking up to Dream Lake. The hike started with snow literally at the very edge of the parking lot, and continued unabated for the entire hike. This one started at 9,500 feet, and my poor lungs felt it!

Fortunately, it is a short hike (1'ish miles) with modest elevation gain (500'ish feet), but the snow (and ice) were sketchy. When I arrived, the mountains were largely shrouded in clouds, snuffing out the good light.

I continued on to Emerald Lake, a bit short of another mile with more than 700 feet of elevation, taking me up to 10,100 feet. In both places, I had the trail and the location to myself, which was simply amazing. The clouds were still there when I arrived, but cleared out in less than 10 minutes.

As I was making my way down to Dream Lake, I encountered my first fellow hikers. At Dream Lake, a couple was doing their wedding photos - they are just out of camera to the right.

Since the sun was out...and I forgot my sunscreen, I headed back to the car rather than heading straight to The Loch. It added a mile or two to my hike, and some decent elevation change that really drained me. Along the way to The Loch, I passed Alberta Falls. This is pretty close to a parking lot, so there were a ton of people, though way less than on my way back down after hitting The Loch.

The Loch, like Emerald and the majority of Dream lakes, was covered in snow and ice. Despite sitting at 10,190 feet and almost 3 miles in, was crowded. Add to the fact that the trail was SKETCHY in places (walking over snow bridges, icy/slippery in exposed areas) - but mostly within 1/4 mile of the top - I was surprised at how many people were up there. It was still pretty and restful in spite of the crowds. 

Cheers,

Marc