Emerald Lake

Johnny Jones, 12 July 2001

Each member of our family looked forward to going to the other side of the Rocky Mountain National Park of Friday; that was to be our big day. Bryan and Amy wanted to climb Hallet's Peak, and Chip and I were going to explore those lakes tucked away in the mountains. Best of all, we could start from the same trailhead.

But first we had to get there. That meant Trail Ridge Road. I had seen a National Park Service ad in Newsweek about the drive across this high mountain road; it was billed as one of the best in the nation.

We left our cabin at 7 a.m. for our drive. Because showers come in the afternoon, our guidebook warned us to be off the summit of Hallet's Peak by noon. It recommended starting from the trailhead at 9. We had heard the drive took a couple hours.

Before long we crossed the Continental Divide ­ then we kept climbing. The highest point on the road was above the tree line, at more than 12,183 feet. At one of those mountain passes, the marmots frolicked across the road, daring us to take our attention from the highway. We didn't; the beauty of the road came partially from the feeling that we were on a narrow ribbon at the top of the world. Beside some of the sheer drop-offs, there were tall poles, maybe 15' high; we realized they were for snow plows.

"How would you train for that job?" I asked.

Bryan replied, "It would be self-selecting." And we looked over the edge to see if there were any snow-moving equipment below.

None we could see.

What we did see was the amazing combination of the early morning light and the glorious mountains. I thought of the song, "Majesty! Worship His Majesty!" We sang as we drove, and thanked the Lord for His wonderful world.

Bryan and Amy didn't get on their trail towards Hallet's Peak until 9:30, but I knew they would have no trouble making it up by noon. After planning how to get back together, Chip and I took off the other direction, towards the other lakes in the area.

There was not to be a lot of elevation gain, so we thought we had a level trail ahead of us.

It was smooth, with a little elevation gain, to Nymph Lake. All spread out with waterlilies, the lake looked like a dream.

But that name was already taken. Dream Lake was nestled in the woods and backed by mountains.

Emerald Lake was just behind it, but we couldn't find the trail. Finally, Chip walked on a couple of rocks in the lake but at the edge, and found it. We wondered, "Could this be right?" Turns out those lake rocks were probably the best part of the trail. We crossed a couple of small snowfields, some dank watery places, and scrambled up rocks. There were a couple of places that were enough of a stretch that I needed a boost.

It reminded me of the last part of Pike's Peak ­ but on the Peak, we took the train down. I have more trouble going down than up, and I was wondering, "How will I get down???"

But it was actually Chip who slipped first, on rocks worn slick by thousands of pairs of hiking boots. We started watching for the tell-tale white spots on the gray rocks that warned of trouble.

When we got to the water's edge, we were compensated for our efforts. The view reminded me of Switzerland, with the firs and mountains meeting the blue-green water's edge. It was post-card perfect.

Several people complimented our Leki hiking poles. Between the spring-loaded poles and Chip's helping hand, getting down was not as hard as I feared. I thought, "The worst is behind us!"

The next lake, Hiayeah, was a couple miles away. We went up and down dusty rock-strewn trails. When we got there, it didn't look like much. "This can't be it," Chip said. But where could it be? Where was the trail?

Some people eating on the rocks assured us, "This is just a pond. The lake is over there."

"Over there" was across huge boulders and beyond a tree. Not again! This was even more of a scramble, without even the hint of a path. But the lake was close enough that we didn't need one. Whew!

The rest of the trail was lovely, too. Alberta Falls was a nice, high course of water, and some of the path reminded me of the Grand Canyon.

Our children's eyes were shining when we met at the car. They ate above the tree-line, in a field of forget-me-nots. Their trail was also faintly marked, beyond Flat Top Mountain, by cairns piled slightly higher than the surrounding boulder fields.

After our day on the more populated side of the park we really appreciated Grand Lake and the trails we had mostly to ourselves. We spent our last day at our cabin celebrating Bryan's birthday with a breakfast in his honor, including decorations I brought in my luggage from Rolla Wal-Mart. Later in the day, we tried the N. Inlet trail.

That meant we ended up hiking 6 days in a row! We had been worried that there was nothing to do besides hike. But we got to experience absolutely incredible scenery, on trails and the high road. We got to see high meadows, streams running clear and cold, and lakes tucked into the mountains. We got to enjoy one another and relax and pray together. The Lord blessed us with such lovely weather and the trails were so glorious that we didn't need the alternatives we had been concerned about. Simple was good.