Intro
I was in the midst of moving from Boulder to Estes Park. On Friday afternoon/evening I had loaded all of my possessions into a U-Haul, handed over the keys, and waved goodbye to my tiny aprtment in Boulder. Closing on my new house was not until the following Friday, so there wasn't anything more I could do on the moving process at this point. So I decided a winter hike sounded like a good plan for Saturday.
It was forecasted to be a bit windy and clearing throughout the day, so the mostly-treed approach to Fern Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park sounded like a good plan. The hike to Fern Lake begins from the Moraine Park area. In the summer and fall, this is a very popular area for backpacking, camping, and fishing. The first 2.5 miles are flat and easy, and I enjoyed the openness and contrast that resulted from the burned trees in this area, a result of the East Troublesome Fire of Fall 2020 that had raged through this area. After 2.5 miles, I reached a junction. The left fork headed towards Cub Lake, creating a nice loop that would take me back to my car. The right fork headed uphill towards Fern Lake. I started uphill, but I was feeling pretty unmotivated and tired (no doubt due to packing up an entire U-Haul the evening before!). The loop option past Cub Lake sounded like a more appealing plan at the moment. So I got on the left fork and enjoyed a pleasant hike past Cub Lake and back to my car. This loop hike makes for a nice mellow few hours of walking with a lake along the way. I was back at my car before noon. I headed back to Nate's place and enjoyed reading a book in the sun on his porch and reveling in the fact that I was in Estes Park for good now. What an amazing place to live!
Below is a sampling of photos from my snowy morning hike.
