Ouzel Falls is the most popular hiking destination in the Wild Basin area of Romo. Wild Basin is in the southeastern corner of the park and is a lesser used and more rugged area. I had never been hiking in this part of the park, and this hike made me mad at myself for not exploring the area before.
The snow on the trail was nicely packed all 2.7 miles to the falls, so I only used my traction spikes and left the snowshoes in my pack. The trail follows North Saint Vrain Creek much of its way, passing by Calypso Cascades and several other small and unnamed cascades. We saw mountain lion tracks crossing the trail, and signs of otters sliding over the snow between the un-iced spots of the creek.
The falls were predictably frozen over, with the faint sound of hidden water trickling down somewhere behind the ice. Having lugged our snowshoes all the way, we decided to go off trail and put them to use.
From the base of the falls, we shoe'd up and headed around the western side of the falls, with the plan to meet the trail where it comes around from the east onto the northern ridge. The initial push up the steep terrain was very difficult. The snow was deep and soft, causing everyone to sink in despite their snowshoes. It took about 10 minutes for the seven of us to go about 25' at one point. The deep powder also concealed gaps in the rocks underfoot; luckily only our poles found these holes and not anyone's leg. Once up, it was a pleasant stroll across the ridge, with spectacular views of Longs Peak as our reward.
We found the trail and made some quick how-much-daylight-is-left calculations and decided to turn back the way we came. It's amazing how much easier and faster it is to snowshoe where even only one set of tracks has already broken the snow.
I have to mention the wildfire of 1978. In the photos you can see evidence of the burn in the mostly tree-less foregrounds. The '78 Ouzel Burn was the most widespread fire in the park's history, covering over 1,000 acres. Started near Ouzel Lake by lightning, the blaze spread slowly through the thick forest. It was contained to a low-risk area for some time, before high winds blew it out of control eastward towards private property and buildings. Luckily, it was contained to the park's boundaries by more than 500 firefighters. The lack of canopy due to the fire is what made the sweeping views in the above photos possible.
