Emerald Lake

Emerald Lake along the Bear Lake trail

Along the Bear Lake trailhead is Emerald Lake. Resting at 3075 m (10,090 ft) is a lake carved by Tyndall Glacier between Hallet Peak and Flattop Mountain. A glacier is an area with more snow accumulation than loss each year. The old snow becomes dense, hard ice under the weight of new snow. As with all glaciers within Rocky Mountain National Park, Tyndall is a cirque glacier. These are usually remnants of larger valley glaciers, but are small and occupy bowl-shaped basins at the head of a mountain valley.