Another early morning today; I headed out just at dawn for Wild Basin to hike to Ouzel Falls. A moderate hike compared to some, just 5.4 miles today and not nearly as much elevation gain as I've been doing lately. I joined a group of three sisters from Minnesota for the hike in. It was early enough that there were not many people on the trail yet, and Wild Basin is known as the area to go in search of the more elusive wildlife such as bears. A ranger I talked to yesterday did this hike a couple weeks ago and saw moose, bear, and other wildlife. I wasn't keen on running into moose or bear alone, so found some nice hike mates. The journey took us past Copeland Falls, Calypso Cascade, and Ouzel Falls. Copeland is on the St. Vrain Creek, Ouzel Falls is on Ouzel Creek which feeds into the St. Vrain. Calypso is part of an unnamed creek that also feeds the St. Vrain. Plenty of evidence of the flood damage here, besides the fact that the bridge at Ouzel Falls is still out. Crews were working on it today. Also still signs of the Ouzel fire from a couple decades or more ago.

All in all it was a lovely walk, and I didn't see anything larger than a mink, which I only barely saw as it ran over my foot while I was photographing falls. Gave me a good start. The little guys were busy fattening up for winter, and had little fear of us hiking past.

Tonight is my last evening program for the park as Artist-in-Residence. I'm all set to go, and even added some slides of images from my stay at Rocky. It's been a great experience, and I am a little sad to see it winding down. I'll be in the area camping for a few days after my residency ends though, haven't quite had time to see all the areas I want this trip. I've really enjoyed Rocky and the solitude of this experience.

Tomorrow I endeavor to make it to Sky Pond, which includes climbing up some waterfalls on the way. It's a good hike of almost 10 miles, possibly my last long and rigorous hike, we'll see. I'm still contemplating Flattop and perhaps Hallet. Someday I'll get up Hallet, I love that mountain.