Saturday, September 24th was National Public Lands Day, and a fee-free day for all National Park Service parks (though hundreds never charge an entrance fee). I did my part to flood the parks yesterday, heading up to Rocky Mountain National Park for a hike with the Colorado Explorers to Lake Haiyaha, a pristine subalpine lake amid the boulder-strewn Chaos Canyon.
The seven of us snagged two of the last few spaces at the major Bear Lake trailhead and quickly made off, away from the busting parking lot. Our route was a moderate 4.7 mile loop, that would take us south past Alberta Falls, then back northwest between the Glacier Knobs to Lake Haiyaha; then we would return via the more common route connecting to the Emerald Lake Trail at Dream Lake, passing Nymph Lake en route back to the parking area.
I’ve only ever snowshoed up Glacier Gorge, so this was my first time seeing the area clear of snow and Alberta Falls unfrozen. It was a nice, if slightly hidden, falls, but coming from WNC my waterfall standards are high, so it wasn’t worth more than a brief pause for me. (So no photo.)
We slowly and steadily climbed to the junction with North Longs Peak Trail, where the views back north to Bierstadt Moraine were beautiful. The green swaths of pines were accented with the occasional patch of bright yellow aspens. One large aspen grove looked like a giant golden scar across the hillside above Bear Lake. The only thing that detracted from the scene was the visible parking area at Bear Lake, with windshields glinting and even the row of orange traffic cones visible from nearly one mile away.
Turning west, the trail followed Glacier Creek to the Glacier Knobs, a pair of bulging granite domes sculpted by the same glaciers that formed the surrounding valleys and rise on either side of the major trail junction of Loch Vale and Glacier Gorge Trails. Our path turned north, between the Knobs, and skirted the West Knob’s east face, which was decorated by the contrasting bands of schist.
This trail is considered “unimproved” but it is currently undergoing major improvements. Most of the trail had been armored with rocks and the steep sections had rock steps. We later ran into a woman from the Rocky Mountain Nature Association who told us that they had helped fund the project, which began in 2009 and is scheduled to be completed by the end of next summer.
The seven of us snagged two of the last few spaces at the major Bear Lake trailhead and quickly made off, away from the busting parking lot. Our route was a moderate 4.7 mile loop, that would take us south past Alberta Falls, then back northwest between the Glacier Knobs to Lake Haiyaha; then we would return via the more common route connecting to the Emerald Lake Trail at Dream Lake, passing Nymph Lake en route back to the parking area.
I’ve only ever snowshoed up Glacier Gorge, so this was my first time seeing the area clear of snow and Alberta Falls unfrozen. It was a nice, if slightly hidden, falls, but coming from WNC my waterfall standards are high, so it wasn’t worth more than a brief pause for me. (So no photo.)
We slowly and steadily climbed to the junction with North Longs Peak Trail, where the views back north to Bierstadt Moraine were beautiful. The green swaths of pines were accented with the occasional patch of bright yellow aspens. One large aspen grove looked like a giant golden scar across the hillside above Bear Lake. The only thing that detracted from the scene was the visible parking area at Bear Lake, with windshields glinting and even the row of orange traffic cones visible from nearly one mile away.
Turning west, the trail followed Glacier Creek to the Glacier Knobs, a pair of bulging granite domes sculpted by the same glaciers that formed the surrounding valleys and rise on either side of the major trail junction of Loch Vale and Glacier Gorge Trails. Our path turned north, between the Knobs, and skirted the West Knob’s east face, which was decorated by the contrasting bands of schist.
This trail is considered “unimproved” but it is currently undergoing major improvements. Most of the trail had been armored with rocks and the steep sections had rock steps. We later ran into a woman from the Rocky Mountain Nature Association who told us that they had helped fund the project, which began in 2009 and is scheduled to be completed by the end of next summer.
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| An unnamed lake along Lake Haiyaha Trail. |
As we neared Lake Haiyaha, the trail followed a small creek. Several openings provided stunning views of Longs Peak, Keyboard of the Winds, and Pagoda Mountain.
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| A washed-out Longs Peak. |
Eventually we ran into Lake Haiyaha Trail, followed it for 1/4 of a mile, and then rock-hopped our way along the edge of the lake to a (relatively) flat boulder to have a little lunch. Dave surprised us all by pulling a 10” kitchen knife out of his pack saying “Oh man, I forgot my cutting board.” We were all taken aback, wondering what he was about to prepare for lunch. He then showed us the honeydew mellon he had been carrying the whole time and started cutting, warning us “I’ve never grown honeydews before, so I don’t know if it’s ripe.”
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| Chaos Canyon and Hallett Peak above Haiyaha. |
A Clif Bar, apple, and two semi-ripe wedges of honeydew later I was full and anxious to explore. I had been to Haiyaha once before but had stayed on the northeast side, opposite of where we were. So I took off on my own, wandering around, sliding down between boulders to the patches of earth below, and climbing back up to the tops of the biggest for amazing views of the entire lake and aptly named Chaos Canyon, a boulder-filled gorge between Hallett Peak and Otis Peak.
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| Super cold Lake Haiyaha. |
Lake Haiyaha lies at 10,220 feet, and is especially rocky, with hundreds boulders, the size of cars and even small houses, nearly encircling the entire lake. These enormous rocks attract boulderers from around the globe, and create a unique setting for this subalpine lake that really sets it apart from other lakes in the park. We easily spotted cutthroat trout in the cold water and were pestered by birds searching for dropped bits of trail mix.
The hike back down to Dream Lake was pretty crowded. Before the lake, we caught a great view back to Nymph and Bear Lake, with patches of yellow splashed along the valley. We actually were a little disorientated by the angle; I had to pull out my map for us to confirm that the further lake was Bear.
The hike back down to Dream Lake was pretty crowded. Before the lake, we caught a great view back to Nymph and Bear Lake, with patches of yellow splashed along the valley. We actually were a little disorientated by the angle; I had to pull out my map for us to confirm that the further lake was Bear.
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| Nymph and Bear Lakes. |
We made our way past LOTS of hikers after Dream Lake, and the trailhead was swarmed. The trail around Bear Lake was packed, the shuttles were dropping off and whisking away visitors, and cars were slowing idling around the lot in hopes for spaces that all the “Bear Lake Lot FULL” signs along the drive had told them didn’t exist.
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| Bear Lake Trailhead. |
In the last two weekends I’ve re-hiked the first two hikes I ever did in Rocky Mountain National Park. It’s neat to see how familiar I am with the area now, after living here for less than a year. I’ve gotten pretty good at knowing my landmarks, especially in RMNP, but there are still so many more trails, lakes, valleys, mountains, and peaks to go.
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