Chasm Lake

When we pick a new trail to hike, I tend to prefer summits, while Stacie tends to prefer lakes.  This weekend we compromised by picking Chasm Lake.  This hike has lakes and waterfalls for Stacie, and it let me check out the first part of the Longs Peak Trail that I plan to use to summit later this month.

The Longs Peak trail is incredibly popular, primarily for the summit but also for the side destinations, like Chasm Lake.  Most serious summit hikers get started between 1 and 3 am, so it was no surprise when we pulled in to the trailhead at 7:30am that the parking lot was completely full, and cars were parked down the side of the road for half a mile.

We parked the Hummer at the end of the line of cars and hiked up to the trailhead.  That short walk

The trail started out fairly mild; it was smooth and wide, and not too steep.  The first 2 miles hike through the woods along Alpine Brook.  At the 2 mile point we reached the waterfall in the brook and crossed above it.

After crossing the waterfall we quickly got above tree line.  The views that had been teasing us between the trees were finally visible: Estes Cone to the north, Twin Sisters to the east, and the top of Longs Peak, Meeker and Lady Washington to the west.

The trail started getting steeper as we continued to ascend, with more rocks and steps to climb.  As we climbed up we saw a snowshoe hare who immediately hid in a bush on the side of the trail.

The last bit of the hike up to the saddle was very steep, almost all rock stairs straight up.  The saddle is a natural rest spot; it is large an open and the park service has installed a privy here.  There was even a group flying a couple of kites in the strong wind.  The trail splits here; straight ahead continues on to Chasm Lake while the right goes to the Boulderfield and the summit.

The view of Meeker and Longs Diamond was incredible, and we could see Ships Prow for the first time.  We stopped for a short break to appreciate the scenery and get our picture taken before continuing on the trail to Chasm Lake.

The trail continues along the south side of Mt Lady Washington, above a deep valley and the Roaring Fork Creek.  After a short while, Peacock Pool comes into view, and then Columbine Falls.

Peacock Pool is a unique little lake with bands of colors and an almost iridescent look.  Its appearance is constantly changing, but most of the time it really does look like the eye in a peacock feather.

Columbine Falls is a beautiful waterfall from the upper valley down into Peacock Pool.  It’s obvious how the falls got their name: on the right side of the trail there were dozens of columbine flowers, more than I’ve eve seen in a single place.

The trail wound around to the head of the falls, where we crossed Roaring Fork Creek and entered into a large alpine meadow bounded on three sides by huge cliffs of rock.  Our hike could have ended right here and we would have been satisfied; the views of Meeker and Longs towering over us were awe inspiring.

The trail continued to follow along the creek until we reached the ranger cabin at the base of the rocks.  Here the maintained trail ends, and it is a steep scramble up the rocks to finally get to Chasm Lake itself.

Chasm Lake sits just below the Diamond on Longs Peak east face. The lake is about half a mile (in vertical feet) below the summit.  We picked a spot on the east shore to take a break and eat our lunch.  It took us 4 hours to get all the way to the lake.  While we were eating I got out the binoculars to watch some technical rock climbers heading to the summit.  What looked like a tiny white dot to the naked eye resolved itself to be a climber ascending the 950ft face of the Diamond.

After lunch we packed up again and headed back down.  Despite being a repeat, the beauty of the scenery was still incredible, and we had a hard time turning our backs.  The descent was much easier than the climb up, and we made it down to the trailhead in 2.5 hours.

This hike really had it all: forest, tundra, streams, waterfalls, lakes, and mountains, plus the scenery was some of the best I’ve ever seen.  Seeing those massive peaks up close and dominating your view was indescribable.  I already feel that this hike is destined to be one of my all time favorites.

View all of the pictures: Photo Gallery