Lake Haiyaha
October 21
Lake Haiyaha
Trailhead: Bear Lake Trailhead (RMNP)
Distance: 3.9 miles (easy)
My good friend Charlotte came in town for Claire's birthday weekend - naturally we went on a hike to Claire's favorite lake in Rocky Mountain - Haiyaha. We met in Golden at 6:00 am, piled 5 people in the car, and headed north! There was barely anyone at the trailhead, but everything was covered in ice - we got out of the car and Dave wanted to see how far he could slide (verdict: the whole length of the parking lot, if he wanted). We took a quick pee break and then hit the trail!
The trail was covered in ice and it was snowing - it's definitely winter in the mountains already. We were a little nervous about how we were going to get back down, but we pushed on anyways. I think I can safely speak for everyone when I say that it was much colder than we were expecting.
I know I've talked about it before, but I love watching people experience Rocky Mountain for the first time. Charlotte's reaction to the lily pad filled Nymph Lake was fantastic. We stopped to take some pictures and watch a particularly fat bird, and then headed onwards.
We made it to the lake to get blasted by wind. With nothing to block the gusts, we were practically frozen solid. Charlotte's hood kept blowing off her head so she had to tie her scarf around the outside to hold it on! We didn't spend much time at the lake, especially because Claire said we would be going to Kind once we got down...
The way back was so slippery (and so crowded). We had to break out the trekking poles to keep from falling down, Claire ripped a hole in her pants, and Charlotte fell a handful of times. But, we made it down in one piece and got to Kind Coffee for breakfast and hot drinks.