Trip report
Aug 9, 2023 — The trail to Gem Lake is a popular hike on the outskirts of Rocky Mountain National Park, easily accessible from Estes Park CO at the Lumpy Ridge Trailhead. After a couple of days of partying with Austin, we decided it was time to work off some of our poor choices by means of a nice little outing. The nicely-constructed trail begins relatively flat, winding between bouldery rock formations as it ascends through a minor canyon, often utilizing constructed stairs. We reached a signed junction with the Black Canyon Trail. An arrow indicated the way to Gem Lake, and from here we ascended slightly more steeply for a short time. The trail then mellowed out for a bit as it traversed east and offered nice views toward Estes Park, Longs Peak, and Twin Sisters Peak. Large stacked boulders eroded into weird shapes often felt like intentionally-placed sculptures by the NPS. Some of the formations have names, but we didn't put in the effort to learn them.
The Gem Lake Trail descended slightly into a lush drainage, deciduous trees temporarily replacing the dominant conifers of the area. It meandered for a bit through the drainage and then ascended more earnestly for the last quarter mile or so. The lake is nestled in a granite basin beween Gem Peak and some other granitic hump. Along the way into this little basin, the imposing faces of these peaks were gorgeous. Soon we reached Gem Lake, small and cozy. It isn't fed by a stream, just from water runoff and snowmelt. The trail continues past here to a featured called Balanced Rock, but I was more interested in spending some time finding a way to Gem Peak. Austin decided to hang out by the lake while I scurried off.
I started north away from the little lake. Gem Peak is perched just to the north of Gem Lake, and without any indictor of a social trail or standard route, I decided to just start ascending west. Some light bushwhacking brought me to the base of some massive granitic slabs. Class 2/3 brought me a couple hundred feet up to a false summit. Not realizing a little sub-peak would separate me from Gem Peak, my ascent route added some extra vertical gain. Regardless, I recommend going this way since the views are exceptional. You might notice a small loop on my attached map. The southern portion was the ascent to this false summit. I descended toward Gem Peak, Class 2 on wide slabs with little water pockets scattered around. I was led to a notch separating the false summit from Gem Peak.
I found the crux to be getting out of this notch to start up to Gem Peak. I used a downed tree to assist a scramble up a short headwall and onto more granitic slabs. A naturally-formed ledge traversed me beneath Gem Peak's sheer southern face and over to its southwest side. From here a section of zig-zagging around boulders, intricate eroded formations, and large water pockets brought me directly to the base of the summit block. It was a nice few hundred feet of Class 2/2+ scrambling that was more fun than it had a right to be. I located a Class 2/3 weakness on the right side of the summit block and took in the views for a bit before realizing my solo excursion was longer than my optimistically predicted 10 minutes.
I returned to the notch at the base of Gem Peak and decided to find another way back to the trail rather than re-ascend the sub-peak I'd gone over earlier. This included some light bushwhacking as I wrapped around the north side of the sub-peak and returned to the trail, but it was uneventful. I reached Gem Lake, where Austin was laying in the sand. I've tried to be more honest when outlining the stats accurately for hiking companions since not doing so has gotten me into trouble on many occasions, but I've really dragged Austin on a lot of serious hikes over the years. Despite the brevity of this hike, he was emotionally triggered by our past endeavors, so when he offhandedly said "I don't care much for hiking" after meditating alone I wasn't surprised. I guess it's not super important for my partner to share my love for this masochistic lifestyle.