The trail at the beginning of the hike was snow packed and supportive enough to walk on without snowshoes; freezing temperatures from the night before hardened the snow.  But as the day progressed and temperatures warmed, the snow softened and I needed snowshoes to complete the hike.  The weather was good; a little windy at Emerald Lake but otherwise clear and not too cold.

The path to Emerald Lake is a maze of improvised trails.  Sometimes you wonder which path to choose.  If I follow that path, will I just be following a poor choice made by someone else?  The path I choose seemed to work just fine though and I got to Emerald Lake without any problem.  The path I took down was very different from the path I took up, and with snowshoes it was a lot of fun!

Be sure to click on these thumbnail photos for larger versions.

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1. The hike to Emerald Lake starts at Bear Lake.

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2. Nymph Lake is the first of three lakes along this hike.

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3. Between Nymph Lake and Dream Lake, you can look back and see this view of Longs Peak and Glacier Gorge.

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4. The path to Emerald Lake.

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5. Dream Lake.  I've tried assembling several photographic panoramas for various hike reports, but none have turned out as well as this one.  This is five photographs.  Super Size It!  (303kB).

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6. Emerald Lake.

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7. Tree at Emerald Lake.