Nymph and Dream Lakes hike, Rocky Mountain National Park,
Sept 15, 2011
This was the second time we had hiked the Nymph, Dream & Emerald Lakes trail. It had snowed at the highest elevations overnight and, with inclement weather threatening, we had spent the morning in Estes Park, hoping we could get out on the trails later in the day.
The trail is well maintained and the climb is mostly modest and relatively steady on the way in from the parking lot at Bear Lake, though there there are a few sections that are a bit more steep. It was cool and partly sunny, but we had our rain gear along, just in case.
Nymph Lake, about a half a mile from the trailhead and 230 feet higher in elevation (9,705 ft.), is a pretty little lake with an abundance of pond lilies and great views of Hallet Peak (12,713 ft.) and Longs Peak (14,259 ft.). Dream Lake (9,912 ft.), a beautiful subalpine lake, is 1.1 miles from the trailhead.
With our late start and deteriorating weather conditions, after reaching the far end of Dream Lake, we decided to turn back instead of continuing on to Emerald Lake (10,090 ft.)
Rocky Mountain National Park area links:
Rocky Mountain National Park
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Estes Park |
Grand Lake
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Random camping and travel images #36
