Gem Lake Hike
Last week was family vacation time, and we spent the week exploring some hiking trails and other points of interest in Colorado. I'm working through some of my images from the trip and thought I would share a few with you from our hike up to Gem Lake. This is a relatively short hike of about 3.4 miles round trip. The trailhead is just a few minutes outside of Estes Park, so it is a convenient location and a beautiful place.
Before leaving on our trip, we found out that some friends of ours (hello Urbans!) were going to be in Estes at the same time as us. We decided to meet up and do this hike together, and everyone had a great time.
Here are a few of my favorite images. Please click on the image to see it larger.
This was our hiking group for the day.
A panoramic view from along the trail. It was a beautiful morning, but we knew that rain showers were a definite possibility for after noon.
This large boulder is located about a mile or so up the trail. The boys took turns climbing up to peek through the hole in the rock.
A panoramic view of Gem Lake. Note those stormy looking clouds in the background.
Chipmunks (or are they ground squirrels?) were abundant along the trail and at the lake.
After an hour or so at the lake, having lunch and exploring, the storm clouds were quickly forming and the sounds of thunder convinced us to pack up for a quick retreat back to the car. This is a quick look back on the way down…notice the dark clouds in the background.
We made it back to the trailhead just as the rain started. We stayed mostly dry and had a great time.