RMNP - Fern Lake

It has been a while since I posted a hiking journal entry.  For a variety of reasons, including several days in sunny Southern California at Disneyland, I took off almost three weeks from my 20-miler hike.  I got back in the saddle last Friday for another attempt at Fern Lake, up in Rocky Mountain National Park.

It was an awesome day with the weather cooperating fully.  I got to the trailhead fairly early, about 800a, and hit the trail shortly after.  The temperature at the start was in the high twenties, but soon warmed into the upper thirties, maybe even the low forties.  There was not a cloud in the sky, although the wind was blowing some.

Sunny Day!

There had been some storms through the Park earlier in the week.  But by Friday, enough people had passed through that the trail was well defined, but there was quite a bit more snow than the last time I was up here, which was in early February.  The trail from the winter trailhead to the pool was pretty uneventful.  I was up early enough that I was the only person on the trail.  I knew that would change on the way back.  Once I made it to The Pool, I was off to Fern Lake.

Big Thompson River

There were plenty of tracks to follow this time, so off I went.  The last time I attempted Fern Lake, there was no trail to follow.  I encountered a heavy snowdrift, which turned me back.    I encountered the same snowdrift this time, but people had clearly passed through.  This time the drift seemed a bit more stable and was easy enough to pass through.  Now I was in new territory.  Almost immediately the trail started to climb.  It would be a steady climb all the way to Fern Falls and Fern Lake.  About halfway to Fern Lake I turned around and snapped a picture of Moraine Park.

Moraine Park

Now on to Fern Falls.  The going was a bit tougher than I had thought, although that was probably because I had not done much for three weeks.  I soon encountered a frozen Fern Falls.

Fern Falls (1)

Fern Falls (2)

Now on to a healthy climb to Fern Lake.  The trail was well defined and well used.

Fern Lake Trail

I soon encountered the Fern Lake - Spruce Lake Junction so I knew I was close.  Now a short climb to the Patrol Cabin. 

Fern Lake Patrol Cabin

Then I worked my way out on to a frozen Fern Lake and looked at some pretty spectacular mountain scenery.  I'm pretty sure I have the mountain names and elevations correct, but no promises.

Fern Lake (frozen) (1)

Mountains from left - Notchtop (11929), Knobtop (12336), Little Matterhorn (11532), Gabletop (11821)

Fern Lake (frozen) (2)

Mountains from left -  Joe Mills Mountain (10820), Notchtop (11929), Little Matterhorn (11532), Knobtop (12336)

Fern Lake (frozen) (3)

Mountains from left  - Notchtop (11929), Little Matterhorn (11532)

I turned and headed home.  I met only one other set of hikers above the Pool, but met 20 plus between the Pool and the trailhead.  Overall, it was a great hike and one that I will work into my summer schedule.

I finished my program to read in a GPS track and create some basic statistics about the trip.  Here are the new auto-generated statistics.

Length 8.925 miles

 Start Elevation - 7508.86 feet

 Maximum Elevation - 9516.50 feet

 Minimum Elevation - 7508.86 feet

 Start Time - 08:03a

 End Time - 1:04p

 Total Duration -     5:01 hours:min

 Total Ascent - 2397.97 feet

 Total Descent - 1869.46 feet

 Net Ascent - 528.51 feet

 Maximum Grade - 29.48%

 Average Speed -  2.61 mph

 Maximum Ascent over Mile - 2397.97 feet

 Maximum Speed over Mile -  4.01 mph

 Maximum Gain over Mile (%) - 13.23%