Emerald Lake

We hiked Emerald Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park from the Bear Lake Trailhead on June 1, 2009.  It was our first hike of the summer, so we kept it short. It was 3.6 miles round trip with a 685 foot incline.  It was super snowy still and it started raining on us on the way down. When we were getting close to the lake, I stepped in what I thought was a footprint which was actually a whole into an underlying stream, and my entire leg was soaked, but that just added to the experience!  Overall, it was a good first hike of the season, and other than the snow, it was pretty painless.  On the way up there are two additional lakes: Nymph Lake and Dream Lake, which would make for good hikes with the family as well.