In and Around the Lake, Mountains Come Out of the Sky and They Stand There
Ok, faithful readers here are some more hiking pics from last weekend. You know, if I keep this trend up, I'm going to have to change the marquee at the top of this page to mention something about hiking since this theme has started to dominate this blog of late. Oh well, it beats me whining about work or my lame music reviews right?
Anyway, we hiked in our usual stomping ground, Rocky Mountain NP. Since our hiking buddies took the previous weekend off and we only went on a little hike with the girls, we didn't want to take on any crazy long summit hikes or anything. Instead we opted for an approximate 6-mile trek that took us by four very beautiful lakes in the park.
Our first stop was Nymph Lake, pictured above. This lake was covered in beautiful yellow water lilies like the ones seen below.
It's a real shame that the early morning sunlight kinda washed out the lilies in this pic, but I wanted to post it anyway. Hey, I never claimed to be a photographer, I'm just a guy who likes to take pictures. Anyway, this was a very beautful spot very early on in our journey. Due to its relative closeness to the trailhead, this was a fairly popular spot. In fact, I hear that there is even a fan club of this lake called the Nymphomaniacs. However, I don't think I'm gonna do a search on it while at work...
The next lake we saw on our way was Dream Lake. Or at least I think I saw it. It could have been one of those weird Waking Life lucid moments. I didn't have any lightswitches nearby to check.
There were a few people fishing on this lake, and I can certainly see why as you could see the trout swimming in the water plain as day from the shore. I tried to get a shot of a fly fisherman in mid-cast framed by the beautiful surroundings, but the guy wouldn't cooperate with me. As soon as he saw some strange guy trying to take his picture he refused to cast out until I was gone. What if I was some guy from Field & Stream magazine? He could have been on the cover. But no, he is reduced to being slammed in my blog. What a shame.
After Dream Lake, we hiked up to Lake Haiyaha. There was some decent elevation gain on this part of the trail. To give you some perspective, our first stop, Nymph Lake (R), is pictured below along with neighboring Bear Lake (L). We parked at Bear Lake.
Lake Haiyaha was really cool. To get to the lake we had to traverse giant boulders half-submerged in the backwaters. There was no shoreline, just a huge crystal-clear body of water surrounded by huge rocks.
Disappointingly, I didn't see any marmots on this outing. However, I did see this little guy who literally landed at my feet and hung out for awhile. I also saw a cool hummingbird drinking from a wildflower, but very unfortunately I couldn't get a good shot off. Those little buggers are pretty fast.
Here is a shot of Lake Haiyaha. Or at least some of it. The size of this lake was pretty amazing considering how high up we were. I think I need to get a wide-angle lens or something. Like pretty much all of these shots, the pictures don't do the real thing justice.
On our way back from Lake Haiyaha, we passed an off-shoot trail that led to Emerald Lake. The distance was only an extra .7 miles (1.4 roundtrip) and we still felt fresh se we decided to make the side trip. Little did we know that it was .7 miles straight up. So much for having fresh legs. But it was totally worth it. Framed by Hallett Peak to the left and Flattop Mountain to the right (yes, the flat one in the pic is NOT Flattop. Don't ask me, I didn't name them), it was a very scenic spot.
So scenic in fact, that one could sit in a tree root throne and soak in all of the surrounding natural beauty. Moments like this are priceless and I for sure don't take for granted my ability to enjoy them. This is what it's all about, man.
Anyway, we hiked in our usual stomping ground, Rocky Mountain NP. Since our hiking buddies took the previous weekend off and we only went on a little hike with the girls, we didn't want to take on any crazy long summit hikes or anything. Instead we opted for an approximate 6-mile trek that took us by four very beautiful lakes in the park.
Our first stop was Nymph Lake, pictured above. This lake was covered in beautiful yellow water lilies like the ones seen below.
It's a real shame that the early morning sunlight kinda washed out the lilies in this pic, but I wanted to post it anyway. Hey, I never claimed to be a photographer, I'm just a guy who likes to take pictures. Anyway, this was a very beautful spot very early on in our journey. Due to its relative closeness to the trailhead, this was a fairly popular spot. In fact, I hear that there is even a fan club of this lake called the Nymphomaniacs. However, I don't think I'm gonna do a search on it while at work...
The next lake we saw on our way was Dream Lake. Or at least I think I saw it. It could have been one of those weird Waking Life lucid moments. I didn't have any lightswitches nearby to check.
There were a few people fishing on this lake, and I can certainly see why as you could see the trout swimming in the water plain as day from the shore. I tried to get a shot of a fly fisherman in mid-cast framed by the beautiful surroundings, but the guy wouldn't cooperate with me. As soon as he saw some strange guy trying to take his picture he refused to cast out until I was gone. What if I was some guy from Field & Stream magazine? He could have been on the cover. But no, he is reduced to being slammed in my blog. What a shame.
After Dream Lake, we hiked up to Lake Haiyaha. There was some decent elevation gain on this part of the trail. To give you some perspective, our first stop, Nymph Lake (R), is pictured below along with neighboring Bear Lake (L). We parked at Bear Lake.
Lake Haiyaha was really cool. To get to the lake we had to traverse giant boulders half-submerged in the backwaters. There was no shoreline, just a huge crystal-clear body of water surrounded by huge rocks.
Disappointingly, I didn't see any marmots on this outing. However, I did see this little guy who literally landed at my feet and hung out for awhile. I also saw a cool hummingbird drinking from a wildflower, but very unfortunately I couldn't get a good shot off. Those little buggers are pretty fast.
Here is a shot of Lake Haiyaha. Or at least some of it. The size of this lake was pretty amazing considering how high up we were. I think I need to get a wide-angle lens or something. Like pretty much all of these shots, the pictures don't do the real thing justice.
On our way back from Lake Haiyaha, we passed an off-shoot trail that led to Emerald Lake. The distance was only an extra .7 miles (1.4 roundtrip) and we still felt fresh se we decided to make the side trip. Little did we know that it was .7 miles straight up. So much for having fresh legs. But it was totally worth it. Framed by Hallett Peak to the left and Flattop Mountain to the right (yes, the flat one in the pic is NOT Flattop. Don't ask me, I didn't name them), it was a very scenic spot.
So scenic in fact, that one could sit in a tree root throne and soak in all of the surrounding natural beauty. Moments like this are priceless and I for sure don't take for granted my ability to enjoy them. This is what it's all about, man.
posted by john at 6:59 AM
4 Comments:
oh my what a lovely day you must have had.
the one thing i miss about the mountains is living life in a place near places like that...
thanks for pics!
Thanks, Sass, I'm glad you liked them.
Yeah, one good thing about living here is that since I don't have the funds to just hop on a plane and fly to Europe or some other exotic location, I at least have beautiful spots like these less than an hour (and a short hike) away. Someday I'd like to hike in the Alps, but for now the Rockies are doing just fine.
You are living the good life my friend.
Hey, it ain't perfect but I'm certainly trying. And when I do whine about those moments of imperfection, please know that I am quite aware of my good fortunes and I for sure don't take them for granted. I'd probably be bored with an idyllic life anyway. Happiness should be in the pursuit itself, not necessarily the ideal in which we are forever pursuing...
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