We left the house at 8:30 a.m. with coffee in hand and enjoyed the beautiful drive to the park, noting all the familiar sights and landmarks we have come to love along the way. We arrived at the Gem Lake trailhead at 10:00 a.m. caffeinated and ready to go.
Beginning at an elevation of 7,740 feet, the short, steep trail gains 1,090 feet in a little less than 2 miles. It was definitely a good work out! The trail winds its way through the appropriately named Lumpy Ridge rock formations and gorgeous aspen, pine, spruce, and fir forests.
As you gain elevation there are openings in the forest that allow breathtaking panoramic views of Estes Park and the surrounding mountains. Don't forget your camera on this hike!
We took our time and made it to Gem Lake in a little less than an hour. It is a picturesque little lake set in a natural rock amphitheater. The west shore is beach-like and the north and east shore are encircled by vertical granite walls. The lake is unique in that it has no true inlet or outlet stream. The surrounding rocks trap, collect, and steer water into the small basin. There was a good number of people there which was not surprising since it was a beautiful day and this is a popular trail. We headed over to the east shore of the lake, climbed some rocks, and found a sincere little spot to set up shop.
Every Sunday Jim and I sit on our couch, drink coffee, and do the word Jumble puzzle in the Denver Post. It is a ritual we have both come to love. Since we headed out early, I brought the puzzle with us. I figured it would be nice to work on it by the lake. I grabbed the puzzle, a pen, and our peanut butter granola bars out of my bag so that we could begin. The minute we unwrapped our bars we had company. We were surrounded by adorable little chipmunks staring at our tasty treats with big eyes. They are obviously accustomed to people and well fed. They climbed all over my bag, our laps, and ate right out of our hands. I know feeding them probably wasn't the best thing to do, but it was very hard to ignore their hungry little faces. They were very entertaining to say the least.
This week's Jumble puzzle was, well... puzzling! Normally I unscramble all the words very quickly, but today it was Jim's turn to beat me to the punch every time. We both had trouble with one word. It was scrambled RURPES. We stared at it forever and could not figure it out. We were stumped. In order to solve the puzzle you have to unscramble all the words first. I was hoping to complete the puzzle by the lake, but we needed to start heading back as we still had our normal Sunday errands to run. The whole way back down the beautiful trail I was seeing those letters RURPES in my head in different combinations. Jim and I kept talking it out. He had suggested the word "purser" several times before, but it just didn't sound like a word to me and Jim couldn't define what it was either. He was persistent and looked it up on his phone and sure enough a purser is the officer in charge of money matters on board a ship. You learn something everyday! We were almost to the car but I made Jim stop so we could sit by some rocks and finish our puzzle on the trail. Yay! Of course, I never heard the end of it that Jim was right about the word purser....I will never forget that word! :)
On our way back home we stopped at the Colorado Cherry Company for a slice of cherry pie ala mode. Stopping here is also another tradition after any hike in Estes Park for us. We LOVE the pie and the homemade vanilla ice cream! It is the cutest little place- very cozy and red. Eating pie by the picture window looking at the mountains and forests was the perfect way to end our day trip. A beautiful day spent outdoors capped with one of my favorite treats is just what I needed!
"Keep close to Nature's heart... and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean."- John Muir
