A recent sunrise hike to Gem Lake, in Rocky Mountain National Park. Unlike many of our RMNP hikes this one was not scoped out before hand. When we got there we discovered large rocks surround the lake on the east side so shooting sunrise over the water was not going to happen. Faced with this we climbed up the rocks to the west which caused us to miss much of the sunrise. On a positive note, we discovered a great location for our next hike to this area.
1. Looking south across Gem Lake.
2. Our first venture up the hill above the lake ran into a dead end. Before trying a different route I took this pano. The view is from northeast to southwest and moments before things got colorful.
3. A view of Estes Park in the Valley with Mounts Lady Washington, Meeker and Long's Peak behind. Just after the sunrise color.
4. The rock perch I was shooting from
