RMNP - Ouzel Falls

The original plan for today was to hike to Isabelle Glacier; however, the forecast was for afternoon thundershowers.  Isabelle Glacier would be a thirteen or fourteen mile round trip much of which would be treeless, so I decided to knock off a hike to Ouzel Falls in RMNP's Wild Basin.  Normally you can start for Ouzel Falls at the Wild Basin Trailhead, but I decided to start out at the Sandbeach Lake Trailhead so I could get a few extra miles in.

The trail started off following the mountain side above the dirt road to the Wild Basin TH.  It was a pretty level trail with only a few minor inclines along the way.  The Finch Lake Trailhead will take you to Finch Lake and Pear Lake.  A good distance trek also on my Wild Basin list.

Finch Lake Trailhead

Once I reached the Wild Basin trailhead, I chatted with a ranger for a few minutes.  He asked if I was headed to Ouzel Lake.  When I replied not today, but on another trip, he gave me some information about how to get there, since the bridge at Ouzel Falls was destroyed in the flood of 2013.  The trail to Ouzel Falls started mild and stayed that way through most of the trip.  I soon encountered Copeland Falls.  These are not spectacular falls, but are very nice in their own right.

Copland Falls - Lower

North St Vrain Creek between the falls

Copland Falls - Upper

A little further on, I ran into Calypso Cascades.  This was pretty spectacular, especially since the bridge across the creek was right at the bottom of the cascades.  I found several people lounging around enjoying a brief rest and a beautiful sight.

Calypso Cascades

I continued to follow the trail along North St Vrain Creek to Cony Creek and, finally, to Ouzel Creek.

North St Vrain Creek

Cony Creek (1)

Cony Creek (2)

Ouzel Creek

Continuing on I began a steady, but not too strenuous climb to Ouzel Falls.  Once there I met a volunteer ranger who reminded me 1) don't use the bridge under construction and 2) there was not "official" trail to the top of the falls, but many people did climb to the top, just remember you can fall.  Good advice!  The photo ops from the bottom of the falls were limited,

Ouzel Falls from the bottom of the falls

so I decided to take the scramble to the top.  It wasn't too bad, but is was pretty steep in places. The photo ops of Ouzel Falls from the top weren't much better,

Ouzel Falls about halfway up the scramble

Ouzel Falls from the top.

but the views of Longs Peak and Mt Meeker were cool!

Longs Peak & Mt Meeker

It was still relatively early in the day, but I decided against heading on up to Ouzel Lake, deciding to tackle it and Bluebird Lake another day.  The trip down was uneventful, but there were many, many people either at the bottom of the falls or on their way down.  Many more than I am used to.  I quickly got back to the truck, had lunch and was on my way!  All in all a nice day.

Oh, one last thing.  The wildflowers are getting scarce, but I did find one that was very beautiful.

Late wildflower

This will probably be the last journal entry for a little bit.  We have a couple of trips in the fifth wheel planned.  If I am ambitious, I might journal our trip to New England.  Stay tuned.

Overall Track Statistics for track RMNP Ouzel Falls

 Length 10.168 miles

 Start Elevation - 8369.29 feet

 Maximum Elevation - 9569.36 feet

 Minimum Elevation - 8214.11 feet

 Date of Hike - Aug 26, 2015

 Start Time - 09:04 AM

 End Time - 01:33 PM

 Total Duration -     4:28 hours:min

 Total Ascent - 1751.02 feet

 Total Descent - 1906.20 feet

 Net Ascent - -155.18 feet

 Maximum Grade - 18.68%

 Average Speed -  2.27 mph

 Maximum Ascent over Mile - 566.96 feet

 Maximum Speed over Mile -  3.23 mph

 Maximum Gain over Mile (%) -  8.75%