Hike to Diamond Lake

The trailhead is 5.5 miles west of Eldora on an extremely rocky road.  Actually it improves somewhat in places, but it's still takes awhile to get there.   The trailhead is at one end of the parking lot, just past the toilet. After about 1/4 mile, you enter the Indian Peaks Wilderness.

After a mild steady climb through forest, I stopped to chat with another hiker coming the other way.  She said there was a huge waterfall ahead one needed to cross through that had caused her to turn back.  The trail left the forest and continued the climb along the side of the mountain.  Views here are excellent and wildflowers more plentiful, although the shade of the forest was certainly welcome.  I came to a good sized waterfall, which wasn't too much trouble to cross and thought I was out of that problem.  But after a bit more hiking I heard the news.  There was indeed a large waterfall coming up.  This one was scary to cross with high rushing water, plenty of rocks, and the cascade off the cliff.  Just a few days ago it was all over the news about the foolish people who had climbed the barrier and went over a falls in Yosemite.  But after seeing that others had crossed I waded in. Fortunately some big boulders provided a hand hold to supplement the stick to aid in balance.  It was definitely a thrill and once across I started wondering if more snow melt would add to the waterfall on the way back later in the day.  Should have thought of that sooner!

The trail continued up along the mountainside where large patches of bright red indian paintbrush grew along the steep side down.  A junction shows another trail to a pass on up the mountain.  My trail then went back down into wooded areas to bottom at a bridge across a wide stream flowing from another waterfall.  Once the climb continued the trail grew steeper and started encountering lots of snow the higher it went.  A couple of large snowfields required detours.  Close to the top the snow covered most of the area but was mostly flat and easy to cross.  Eventually Diamond Lake appeared and a welcome time for lunch break before heading back.

PS:  The large waterfall was actually a little smaller on the way back, so maybe that meant most snow above had already melted--a mystery.  More people, including children and dogs, were on the trail by this time and crossing through the waterfall with apparently no one falling off the edge.