Rocky Mountain National Park: Chasm Lake

 Noelle and Sierra spent part of this week staying in Estes Park with friends. They bought a week pass to access Rocky Mountain National Park and had one day left of the pass, today. Noelle encouraged me to use the last day of the pass and so I made the drive into Northern Colorado and to the Longs Peak Trailhead. I had just been here a few weeks ago for the hike up to Estes Cone. Today I would attempt the hike up to Chasm Lake.

After leaving home before 5 am, I arrived to find the trailhead parking lot full. I had to park alongside the road. I made the short walk up the road to the Longs Peak Ranger Station, 

and set off on the trail. 

After reaching the trail to Estes Cone, I continued on my trail passing through the Goblin's Forest.

Soon I reached the snow line and the trees alongside the trail were beautiful, covered with sugary frost and snow.

Soon I passed near a stream and noticed that a fair amount of ice had formed along the edges of rocks in the stream. 

I crossed the snow-covered lightning bridge 

and soon headed up above the trees. 

Above tree line the views really opened up. I caught a glimpse of Estes Cone,

and nearly constant views of Longs Peak.

Here progress slowed a bit, as I could feel the effects of altitude. Still, my recent running kick had me feeling stronger on this hike than I've felt in a pretty long time. 

I continued to ascend with views of the peak.

After reaching Chasm Junction the trail levelled off a bit. The views were even more impressive. 

I caught views of Peacock Pool and Columbine Falls.

Then I passed through a meadow and started an icy climb up to Chasm Lake.

I relaxed on a rock near the shore of the lake for a bit before turning around to make my way back to the trailhead. The views on the return were every bit as impressive as they had been on the way in.

While I didn't see a whole lot of wildlife on the hike (probably due to all the people I was sharing the trail with) I did catch a nice view of a raven.

Soon I was back down into the trees and the warm temperatures. With clear skies and temperatures in the 60s, Estes Park was extremely busy. I opted to skip lunch in Estes and headed to Greeley and WeldWerks on the way home for a well earned beer.