Dream Lake
Apart from our terrific hosts, Jim, Ginger & kids, the hike to Dream Lake for sunrise was for me, the best part of the Rocky Mountains. Although our drives afforded us with breath-taking vistas at higher elevations, climbing the rocky trail to an elevation of 9,905 ft to see the first light strike Hallet’s Peak with an alpine lake in the foreground and literally at my feet (tripod legs were in the lake) was nothing short of spectacular. This trail has grown extremely popular and we found scores of people, including one group that was literally tied together with a rope, huffing and puffing their way up the trail as we made our descent. Not only did we enjoy the beauty and quiet of the pre-dawn hike, but we enjoyed shooting the landscape without people in the way. The 425 elevation gain was significantly less than my East Coast hikes, but tremendously more difficult due to the altitude. The entire state of Colorado is higher than the highest point in Pennsylvania.
