Rocky Mountain National Park | Dream, Emerald, & Lake Haiyaha
A “chill” day of frozen lakes, unexpected miles, and finding the elk exactly where we weren’t looking.
By: Emma Prairie ◦ Estes Park, Colorado, USA ◦ Hike Completed: October 2025
Waking up to the sun rising, reflecting off the frosted windows of the car, slowly thawing us along with the glass. Shadows danced by as cars drove into Estes Park, and I watched, enjoying the fact that we didn’t have to rush to start a hike today. I got to stay in my warm sleeping bag, cozied up in my puffy winter jacket and thick hiking socks.
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The Hike
After another hour of drifting in and out of sleep, still all cuddled up in my sleeping bag, I finally climbed into the front seat and started the car. As it warmed up, I stretched out and threw on my hiking sandals for the drive to Rocky Mountain National Park.
We arrived at the gate around 8:00 am and headed down Bear Lake Road. Lyd chose the Dream and Emerald Lakes hike, and since I had already done Sky Pond with Chase, I was excited to try a different trail this time.
We headed to Bear Lake but due to our somewhat lazy start to the day, we were too late to park there. We looped around, checked Glacier Gorge parking, and eventually found a pullout further down the road. From there, we walked to the Glacier Gorge Trailhead area, waited by a sign labeled Bear Lake, and caught the shuttle the rest of the way back to the Bear Lake parking lot.
It was extremely busy that day, especially around some of the most popular hikes in the park. The trails were pretty packed, but once we got moving, we were able to enjoy small pockets of time where we could hear nature instead of voices. We kept a steady pace, still warmed up from the Decalibron Loop the day before, and as we moved, our muscles continued to loosen more.
We quickly reached Nymph Lake first, then Dream Lake shortly after. After taking in the view for a few minutes, we decided to keep going up to Emerald Lake. By the time we got there, we were getting hungry. Unfortunately, we had assumed the wind and cold would be better at a lower altitude that day.
We were completely wrong.
The wind was ripping just as hard and just as cold as it had been on the 14ers, so there was no way we were staying by the lake. We speedily headed back down the trail until we found a sunny spot, mostly out of the wind, where we could finally sit and eat.
After some people-watching and snacking, we made our way back to the fork. At the last minute, we decided it would be better to continue on to Lake Haiyaha and loop back to Glacier Gorge instead of taking the bus.
This part of the trail was much less crowded as we committed to a longer loop than we had originally planned. There was one good view on the way to Lake Haiyaha, but not much else to talk about — except that the second you stepped out of the sun, it was absolutely freezing.
I like to think of myself as kind of a lizard. I just want to sit in the sun all the time when I’m hiking. Otherwise, I find myself constantly thinking about it. All I want is the sun, and I probably drive Lyd a little crazy talking about it.
Anyway, Lake Haiyaha was interesting because there wasn’t a clear stopping point or obvious photo spot. We ended up climbing around the rocks and weaving through people until we found a decent place. Even then, we couldn’t quite get the right angle, so we took an awkward photo that included me crawling into the frame while Lyd leaned over my back, and both of us laughing and trying not to slip on the icy rocks.
We made our way back to Glacier Gorge and then to our car, deciding to spend the rest of the afternoon driving through the park in search of elk. We drove just about every still open road, searching high and low, but didn’t see a single one.
We returned to Estes Park, realizing we had no plan for day three and were honestly a bit over the wind and cold. Adding another 14er didn’t sound appealing. We decided to stay at the same car camping spot for the night, but first changed and walked through the main street in Estes Park. We wandered through the small shops, enjoyed picking up a few postcards, and finally sat down for a real dinner.
I almost never crave pasta, but that night I ordered a cowboy butter chicken pasta, and it was unreal after eating half cooked ramen from the night before and way too many Uncrustables. The warmth of the restaurant and the heavy, carb-loaded meal hit perfectly. By 8:00 pm, we were more than ready to go to sleep.
Heading back out into the cold, we rushed towards the parking lot with our car.
In the distance, towards the end of the street, I saw what I thought was a statue in the dim twilight lighting.
It wasn’t.
We stumbled upon a herd of elk just chilling in the middle of the town. Absolutely astounded that we searched all day and they were just right there. We just stood there staring from a distance for a while, in awe.
Eventually, the cold won. We ducked into a large Starbucks, grabbed hot chocolate, and sat down to figure out a plan for the next day. Before leaving, we took advantage of the bathroom and washed our faces before going to the car, it’s small wins that matter.
Back in the car, we continued researching on our phones as we settled in for another cold night of sleeping.
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About the Author
Hi there! I’m Emma – the voice behind Theory of Roaming. I believe adventure strips everything down and draws us closer to what matters most.
