Posted July 12, 2009

Will and I were able to coordinate our work schedule to allow for us to take a hike together on Sunday, June 7, 2009. Quite an, ummm, interesting hike. One could even use the work “epic” : )
The question was, where to go? June 7 is normally too early for hiking anywhere close to timberline due to snow. And this year is even snowier than what we have been having during the last few years (supposedly our “drought” has been broken by the amount of precipitation this year). So, I looked for a hike that was somewhat lower in elevation than timberline, but still above the local foothills. I decided on the Colorado River Trail system in RMNP. Specifically, the one that goes up to Lulu City. It’s located on the “other side” of RMNP (Rocky Mountain National Park). So, we would go over Trailridge Road in addition to hiking. Always an interesting ride.

Before I go any further in the trip’s description, here is my standard comment. Please check my photo galleries here for all the larger and higher quality photos for this trip. The photos in the gallery are a quantum leap in size and quality compared to the little teaser photos I put in this site’s trip narrative. I have two other links that will help locate the area if you are interested in making the hike yourself. A Google Earth map can be found here. Use the scale bar on the left side of the Google map to help zoom in or out to help locate the area based on where you live. (This link will direct you to a Google map that shows ALL my trips.) In order to help you with the actual trail itself, you can use this link to view a topo map of the Lulu City trail. All links open a new browser window.

In addition to the Google map link above, below is a Microsoft Live map. The red tack shows the general location of the trail from Fort Collins, CO. You can click on the map to bring it up in a “live” mode and zoom in or out (move the map around) to get more detail.
We got to the trailhead relatively early. Although cool, the sky was mostly sunny. It was a little breezy. Not too many people seemed to be using the trail. We took a quick “pre-hike” video and took off.
It’s always a good idea to take a quick glance at the message board. Just in case there have been reports of rampaging mountain lions, etc.

With that out of the way, we took off.

One thing that was immediately apparent was how “green” everything was. The bushes and aspens were just getting their leaves and had that glowing greenery that you only see in the late spring/early summer. Other than dandelions, there were very few wild flowers in evidence. Too early.
The trail starts off as almost a highway. This lower section of the trail is heavily used by people from neighboring campgrounds. All kinds of people (young, old, big, small). Not many of which were evident today. I think we saw a total of 6 hikers (two groups).

Once pass the initial half mile or so, the trail comes back to tracking close to the Colorado River itself. Just to be sure everyone is on the same page, yes, this is the same Colorado River that you’d see on the outskirts of Moab, UT. and that continues down through the Grand Canyon. This is the headwaters of that river. Photo by Will.





























































