View allAll Photos Tagged FernLake
The orange light of sunrise floods the east-facing wall of the Continental Divide as the peaks of the Front Range rise above their reflections in Fern Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. Wind rolled with some velocity down the valley at irregular intervals, ruffling the water's surface frequently as it advanced. Additionally, a female duck dabbled in the shallow waters for breakfast, paddling vigorously as her bill probed the sediment. Between the wind and the duck were moments of stillness, and I found myself face to face with a beautiful mountainous mirror. From left to right and south to north are Notchtop Mountain, then Knobtop Mountain, and finally Gabletop Mountain, all in the neighborhood of 12,000 feet (3,650 m).
On this particular outing I had the fortune to have the company of my two sons, aged 13 and 9, and an old friend of my eldest's for good measure. We backpacked into Fern Lake from Bear Lake via the pass that separates Flattop Mountain from Joe Mills Mountain, and then made a loop around Mount Wuh through Upper Mill Creek Basin for a total distance of 11 miles.
The kids spent most of the previous evening practicing throwing knives at trees such that the blade would stick into the bark. They also could not seem to stop talking about strategy when it came to a certain car-driving video game with which they are all currently enthralled. They were a fine-spirited lot though and were still laughing on the second day at the end of 6 miles and 2,000 feet of climbing with 20-25% of their body-weight on their backs. It was hard to believe how much ramen two teenage boys can eat after walking all day and giving their jawbones a good workout to boot.
I hope everyone is enjoying the onset of autumn! It is a relief to feel some cool weather again.
Fern Lake Trail, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. Notchtop is on the left with the Little Matterhorn in the center. Because of the early June date, there is much more snow on the mountains. Scanned from a Kodachrome slide.
Thanks for the views, faves and comments!
This log filled, bouncing cascade is about halfway up the trail to Fern Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, US. At this point, still over a mile and ~600 feet up to the lake.
A steep hike up was worth it! Look for the subtle symmetry which I didn't notice when I took it.
View this one large!
We hiked to Fern Lake in Rocky Mountain N.P. on Memorial Day and finally found sunshine. It was a great day for hiking, but we were surprised to see total snow conditions on the trail the last 1/4 to 1/2 mile and a lot of ice still on the lake.
A short but steep hike up from the June Lake Loop. Fern Lake is one of the most spectacular places in the Sierras! But I say that about all of the lakes.
Hiker looking S across Fern Lake. California, Sierra Nevada mountains, Ansel Adams Wilderness. Off the John Muir Trail near Mile 052.
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Looking downstream after Fern Creek and the Big Thompson River join up along the trail to Fern Lake.
Snow and the surrounding mountains are reflected in the still waters of Fern Lake in the Ansel Adams Wilderness in Mono County, California.
A pair of mallard ducks swim on Fern Lake on the last morning of spring in the Ansel Adams Wilderness in Mono County, California.
After the tough 3.7mi hike to Fern Lake.
I think this photo might have been better had I rotated the CP filter to show reflection in the lake, as opposed to all the distracting stuff that's underneath the surface.
Three images, tonemapped in Photomatix Pro. I reprocessed this image in Photomatix and I like the new coloring better. I hope you do, too! Photomatix has gotten a LOT better over the past few iterations, and I think it's a nice complement to Nik (Google) HDR Efex Pro.
It was so delightful to sit down by the water and enjoy the solitude that I found at at Fern Lake. For quite some time not a single soul accompanied me or the lake. Fall foliage began at the lake a lot sooner than any other around the area. The mirror like reflections in the water were so pleasing to the eye that it was rather difficult to say my goodbyes to the lake when it was time to go.
Snow remains on the mountains soaring above Fern Lake in the Ansel Adams Wilderness in Mono County, California.
Fern Lake was a very shallow lake, and yet, it had the depth of the blue sky. The dazzling Aspens were reflected in the water almost mirror like, at times it was almost impossible tell them apart... Then the spotlessly blue azure was soon accompanied by the clumps of fluffy cotton candies.
Fern Lake Uphill Hike, I got up early and was the only one on the trail this early. This was one of my rewards for getting up..
Odessa Lake Trail, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. Being early June, snow is present, but not the deepest snow on this early June hike. Ascending to Fern Lake, we were post-holing to the top of our thighs in snow on a fairly steep north-facing uphill for some distance. Here I am on the trail to the left of Fern Creek and, in the distance, my son is standing on the bridge over the Creek. Beyond the bridge, Fern Creek is invisibly flowing under a snow bridge reaching almost to the outlet of Odessa Lake with the continuing trail on its right. Scanned from a Kodachrome slide.
Thank your for your views, faves and comments!
We hit the trail at 3:00 AM and were making great time. At about 4:00 AM we arrived at Cub Lake, and realized we were 0.75 miles of course and had missed a junction in the trail. We had to really hoof it after that to make it up to Fern Lake for sunrise, but we maded it...barely.
Would have loved for even just a single cloud in the sky this morning, but it wasn't to be. The sun did a nice job of lighting up the divide though.