Since the Twin Sisters hike only took 3 hours, afterward I drove south to the Wild Basin entrance of RMNP. From there it's a 2-mile drive on a dirt road to the trailheads, but the entrance station volunteer told me that parking would be very hard to find. So I parked by the entrance and walked to the trail. Fortunately there's a horse trail that parallels the road, so you don't need to walk on the road.
I decided to hike to Finch lake, mostly because I thought it would be less crowded than better known destinations like Ouzel Falls. From the trail there are a few views of the south side of Mt Meeker, but mostly it's just a pleasant walk through the trees. Part of what makes it pleasant is that the trail has sections that are covered with needles and bark, making for a soft walking surface. And since the snow is still melting there were many small streams crossing the trail.
As for Finch lake it was nice but not amazing like some of the high alpine lakes (e.g. Chasm lake). Good spot to picnic and watch for wildlife.
For the return trip I decided to take a different route, going by Calypso Cascades. En route I had to cross another rock slide from the 2013 floods. Did I mention that the Park Service builds great trails? Seriously they do amazing work.
The hike down was gorgeous, as water was flowing everywhere. The second photo is Calypso Cascades. St. Vrain creek was running really high.
The takeaway is that late spring is good time to visit Wild Basin, especially to see lots of rushing water. The hike to Finch Lake was 10 miles, 1400' elevation gain.
I decided to hike to Finch lake, mostly because I thought it would be less crowded than better known destinations like Ouzel Falls. From the trail there are a few views of the south side of Mt Meeker, but mostly it's just a pleasant walk through the trees. Part of what makes it pleasant is that the trail has sections that are covered with needles and bark, making for a soft walking surface. And since the snow is still melting there were many small streams crossing the trail.
As for Finch lake it was nice but not amazing like some of the high alpine lakes (e.g. Chasm lake). Good spot to picnic and watch for wildlife.
For the return trip I decided to take a different route, going by Calypso Cascades. En route I had to cross another rock slide from the 2013 floods. Did I mention that the Park Service builds great trails? Seriously they do amazing work.
The hike down was gorgeous, as water was flowing everywhere. The second photo is Calypso Cascades. St. Vrain creek was running really high.
The takeaway is that late spring is good time to visit Wild Basin, especially to see lots of rushing water. The hike to Finch Lake was 10 miles, 1400' elevation gain.
No comments:
Post a Comment