Long hikes are all very well, but there is a lot to be said for quick trips to your local mountains.
Wild Basin comprises the southern portion of Rocky Mountain National Park on the east side of the divide. Bounded by Long’s Peak on the north and St. Vrain Mountain on the south, it is the headwaters basin of N St. Vrain Creek, and is about a 40 minute drive from my house.
All non-winter camping is by permit only. Despite the relative lateness of the season, there were only a few open dates, but I managed to put together a 2-night itinerary, drove up to the backcountry ranger station in Estes Park to collect my permit and hear the required lectures, then drove back down to Wild Basin and started hiking.
The forecast was for rain and wind and I was not disappointed of the chance to experience raw fall weather. But I had brought a tarp to hang out under, along with plenty of snacks, whisky and a comfy camp chair, so I was not too much inconvenienced.
Falls below my camp on the N St Vrain
From my first camp along the N St Vrain I hiked up a mile or so to a couple of ponds denoted as Twin Lakes on the map. They were fishless, so my Tenkara rod stayed packed. However the rarely-visited (by RMNP standards) lakes provided a sense of quietude and isolation that I thoroughly appreciated.
Stillness on Twin Lakes
Dinner was another experiment in freeze-drying: fish sticks and tots. Of course I could not get them oven-crisp after rehydrating, but they were not too mushy and tasted about right.
The next morning I broke camp and relocated up to Ouzel Lake, hiking through intermittent showers. The wind was not at all intermittent, and dashed any hopes I had of fishing the lake.
Ouzel L under low and windy skies
The low clouds lifted a bit in the afternoon, so I day hiked up to Bluebird Lake, enjoying fine views of Long’s Peak and Wild Basin.
The weather was pretty raw at the lake – no hope of fishing here either – so I took shelter on the lee side of a boulder, snacked and hung out for a while before hiking back down.
Bluebird Lake in a gale
The morning brought much finer weather, and I took the long route home to enjoy Ouzel Falls.
Views of the lower basin revealed that the aspens, which were summer-green when I started, had begun to turn.
There was nothing special about this hike, except that all of it was special. Just another gift from the wild.