Backpacking (Intentionally, this time!)

Two weeks after my "grand adventure" (getting lost), John and I went backpacking in the national park. My knee was still aggravated from all the extreme downhill bushwhacking I had done, so we chose a site only 1.7 miles in from the trailhead. Just in case my knee was still killing me, at least I wouldn't have to walk too far with that heavy pack. The yellow thing you can see peeking out near the top of my pack is a bear canister. With our food in it, it weighed about 5 pounds, I think. Not a ton, but every pound matters when you're carrying it all with you. Thankfully, my pack mule (I mean, my husband) carried in our tent and sleeping pads, so I only had my clothes and sleeping bag and pillow (and daypack and 2 liters of water and a few other items) to carry in besides the bear canister. Some areas allow bear bags (which must be strung up from a tree), but the RMNP requires these canisters, which are to be set on the ground 200 yards away from your campsite.

We hiked in from the Fern Lake Trailhead. Here's a fern and a cool Dr. Seuss-ish plant:

Our campsite was near The Pool, a very popular day hike. This ground squirrel would not leave me alone when I was sitting by The Pool, trying to read. I get the feeling he's been fed by humans before.

This is The Pool, where the Big Thompson River and the Fern Creek meet:

With The Pool being such a popular destination, I was afraid our campsite would feel like we were car camping, but thankfully, no. It was a true wilderness site. We couldn't hear or see anyone from the site, and it was surprisingly large. I think the limit is 4 people, but there was easily enough room for 10.

After setting up camp and relaxing for a bit, we hiked over to Cub Lake. It was only 1.2 miles away. The last time we hiked to Cub Lake, we had been from a different trailhead, so it was fun to try a new approach.

A wildfire had been through here since last time we were here, but it was long enough ago that there was lots of new growth. Totally different look from last time we saw it. The wildflowers were amazing (as they have been everywhere we've hiked this summer).

 I slept amazingly well for being in a tent. Probably thanks to the sleeping pads John hauled up there for us! I love this picture John took of me drinking coffee just after sunrise. It captures the peace and quiet of that morning:

 And here's the two of us, drinking coffee and eating Dinosaur Eggs oatmeal (for nostalgia's sake - our kids loved that stuff when they were little!):

A highlight of the morning was seeing this deer circle around our site a couple of times:

Video:

My parents hiked up to our campsite at 7:30 to join us for a day hike to Fern Lake and Odessa Lake. My dad had a knee injury worse than mine (his from mountain biking), but he was a trooper - he just wrapped it, took some vitamin I, and kept on hiking.

 Fern Falls:

Fern Lake:

After Fern Falls, we continued up to Odessa Lake. That was the only part of this hike I had never done before, and WOW, I am so glad we did. The approach to Odessa Lake is perhaps the prettiest in the entire national park. The pictures don't do it justice, but here they are:

It was a great trip, all-around. Next year we're going to make reservations in advance in a different area of the park and probably camp a couple of nights.