Bear, Helena, Odessa, Fern Lake loop

July 21, 2011  Bear, Helena, Odessa, Fern lake loop 

9.2 miles hiked                         Total miles 129.6

Today we take the beautiful loop hike of Bear Helena, Odessa, and Fern Lake.  This has been one of my favorite hikes here at RMNP.  You take the bus up to Bear Lake and start it from there.  You gain 1300 feet of elevation before loosing all of that plus more.  You most defiantly want to start this hike from Bear Lake because it is a nasty climb going up from Fern!  The Rangers at Beaver Meadow must be telling people to hike this from Fern on up as we meet a lot of people hike this the hard way!  I am assuming they thin the snow fields are impassible coming down from Odessa to Fern.

We are about 20 minutes into the hike when we pass three people from WI.  We stop and chat and find they are on a redo hike.  Some 20 years ago they took this hike and the boy who is now 28 found himself in some state of hypothermia.  The father took him down and got him wrapped up and out of the weather so he could get warmed up.  The mother had continued on up to the top with the daughter.  Today they were off to the top of Flattop to make good on the 20 year old adventure.  The Mom and Dad were both retired and worked at Miller Park back in Wisconsin.  They invited us to come to the park and look them up.  Loge level, first base side, just ask at the Tiki Bar for Victor and he will set us up!  Geez hiking is such a great people mixer.  We wish them good luck with their big redo adventure.  We hope to catch up with Victor at a Brewers game and see if they completed their bucket list challenge.  Lord knows I have had to go back and redo a few hikes…It proves better to get it right the first time.

We press on up towards Lake Helena.  The vistas seem clearer today and we have heard that the weather of Monsoon thunderstorms everyday is predicted to break soon.  We hike up to our first major snow field to find a father and son standing and looking for where the trail goes next.  Kathi and I have a lot of experienced with this type of game…  I place a mark on the gps and we start searching.  With in a minute Kathi has the trail located.  We flag down the father and son and continue along towards Helena.  After all of yesterdays practice this was hardly a challenge that the Father was making it out to be. 

Our snow bridge game

Notch Top Mt.

We find Helena is open, but the whole area is covered in snow.  So we laid down a gps mark and went in search of the back of the lake.   Along the way we find a great opportunity to play snow bridge hurl.  After a few rocks we go on back and find an exceptional snack spot.  From here we can see notch top and the side of the little Matterhorn.  This is a very beautiful spot and because it is all snowed in, we have the place to ourselves.  I’m sure that unless you know exactly where this secret hideaway is, you would not venture back into this behind the lake scene with out following a trail.  With out the snow there are several faint trails that would suggest where to go.  This a big ole pile of snow, you only go if you know where to go.  We have been back here many times so it is all familiar.  After a snack and some pictures, we pack up and head down towards Odessa Lake.

Snow bridge by Odessa

The downhill gives us a great opportunity to look around.  We did have a few snow crossings, but nothing like yesterday.  The father and son from earlier were digging some really big steps into the snow crossing.  They took all of the danger out of the crossing.  I could see how someone who did not know how to walk on snow might be challenged by this crossing.  We make it down to the junction for Lake Odessa.  Heading down the Odessa trail we soon find ourselves stopped by a massive snow bridge.  We are standing on the edge of the trail with the raging river at our toes.  Standing with us are three lady hikers from the Colorado Hiking Club.  They are also wondering the sturdiness of the snow bridge.  The trail to Odessa is right next to the river in a tight ravine.  At some point closer to the lake there is a log across this river so you can cross over for the best view of the lake.  We are standing at a spot that does not receive much direct sun light and since it is a pretty tight space it becomes a bottle neck for the snow to build up during a snow storm.  The snow bridge looks very questionable.  We would have to side step up the edge of the snow bridge or perhaps trail grabbing on to tree limbs for support and then at some point take a step of faith onto the snow hoping the snow bridge would hold us… With five of us now standing there we took a vote and we all voted- no.  Even though Odessa is a magnificent place to be, the chance of falling through the snow bridge is too high and surviving the fall into the rushing river was about 0 %.

We continue down to Fern Lake to settle in on its splendor.  Sitting there having lunch we think back through this past two weeks.  We think forward to what we should do next year.  During these last days of our hiking adventure is when we begin to dream about what is possible for next year…Hmmm, I’m turning 50 so it should be something special.  But what would be special, something we have never seen or something we want to see again?

Fern Lake with Notch Top Mt in the back

We tromp on down the trail going past the waterfalls, the pool, and large boulder rocks that look like they have fallen from the sky to get there.  After that it is a long tromp out to the shuttle bus.  We just missed the bus so had to wait almost 20 minutes before the next one came.  The ride back up to the park and ride takes almost 30 minutes.  Most of which I took a nap.  It reminded me of taking the school bus when I was back in school.  It moved slowly, it made many stops, and it was stuffy warm on the bus. The temps today were in the 80’s and the shuttle was not air conditioned, I think my body is still tired from Longs; I just tilt my head over against the window and snooze.  My dreamy thoughts remind me of all I have seen with my eyes, stepped on or over with my feet.  The magnificence of it all is overwhelming…How Blessed we are to be able to do see it and touch it.

Fern Falls