Location: Rocky Mountain National Park, north of Estes Park, Colorado

Maps: USGS 1:24K Estes Park / Trails Illustrated 1:59K Rocky Mt National Park #200  Trail Map

Access: The most direct access is from the Lumpy Ridge Trailhead. From the intersection of Hwys 34, 36 and 7 in Estes Park, head north on East Wonderview Ave (Hwy 34) past the Stanley Hotel 0.4 miles, then head north on McGregor Ave (Devils Gulch Rd) 1.6 miles and watch for a brown sign for the Lumpy Ridge Trailhead. Turn north on the signed road and follow it several hundred yards to the parking lot.

Trail: 1.8 miles and 1,016’elevation gain (7809-8825’) to Gem Lake, with option to continue on the trail to additional destinations. Trail is steep and rocky in places, and has several shaded-sections that are treacherously icy in winter/spring. Looks like this could be a very hot trail in summer. Trail Elevation Profile

Dogs: No pets allowed on National Park trails

Fees: There is no Park Service fee station at this trailhead

Webcam: 1.5 miles south in Estes Park

Weather: Snow Conditions    Local Forecast

February 28, 2009

I’m sure Makenzie sensed that we were going hiking without her, stuck in her kennel at the vet’s recuperating from knee surgery. I hated to be hiking without her, and I’m not looking forward to the 8 weeks of low-activity rehab on the calendar. But, the summer should be much nicer with her knee in working condition, and so Andra, Christine and I set out to enjoy the day without dogs, and this made it a good opportunity to take a hike in Rocky Mountain National Park, given that they don’t allow dogs on trails.

My map of the park is close to 10 years old, and this made it difficult to find the trailhead we were after since the Park Service has changed things around quite a bit around here, probably owing to the private property access that all trails in this area require. After finding the trailhead, we got out of the car and began dressing for the hike. I had thought it would be a cool day, but it had already warmed up to 47 degrees by 11:00 and the sun’s heat was intense. We had actually brought our snow shoes with us, but quickly decided those would be pointless as there wasn’t a patch of snow in sight. Turns out not even our gaiters were worth toting along, but we brought those anyway. Hard to see what might lay ahead in yonder canyons.

We started up the wide gravelly trail through a wonderful assortment of granite domes and spikes. The geology of this portion of the park, situated on the extreme eastern edge, is much different than anywhere else in the park, and we enjoyed it. Thick orange ponderosa pine trunks dotted the rockscape, providing shade on the trail, but it was not enough to soothe the heat, and I soon had to escape into the hidden shadows well off the trail to escape my long johns which had conspired to create oven-like conditions down there. I shed off my sweatshirt, and when I returned to the trail to catch up with Andra and Christine, I felt much better. We reached the Lumpy Ridge x Gem Lake trail junction and headed east towards Gem Lake. I noticed I had cut my finger scrambling among the sharp rocks off trail, and it bled stubbornly for 20 minutes until finally Stein offered to dig out a band aid for me. I carry band aids, but I wasn’t yet frustrated enough by the bleeding finger to warrant the extensive unpacking of my day pack that gaining access to my first aid kit buried at the bottom of said pack would necessitate.

We took a short side trip to a group of rocks that provided excellent views to Estes Park, Glacier Gorge and even northwest to the Twin Owls. Moving on up, we encountered chattery squirrels and talkative songbirds, both really adding to the springtime feel of the forest.

We reached and passed what Stein called Paul Bunyan’s Boot, a granite formation resembling a big boot with a hole through the toe. I guess I can I see it, but I would never have independently come to the boot resemblance. A short stretch of trail beyond that was shaded by the rocks was particularly icy, but luckily it was short and we passed right over it without trouble. We hit a nice rhythm up the gravelly trail beyond, and before long at all we were at the final run up to Gem Lake. Andra was feeling shaky since it was getting on towards lunch, so we stopped and had a quick snack before hitting the lake.

Smaller than I had expected, Gem Lake sits in a depression between two swells of orange granite that can almost fool you into thinking you’re at Canyonlands (but not quite). A sparse population of ponderosa pines surrounds the lake, while the understory is largely absent owing to the dominant rock substrate. The water was frozen over to a thickness allowing safe passage across the surface to anywhere but the extreme north end of the lake where the ice was thin and small areas of open water glimmered next to the rocks. We walked out across the ice. Air bubbles deep within gave perspective on how thick it was, but we still heard occasional lurches and booms from the water below as the ice warmed up on top and cracked, sending ominous echoes down through the deeps.

I shimmied up some rocks to the north to photograph the lake, and then we all scooted up rocks to the south to see it from that angle too. The day was so nice that I would have liked to continue on past Gem Lake to the trails beyond, up to Balanced Rock, for example, but time did not allow. I think next time we’ll go back and start from the north trailhead off the Devil’s Gulch Rd and head up to Balanced Rock and Bridal Veil Falls. After 20 minutes at the small lake, we turned around and headed back for the car, seeking to keep our 3:30 appointment to pick up Makenzie from the vet’s. The sun intensified and the air warmed up into the mid 60’s, and soon I was down to my tshirt. That’s a wonderful first every year: the first day of outdoor tshirt weather. Trail traffic was on high for the hike down, as we passed multiple large social hiking groups. We reached the car around 2:00, and stopped by Ed’s Cantina in Estes Park for a quick snack on the way out of town. Given the intensive home car Makenzie will require for the next 2 months, this could our last hike for quite awhile.