Lake Haiyaha
Summary: This hike packs in lots of beautiful scenery in a short walk in Rocky Mountain National Park. Because there is so much beautiful scenery here within a mile of the trailhead, expect there to be lots of people and lots of children whenver the trail is open. Take the trail to Lake Haiyaha to get away from just about all of them and to get the best panoramic views. Leave the trail a little to the west at the Chaos Creek Crossing for a great view up Chaos Canyon.Distance: 5.15 miles round-tripElevation Gain/Loss: 1,200' totalSeason: mid-June to late-OctoberFees & Permits: None (other than the park entrance fees)Finding the Trailhead: 40.31196 N, 105.64600 W (Bear Lake Trailhead). Just inside the east entrance of Rocky Mountain National Park, turn south onto Bear Lake Road and follow it for ~9.2 miles to the trailhead parking lot. The trail begins off the northwestern tip of the parking lot. The Hike: At the trailhead, the trail to Bear Lake and Flattop Mountain beyond heads northwest (right). Stay left and follow the path to the south-southwest and stay right at the split (left leads down to the Glacier Gorge Trail). From this intersection, the trail begins to climb around the eastern and southern side of the hill immediately to the east of Nymph Lake. The eastern shore of Nymph Lake is reached at ~0.5 miles. Lots of lilypads float on the surface of the lake and there are some decent views up Tyndall Gorge to the west. The trail passes around the northern shore and begins to climb up Tyndall Gorge. Along this section are some great views south of Longs Peak and Glacier Gorge. The trail then approaches the outlet from Dream Lake and turns sharply to the right to climb to a footbridge over the creek. Just after this, the junction with the Lake Haiyaha Trail is reached (~1.0 mile). Stay right at the junction to stay on the Dream/Emerald Lakes Trail. Cross over the outlet creek again and quickly come to the eastern shore of Dream Lake. Here are some great views of the peaks surrounding the gorge over the lake. The trail continues along the northern shore of the lake with some nice views up the gorge. Once the trail reaches the western end of the lake it begins climbing as it follows the creek connecting Dream and Emerald Lakes. At ~1.6 miles the eastern shore of Emerald Lake is reached. Walk around a little to get different perspectives of the surrounding peaks.
To reach Haiyaha Lake, follow the path back down to the junction with the Haiyaha Lake Trail below Dream Lake (see above). At this junction, turn right and follow the trail southwest just off of the southern shore of Dream Lake. This trail begins to climb above Dream Lake and then switchbacks to the east and skirts the eastern side of the ridge as it turns south. At ~0.4 miles from the junction (~1.35 miles from the trailhead) a fantastic viewpoint is reached where the trail begins to turn to the southwest. From here you can view Nymph Lake and Bear Lake to the northeast, Prospect Canyon and the lower parts of Glacier Creek to the east, the Glacier Knobs to the southeast, and Longs Peak above Glacier Gorge and Mills Lake to the south-southeast. Take a breather at this viewpoint and rehydrate because you'll want to spend a little bit of time taking in the view. Just after this viewpoint the trail reaches the high point (~10,240') before descending to a crossing over Chaos Creek at ~0.6 miles from the trail junction (~1.6 miles from the trailhead). About 0.1 miles past this is the junction with the Lake Haiyaha Trail (right) and the trail leading down towards Glacier Gorge (left). Stay right here and follow the path for ~0.25 miles to the southeastern shore of Lake Haiyaha (~1.9 miles from the trailhead). Just before reaching the lake shore, you'll run into the boulder field surrounding the lake. Just make sure you continue to the northwest and don't venture west unless you want to travel over and around a continuous boulder field up Chaos Canyon. The ridgeline to the north and northwest of the lake separates Chaos Canyon from Tyndall Gorge. Hallett Peak is not quite visible from the lake but its eastern slopes and Otis Peak are. The view up Chaos Canyon is interesting and is almost completely made up of a huge boulder field. When I was at Lake Haiyaha Lake it was pretty windy, so I would recommend bringing a decent windbreaker.
