Fern Falls and Odessa Lake

Greetings, Trail Followers.

     Trail Tuesdays begin again! This summer, sadly, the family has whittled down to Devi and Suzie, who sincerely miss their other halves. After the mishaps of this trek, it was clear that we are in need of the balance provided by our dear KT and Zacc, who are living their beautiful lives elsewhere this summer.

      After being...*ahhhem*...a little slow to the trail, we parked a short way from one trailhead, hoping to make the short trek from the Beaver Creek Trailhead to the Fern Falls trailhead. Unfortunately, this was easier said than done. Instincts, really, should not be relied upon before we've had our coffee.

      After getting a bit turned around by the horse trails, horseback riders, and a campsite that skewed our internal compasses, we made it to the Fern Falls trailhead after an additional 2 miles. Who needs feet, anyway?

      The trail itself was rich with green foliage, home to the wildlife that make Colorado an unforgettable state. The butterflies along our way were more than friendly, much to the dismay of my companion.

     Passing mammoth obelisks and following the gentle curves of a mountain stream, we passed many hikers on our loop. The scenery was lush and fertile until this calm green suddenly gave way to blacked earth and ashen tree trunks, stripped to their rawest state. In the December prior, the Fern Lake fire had ravaged this section of the forest, condemning our beetle-infested trees to a trial by fire. The scorched land here left me in heartbroken tears-- I cannot help but feel the earth shudder in anguish.

    Even in the midst of this devastation, there was evidence of life pushing up through the black ground. Small shoots of green had shot up from the soil, which i snot rich with the minerals released by the fire itself. It was Suzie who remarked at its strange beauty. We trekked through this section in reverential silence-- we were left to wonder, unhappily, when we would come to its edge. A bridge that had been burned was in the middle of reconstruction and we posed laughingly.

    The question arose-- What is the proper plural of Moose? No concrete conclusion as of yet, but it we could agree that it was certainly not correct to say, "Look at that one lonely Meese."

    Not ten minutes later, a small boy traveling with his family informed us with a chipper tone that the "moose are back there still. Promise." This yielded the best kind of rest at Odessa lake, having passed the Falls and Fern lake prior to this encounter.

    Turning around, we begin our descent in tired rhythm. Unspeakably beautiful as the terrain was, our legs had been exhausted by the climb and added mileage. Both pairs of feet have yet to fully recover, but the next trail  is looming in its own, inviting way.

    It was in this way that ~13 miles and ~8 hours later we departed from Estes Park for the week.