One hike, three lovely lakes - who could resist. We could and did ... for a good long while. This hike is one of the most popular in the Rocky Mountain National Park. Several years ago we hiked the first third of the trail not long after the first snow of winter had fallen. Nymph, the first of the three lakes, was a frozen white sheet (not interesting) with a fierce COLD wind blowing up shortly after passing it by. And by the bye, goodbye is what we said.

Fast forward three years or so. Our brewing curiosity about the hike we never finished had simmered into a boiling pot of desire to return and polish her off. We chose a mid-summer weekday to return to the scene of the crime, only to be stunned upon arriving by the huge numbers of park visitors with the same destination in mind. After waiting 40 minutes in line to catch a shuttle to the trail-head, we found ourselves saying goodbye yet again.

Hashing out a game plan to foil all obstacles wasn't too difficult and consisted of packing needed gear the night before and arriving early to beat the crowds. One week later found us waking at 4:30am, cruising along in good time on the drive from Northglenn, and placing our boots on the trail at 7am.

Success! This time out the early hour reduced the crowds to a fraction of their former glory. With manageable numbers of people sharing the trail (and parking lot) we were rewarded with beautiful sights and many wildflowers blooming, some new to us! Returning to our car after the hike, we could not quite keep the slightly smug smiles (and yawns) from our faces as we passed the line of shuttles unloading their pressing throngs of eager visitors. Bonus, an early exit from the park assisted us in beating commuter traffic going home.

See if you think the sights were worth the fuss.