Up until June 2022, Lake Haiyaha looked like this.
On June 28, 2022, there was a rockslide on the mountainside above Lake Haiyaha. On this peaceful, sunny morning, a large section of the landscape broke free and began to tumble down Chaos Canyon. Rocks ranging in size from small pebbles to apartment-sized boulders began to bounce and roll downhill while an enormous cloud of dust engulfed upper Chaos Canyon. Frighteningly, a handful of people were bouldering and rock climbing in the upper canyon at the time. Fortunately, all escaped without injury.
With the help of rain and snow melt, newly formed silt from the slide – often called ‘rock flour’ or ‘glacial flour’ – began to make its way down upper Chaos Canyon and into Lake Haiyaha.
When rock flour enters a lake, it tends to remain suspended in the water – temporarily, at least – rather than sinking to the bottom, giving the water a milky appearance. Rock flour also reflects blue and green wavelengths of light, thus turning the lake a shade of blue-green. This is now the case with Lake Haiyaha. Geologists are estimating that the color may remain for the next few months before the silt settles and the lake returns to its previous clear blue color.
Even though I’ve been to Lake Haiyaha before – twice – I wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity to see it in its new turquoise glory. So this past September, we met up with my friend C for a quick morning hike to Lake Haiyaha.
This is a relatively short and easy hike, clocking in at just 4.25 miles (6.8 km) with 950 feet (290 m) of elevation gain. It only took us about 2 hours, including time spent at the lake. We began our hike at Bear Lake Trailhead, though you can also reach Haiyaha via a slightly longer hike that starts at Glacier Gorge.
From Bear Lake, follow signs left to Nymph and Dream Lakes. Just before Dream Lake is the trail split for Lake Haiyaha; turn left and begin to ascend the hill south of Dream Lake. The trail zigzags up and then curves around the hillside, bringing you into Chaos Canyon.
Chaos Canyon is aptly named. Both Lake Haiyaha and Chaos Creek are surrounded by a jumble of boulders. In fact, ‘Haiyaha’ means ‘rock’ or ‘boulder’ in the Arapaho language. Fortunately, the trail avoids the boulders until the final approach to the lake.
The trail dumped us out on the south shore of the lake, where we caught our first glimpse of its new turquoise color. I admit, I was initially a little skeptical that it would really be as turquoise as the photos I’d seen on social media. But it was.
After a few minutes, we made our way over to the east shore, which is where the best views are found, in my opinion. It wasn’t easy to find our way around; it involved a lot of scrambling and a few reroutes when we found ourselves facing rocks we couldn’t safely navigate. But eventually we made it.
I’m really interested to see how much longer the lake retains its color, especially as it’s now frozen solid for the winter. I suppose it all depends on how long it takes for the hillside to stabilize so rock flour stops draining into the lake. I’m also interested to see if the lake ever goes back to the color it was before, or if it will have a slightly different hue even after the rock flour settles.
Isn’t it amazing that a lake can so abruptly change color like this? Geology is neat!
The Important Stuff:
- Getting there: this hike departs from the Bear Lake Trailhead at the end of Bear Lake Road; consider leaving your car at the park-n-ride in the summer and taking the free shuttle to the trailhead. Once at Bear Lake, follow signs for Lake Haiyaha.
- Fees and passes: there is a $30/car daily or $35/car weekly entrance fee to RMNP; America the Beautiful passes are accepted. From May-Oct, if you arrive after 5:00am you will also need a timed entry permit to access this trailhead.
- Hiking: round-trip distance to Lake Haiyaha from Bear Lake is 4.25 miles (6.8 km) with 950 feet (290 m) of elevation gain.
- Other: use care when climbing around the boulders at Lake Haiyaha; they can be slippery when wet and some may move when you put weight on them. Wear sturdy shoes with traction and use your hands to help you move around.
For more information on timed entry, hiking, and things to do in the Bear Lake area, see my post on visiting Rocky Mountain National Park.
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