Nymph, Dream, and Emerald Lake
We headed up into the mountains for the first time this year to go snowshoeing in Rocky Mountain National Park. We bought a parks pass since this is pretty much the only area that didn't get burned to the ground this summer (although it got its fair share of burning as well). We figured that this year will be a lot of Rocky Mountain National Park hiking so we might as well buy a pass to get into the park all year long.
We got to the trailhead at about 9:30, right as the storm over the trail was dissipating. It was perfect because we had pretty good fresh snow but it wasn't snowing directly on top of us. The trail was also a little less busy when we started our hike since people were waiting for the storms to pass.
We were well prepared with our clothing and equipment, however, I did forget one critical item: an SD card fro my camera. I even had 4 camera batteries with me, but no SD card. So all of these photos were taken with my phone which did a decent job, however, it didn't do so great with the colors (which is why there's a lot of black and white photos in this album). Oh well, you live and you learn and this isn't a mistake I'll be making again during the 2021 hiking season.
We didn't need our snowshoes to get to Nymph Lake, they were arguably needed to get from Nymph Lake to Dream Lake, and they were essential to get from Dream to Emerald Lake. The hike took us almost 2 and a half hours for the 3.5 mile round trip hike that was only 827 feet of elevation gain.
![](assets/images/hikingstat_distance.png)
![](assets/images/hikingstat_time.png)
![](assets/images/hikingstat_elevationmax.png)
![](assets/images/hikingstat_elevationgain.png)
![Nymph Lake](/photos/2021/february/album071512img_3091_1.jpg)
Nymph Lake
All the lakes in the area were completely frozen over. Made for a slightly shorter hike since we could cut across the lakes instead of going around!
![Heavy Branches](/photos/2021/february/album071512img_3130_1.jpg)
Heavy Branches
The trees were all covered in a heavy blanket of snow.
![Detailed Clouds](/photos/2021/february/album071533img_3147_2.jpg)
Detailed Clouds
The clouds were moving fast and often covered up the sun which made for photos pretty great. This photo is of half mountain (on the left) and Storm Peak (to the right, partially covered by the storm).
![Stormy Mountains](/photos/2021/february/album071512img_3151_1.jpg)
Stormy Mountains
There were storms above storm peak the entire hike, but we had blue skies above us the entire time. Made for spectacular views without any of the horrible weather.
![Half Mountain](/photos/2021/february/album071512img_3161_1.jpg)
Half Mountain
The peak fully visible is Half Mountain. The peak hidden my the storm is aptly named storm peak.
![Dream Lake](/photos/2021/february/album071533img_3185_2.jpg)
Dream Lake
Dream lake was completely frozen over as expected. We continued on what we thought was our trail but ended up being the trail to Lake Haiyaha, so we turned around and walked the length of Dream lake to continue onto Emerald Lake.
![Selfie at Dream Lake](/photos/2021/february/album071531img_3191_1.jpg)
Selfie at Dream Lake
![Flattop Mountain](/photos/2021/february/album071531img_3204_1.jpg)
Flattop Mountain
Even though the mountain is pretty jagged, the mountain to the Northwest of Emerald lake is Flattop Mountain.
![Two Peaks](/photos/2021/february/album071531img_3211_1.jpg)
Two Peaks
Emerald lake is surrounded by mountains. The peak to the left is Hallett Peak, and the spires to the right as Flattop Mountain.
![Selfie Infront of Hallett Peak](/photos/2021/february/album071531IMG_3233_1.jpg)
Selfie Infront of Hallett Peak
We made it to our destination of Emerald Lake and decided to take a selfie before heading back to get out of the wind.