Bear Lake to Fern Lake

Wednesday, we did a shuttle hike from Bear Lake to Fern Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park.  We parked at the Fern Lake shuttle stop and caught the first shuttle to the Park and Ride.  Another shuttle took us to Bear Lake to start our hike.  We started off along Bear Lake with Hallett Peak towering over the alpine lake.

At the northeastern corner of the lake, we headed towards Flattop Mountain.  The trail got steeper, climbing up to a ridge over the lake.  Longs Peak and the surrounding mountains were visible up here.

In about a mile, there was a split and we went right towards Odessa Lake.  There was a nice spot to take a short break with views of Bierstadt Lake and the Mill Creek area.

The trail continued through a forest for a while with an occasional view of Flattop Mountain.

At a landslide area, we saw several pikas.

We also heard what sounded like a landslide in the distance, but never figured out where it was.  A golden-mantled ground squirrel was scurrying among the rocks.

As we got back into the woods, we saw a dusky grouse.

Soon we arrived at the unmarked spur that led to Two Rivers Lake.  Looking across the lake, couldn't tell if that was where the landslide had occurred.

This high altitude lake at the headwaters of Mill Creek was very beautiful.  Back on the trail, our next stop was a scenic overlook into the Odessa Gorge - Odessa Lake was visible far below.

Notchtop Mountain towered high above.

The trail descended through the gorge, but first we took another side path to Lake Helene.  Across the lake, a bull moose was resting in the shade.

Lake Helene was in the cirque below Notchtop Mountain, Ptarmigan Point and Flattop Mountain.

It's a really beautiful lake; not sure why there's no sign for the spur trail.  As we left the lake, I enjoyed one more view of the cirque at the headwaters of Fern Creek.

Then we descended into gorge.  In a short ways, I went out onto a rock for a view of the north face of Notchtop Mountain.  Grace Falls, a tall waterfalls, was tumbling down the cliffs.

Fed by snow melt, it was a little late in the season for much water flow.  The trail continued down the gorge towards Odessa Lake.

The views along the trail were really spectacular.

As we got closer to the lake, we saw some pearly pusstoes flowering along the trail.

A hairy woodpecker was banging at a tree.

Towering above Odessa Lake, we had nice views of Little Matterhorn - obvious how this mountain got its name.

We also saw a red admiral butterfly.

The trail passes the lake before getting down to Fern Creek downstream of the lake.  A short spur follows the creek up to Odessa Lake.

We took a short break here to enjoy the lovely views of Odessa Lake, with Little Matterhorn towering high above.

Back to the main tail, we followed Fern Creek downstream.  Some Rocky Mountain hemlock parsley was blooming along the creek.

There were some larkspur blooming further down the trail.

As we approached Fern Lake, there was a break in the trees that provided a great view of the lake from above.

At the foot of the lake, a bridge crossed Fern Creek.  I bushwhacked down the river right side of the creek to Marguerite Falls.

It's more of a long cascade than a waterfall and the lighting was poor.  I got a picture and then bushwhacked back up.  Continuing down along Fern Creek, the trail got pretty steep and made a wide switchback.  Some fleabane was flowering along the trail.

The trail swung back to Fern Creek at the base of Fern Falls, a nice 60-foot waterfall.

The lighting was terrible with the sun shining right on it - bad for pictures and it was hard to look at with the glare.  It's a popular area and crowded so we didn't stay long.  The trail made another switchback away from Fern Creek over to the Spruce Creek drainage and then followed the ridge between the two.  After the confluence with Big Thompson River, there were some nice cascades along the river.

A bridge crossed the river at the Pool.

About a half-mile past the Pool was Arch Rocks, some huge boulders that must have fallen from the mountains above.

Looking up, there were spots that looked like part of the cliff had collapsed.

From Arch Rocks, it was just over a mile back to the trailhead.  We saw some pretty Aspen fleabane right near the trailhead.

Then it was just under a mile back to the shuttle stop where we had parked.

We headed back to Estes Park and walked into town for dinner.  We had pizza at Poppy's and went for a little walk along the river.

A hummingbird moth was pollinating potted flowers along the walk.

Then, we drove back into the park to catch the sunset.  A mule buck was grazing right along the road.

We also saw some black-billed magpies around.

We parked along Bear Creek Road at Moraine Park and watched the sunset over the mountains.

As darkness crept in, the stars really came out.  With minimal light pollution, the park is a great place for stargazing.  We could even see the Milky Way.  But we had another early morning tomorrow, so after enjoying the stars, we headed back and went to bed.