After looking since June for a camping permit at Ouzel lake to become available to no avail, I finally pulled the trigger on a *day hike*, although for me personally the backpacking trip would have been more enjoyable. Too bad RMNP don't allow for more walk-in permits like GTNP does.

Since the days are noticeably getting shorter and I had a 7k 21 mile loop, I started in the dark at 5.20am to maximize the daylight. Around 8am I was at the Ouzel lake, but still needed to filter enough water before the long ridge hike. The campsite was occupied, so at least I knew the people were actually using their precious camping permit! I found a good log to cross and kept my feet dry during the short bushwhack through the forest.

The 3k tundra grunt up Copeland was similar to the one on Thatchtop and Mummy and I was glad to get the most vertical done for the day, getting to the summit by 11.30 am. One page register in a good canister, which was hard to open. Didn't stay long and continued to Ogalalla via the west ridge. I wanted to preserve elevation, so stayed fairly high and the rock quality was great, although the ridge was longer and more time consuming than I expected. The curious ermine was surprised to see me there and was too quick for me to take a photo of his beautiful brown coat.

For the final section to get on the ridge with Ogalalla, I took the same blocky gully as Vera did (didn't want to deal with the loose class 3 gully) and after an easy start it was full on climbing for the last 200 feet on great rock. Maybe 5.6ish? It was the most memorable part of the entire loop. With all the shenanigans I didn't get to the summit of Ogalalla before 3pm. Wasn't able to open the register, it was very firmly closed. The ridge to Isolation was longer and more vert than the Copeland ridge, but took me a bit faster as it's an easy grassy tundra stroll for the most part. The lowest point on the ridge drops down to 12.2k, so it's 800 ft grunt to the summit of Isolation via the south ridge. While admiring the views from the saddle I noticed a black bear on the west side who was running away from me (he spotted me first).

Halfway on the traverse near Ouzel peak I unexpectedly found water (probably the rain water) and replenished my diminished water stash. Got to the summit of Isolation before 6pm to the nice views and contemplated the long descent. The register canister on the Isolation is broken. I descended to the Isolation lake then stayed on the grassy slopes below Mahana for the descent to the Bluebird lake. Was able to find sporadic cairns and segments of trail, pretty straightforward route finding. Was happy to hit the good trail by dusk at 8 pm with over 6 miles still left to go! Stopped again to filter more water just before the Ouzel creek campsite which appeared unoccupied. Soon after that I saw a bull moose just off the trail and then 5 pair of eyes staring at me in the dark (hoping it was a deer?) All that left was a 3 hour slog in the dark which was my least favorite part of the "dayhike".