Chasm Lake Hike (June 2010)

Sun July 18, 2010

Chasm Lake sits at the base of the face of Longs Peak and is one of the most scenic lakes in the park. The lake is at 11,800 ft (just above treeline) and Longs Peak at 14,255 towers above it. We started from the Longs Peak trailhead on the east side of the park. The trail starts out climbing through a pine forest. Once it crosses the treeline the views get amazing. This first picture is of Longs Peak with Mt. Lady Washington just in front of it on the right side.

Once crossing over the ridge coming off Mt. Lady Washington, we could see Columbine Falls which comes from Chasm Lake. Also one of the less common routes up Longs Peak via The Loft is visible, but covered in snow. It goes almost straight up to the lowest point left of the peak.

The trail crosses the creek above the falls, but first we had to cross two snowfields. This picture is looking back on the snowfields after we crossed them.

The lake itself was still mostly frozen. Near its east shore, where the trail ends, the ice was broken up.

Here is a picture of the ice near the outlet of the lake.

The chunks of ice were thick enough that some were resting on the bottom of the lake in the shallow areas.

I did try to put my weight on some of the ice pieces. Some held; others cracked. The hike was 7.2 miles round trip and took us about 4 hours, including time for lunch and walking around the lake shore. If you are worried about going across steep snowfields, they should be gone by July. The elevation gain is about 2400 ft from Longs Peak trailhead, so it is an intermediate level hike and definitely worth it.