Bear Lake Ranger Station—Bierstadt Moraine—Odessa Lake—Fern Lake; 5.2 miles, Fern Lake Trail. Time: on foot, 4 hrs.; on horseback, 2 hrs.

Branching southwest from BEAR LAKE RANGER STATION, 0 miles (see Park Tour 3), this trail skirts the northern shore of Bear Lake and turns (R) in a steep climb, with several switchbacks, to the top of BIERSTADT MORAINE. Masses of aspen and small pine saplings grow among the rotting white trunks of trees destroyed long ago by fire.

At 0.5 miles is a junction with a side trail.

Right on this trail to BIERSTADT LAKE, 4 miles (see Park Tour 8).

The trail enters dense forest; at intervals stand Engelmann spruce, frequently mistaken for Colorado blue spruce, which it somewhat resembles in its form and its bluish-silver coloring. The latter, however, grows in moist river valleys and foothill canyons at altitudes of less than 8,600 feet.

At 1 miles is the junction (L) with the Flattop Trail (see Trail Tour 4).

Above timberline, 1.5 miles, marked by a fringe of dwarfed and deformed trees, stretches a rocky open meadow, along which the descending trail winds through spruce and aromatic balsam fir. The curiously elongated mountains, known as the Mummy Range (see Park Tour 1), appear to the north. The trail crosses a mass of shattered rock dislodged from the upper cliffs; a log footbridge spans the eastern outlet of Two Rivers Lake. Winding through heavy timber for half a mile, the trail reaches the shore of TWO RIVERS LAKE, 2.8 miles, little more than a pool. Passing LAKE HELENE, 3 miles, another small pool, the trail crosses the valley in two switchbacks and descends into a wooded valley.

At 3.5 miles is the junction with a side trail.

Left on this trail to ODESSA LAKE, 0.2 miles, above timberline, its blue surface reflecting (he grandeur of the encircling peaks. This lake and its companion, Fern Lake (see below), lie in the heart of a country of spectacular canyons that gash the eastern slope of the Continental Divide.

The trail parallels Fern Creek to FERN LAKE, 5.2 miles, smaller than Odessa, in a setting of spruce and pine; on the eastern shore is a LODGE (meals and lodging).