Lumpy Ridge and Gem Lake

Yesterday, I added four  more companies to my research project, completed a quickie audit, and still got the park by 1 pm.  This time, I tried a completely new (to me) section of the park called "Lumpy Ridge".  I parked at the bottom of the Gem Lake Trail, which is in the Estes Park Valley, and started up the trail.  And by up, I mean "UP".  This trail climbs, climbs, and climbs.  When you think you've reached the summit of Mt. Everest, you meet hikers coming down, who tell you, "buck up, you're almost halfway there..."

 This trail is not forested, but climbs up open rocks interspersed with occasional trees.  The name "lumpy ridge" comes from the rounded boulders, which make the whole area look like lumpy gravy.  I finally arrived at a lookout point, and was amazed at how far up I had climbed.

 Then I turned around and saw how far I had yet to climb.  The really bad news:  The photo below does not show the top!  It shows an intermediate ridge between me and the top! 

 Along the entire 2.4 miles of the Gem Lake Trail, there probably isn't more than 20 feet total that isn't climbing UP.  I go really slow when I'm climbing.  Asthma and Arthritis combine to make going uphill a lot more unpleasant that it used to be.  It took me almost four hours to walk (or mosey) the entire 2.4 miles and 1000 feet of elevation increase.

The picture below is fairly close to the top.  You can see the ridge in the upper center of the photo below, immediately behind the tall pine tree in the exact center of the piture... that is the intermediate ridge spoken about above, seen from the other side!  So you can see just how far I climbed.

 At the top of the trail (and still several hundred feet below the summit), I finally reached Gem Lake.

Gem Lake, while one of the "post card" lakes of the National Park, is a real disappointment, compared to the other postcard lakes.  Gem Lake is probably less than an eighth of an acre... about the size of our front yard.  Yes, it is picturesque, but it is so tiny, only frogs live in it.

 I'm sure if the day had been clearer, this would be a great shot.  But thunderstorms were brewing.
The trail does not go to the actual summit, but continues on into the wilderness.  I decided that Gem Lake was far enough.  Coming down took me only 45 minutes.  So now I can say that I've been to all eight of the Rocky Mountains National Park Postcard Lakes.