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Trailhead: Wild Basin Trailhead Elevation: 8,500' Destination Elevation: 10,025' Elevation Gain: 1,525' Roundtrip Miles: 9.8 Recently, the Cameron Peak fire was blown into the northwest section of the Park. The devastation from that fire will be noticeable for many years to come. By taking a hike up to Ouzel Lake, we can imagine how things will look in that section of the Park in another 40 years. This last August marked the 42nd anniversary of the Ouzel Fire which started as a lightening strike in the southeast corner of the Park. Last week, on an afternoon when the fall colors were starting to come into their own, I ventured up the 4.9 miles to Ouzel Lake.  It was a late day hike. I didn't leave the Wild Basin trailhead until almost 3:30 in the afternoon. I knew that by the time I walked the 4.9 miles to Ouzel Lake, it would be 6 or 6:30 and it would be dark by the time I returned to the lot, so I checked the batteries for my head lamp and threw that in the pack.
The afternoon had clouded up and I encountered some rain on the drive south from Estes Park toward Wild Basin. But there was just occasional drizzle as I started my hike, not enough to get anything damp. Many of the aspen tree were still green, but those that had turned colors looked spectacular!  An open hillside from the Ouzel Fire filling in with aspens As I hiked on, I wasn't too sure if the rain would pick back up, or would clear up. There wasn't a lot of water flowing down the Calypso Cascades when I crossed the bridges there and, knowing the water flow would be light, I went by the Ouzel Falls without much of a look there.  My attention was mostly toward stopping to capture the fall colors as I quickly moved up the trail. I was glad to see the clouds breaking up once I hiked past Ouzel Falls.  Mt Alice Sun was starting to get low on the western horizon when I reached the Bluebird Lake trail cutoff at just over 3 miles. The trail junction is in deep, dark forest being surrounded by tall spruce. But the trail quickly switchbacks up to the more open ridge that follows Ouzel Creek. This is where the hiker can best experience the 40 year natural restoration from the Ouzel Fire.  Fall Colors Along the Bluebird Lake trail I remember hiking this section of trail the summer after the fire in '79 and noticing how terrible things looked. It was a mostly barren landscape then. 40 years later, I could see the area was still a very long way from being fully recovered, but there was a healthy mix of aspen and spruce that were well on there way.  The path of the Ouzel Fire can be seen on the hillside in the distance  Along this section of the trail, there were a few scattered dead trees that rose up over the new growth, ghostly remnants of the fire that sometimes gave the appearance of flames. One burned out log had fallen across the trail and I hoped the trail crews would leave it lay instead of cutting it up. I felt like it was an old soldier with the scars of battle showing.
The fire opened the once forested ground to sunlight and part of the evolving ecological revegetation cycle allows for new plants and wildflowers to thrive.
The late day sun made for good photography with long shadows and backlit leaves. But I knew I wouldn't have too much daylight left by the time I got to the lake. Fortunately, I was near the trail cutoff.  There was just a little bit of daylight on the hillside as I approached the lake. Barely enough light to get some photographs if I hurried.  Ouzel Lake I loved the orange tinged grass that highlighted the edge of the eastern shoreline  The grassy shoreline was muddy and in places showed a little too much trampling from people walking around. I tried to step carefully so as to not contribute to the trampling. It took me two and a half hours to get to the lake, stopping for photographs along the way. I packed my camera into my day pack and left the lake at 6:30. It only took me an hour and a half to get back to the car. What a great hike!  Ouzel Lake with Ouzel Peak
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"The wild requires that we learn the terrain, nod to all the plants and animals and birds, ford the streams and cross the ridges, and tell a good story when we get back home." ~ Gary Snyder
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“Hiking -I don’t like either the word or the thing. People ought to saunter in the mountains - not hike! Do you know the origin of the word ‘saunter?’ It’s a beautiful word. Away back in the Middle Ages people used to go on pilgrimages to the Holy Land, and when people in the villages through which they passed asked where they were going, they would reply, A la sainte terre,’ ‘To the Holy Land.’ And so they became known as sainte-terre-ers or saunterers. Now these mountains are our Holy Land, and we ought to saunter through them reverently, not ‘hike’ through them.” ~ John Muir |
