Day 1

Bear Lake to Fern Lake Trailhead - 9.2 miles

We arrived at McGregor at noon and were on the trail at 2:15. We wanted to do something other than our usual Nymph, Dream, Emerald, Haiyaha warm up hike, so we got ambitious. This trail can be done as a one way hike by parking at the Fern Lake Trailhead and taking the park shuttle to Bear Lake.

The first three miles are uphill, which was fairly rough for a first day hike with no time to acclimate to the altitude. Along the way there are some nice views of Long's Peak and Notchtop Mountain, and a small snow field still there in mid-July.

After passing Two Rivers Lake and Lake Helene you top out of the Gorge and get a spectacular view of Odessa Lake far below. From this point it's mostly downhill to the trailhead. The trail goes past Odessa and then doubles back along a beautiful stream to the lake.

The trail between Odessa and Fern is lined with Columbine.

Farther down the trail is beautiful Fern Lake, so full of trout you can see them from the trail well above the lake.

Next up, or down, is Fern Falls. The Pool is about a mile from the falls, with Arch Rocks the last landmark on the trail.

After the rocks, the trail is flat and fairly boring. It always seems a lot farther to the trailhead than it really is.