Monday, 16 July 2018
This morning’s routine is much like yesterday’s. We wake early, arrive at the cafeteria in time to be first in line and we are on the road by 7:45 am, this time, all together in a brand new 15 passenger van. Despite our relatively early start, the Bear Lake parking area is already full. So we park in the shuttle lot below and wait in a long line (which grows longer by the minute) to board the shuttle. Happily, the shuttles run frequently and the line moves quickly. The trailhead at Bear Lake looks like Grand Central Station. We hoist our packs and head up the trail, pausing to admire Bear Lake before we begin our climb. From Bear Lake we hike up to lily-dappled Nymph Lake. Then we ascend to Dream Lake and further still to Emerald Lake. All of the lakes are beautiful, but the shores are crowded with Rocky Mountain National Park visitors. Raucous gray jays, Clark’s nutcrackers, and Stellar’s jays entertain us as we snack by Emerald Lake.
After our snacks, we head back down to Dream Lake and find a trail junction from which a less developed trail leads upward through a pine forest and over a glacial moraine to boulder-edged Hiyaha Lake. As soon as we begin climbing the less developed trail the crowds dissipate. Hiyaha is another spectacular lake surrounded by rocky crags. We duck under the magically twisted trunk of an ancient limber pine to approach the shore. Limber pines have very flexible branches that have the ability to twist and bend in the wind so they can survive the harsh subalpine conditions. As we eat our lunch we watch trout in the lake rise to the surface to feed. We again fend off jays, nutcrackers and golden mantled squirrels, all of whom are very interested in our lunches.
From Lake Hiyaha we descend by another less developed trail which winds through pine, fir, and hemlock. We pass upper and lower Alberta Falls on our way back to the shuttle stop. From here we return to the Y, have our evening meeting and go to dinner. The cafeteria appears to have been invaded by a horde of teens. The cashier confirms that she has checked through over 1000 people for dinner. Luckily, the teens are finishing up as we arrive. Our only disappointment is that they cleaned out all of today’s dessert, ice cream sandwiches.
Today’s hike was a bit over 8 miles, reaching an elevation of over 10,000 feet. O and I are finally adjusting to the elevation. Neither of us felt unusually short of breath as we hiked today. Tomorrow’s hike will be over 9 miles with even more elevation gain. Our leaders promise we will be on a “secret ranger trail” and should be well away from the crowds.