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| aspens along the Fern Lake trail |
I decided that Colorado involves too little suffering for my tastes. In particular, the trails are too good, and there isn't enough brush. So, based purely on a lengthy study of topo maps of RMNP, I decided it would be a great break from huge well maintained trails to travel up the completely trackless Forest Canyon along the Big Thompson river. There was no peak objective because the winds were supposed to be ferocious on the continental divide, and that wasn't the kind of suffering I was after. Ethan and David came along thinking that this sounded like fun. Much to my surprise, it was.
We almost had to nudge elk off the road to get to the trail-head; curious experience: I didn't know what an elk call sounded like before. Once through the herd, we hiked up the Fern Lake trail until it turns uphill and leaves the river; we followed the river. Right from the start we entered a narrow canyon with sheer walls on at least one side. Much log balancing and rock hopping got us a ways in, and then we began to gain elevation on the ridge, looking for easier travel. What we found instead was a lovely grove of golden aspens high on the hillside where we had a long leisurely lunch. Thereafter we dropped back into the bottom of the canyon and scrambled down the river to get out. We didn't go very far or gain much elevation, but the scrambling in the canyon and even up the ridge was incredibly fun. The fall colors were amazing. I came home with pine needles in my underwear. What more can you ask for? It's the most fun I've head in the mountains in a very long time, due in no small part to two great companions.
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