Baker Gulch, RMNP, Sept 18, 2011
Last fall, Sept 18, 2011, I decided to go up into a range of mountains that, up to now, I hadn’t done much hiking in. I’m referring to the Never Summer range on the west side of RMNP (Rocky Mountain National Park). I was hoping to see a little bit of fall color, but miss the snow. Well, as it turned out, we had some snow a few days earlier, but it all melted off at the lower elevations. One reason I picked the Baker Gulch trail is because it goes up to Baker Pass that I had hiked up to last summer (see this link for a description of that hike, or look at my blog entry directly below this one). Only, I came up from the other side of the continental divide. The idea being that it’d be neat to reach the same place from the opposite direction. Didn’t quite make it, but it was a great hike (and still a great idea : ).
(Just to break up my wall of text extended intro to the hike : )
Before I go any further in the trip’s description, here is my standard, rather longish, comment. Please check my photo galleries here for all the larger and higher quality photos for this trip. The photos in that gallery are a quantum leap in size and quality compared to the little teaser photos I put in this site’s trip narrative (plus there are more of them). In addition, 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. You will need to use the scale bar on the left side of the Google map to help zoom out to help locate the area based on where you live. (If you want to see all my trips, this link will direct you to a Google map that shows ALL my trips. Please note that some of the links for the hikes are located somewhere in the hike itself, while other links on the map are the trailhead for the hike located on a road. The issue being, even if the link looks like it’s pointing to a road, that’s actually just the trailhead.) In order to help you with the actual trail itself, you can use this link to view a portion of a topo map that shows the trail I took . Please note that all links open a new browser window.
(Again, just to break up my wall of text extended intro to the hike : )
In addition to the Google map link above, please see a Microsoft Live map below. The red tack shows the general location of the trail from my home in Fort Collins, CO. You can click on the map to bring it up in a “live” mode and zoom in or out (and move the map around) to get more detail. Just make sure you don’t close the Microsoft “My Places” editor that pops up with map. If you close the editor (it is small and you can use/scroll/zoom the map without the editor getting too much in the way) without first saving the new location, the location button will disappear. If that happens, just close the map and click on it again on my web page.
View Larger Map
Finally, on to the hike itself.
The trail starts off in a small parking lot that you reach soon after coming down off west end of Trailridge road in RMNP. Took me a couple of hours to get there from Fort Collins. But no problem. I’d stopped and gotten my normal “lets go hiking” breakfast of an americano and cranberry scone, so I was raring to hit the trail. It was just a little cool and not much activity. But, from what I could see in the distance, the hike going up the far valley was looking to be quite nice.
The trail, or rather, the road (more on that) crosses the Colorado River as it heads to the west and the Never Summers. The fishermen in the distance are encountering just a small bit of turgidity to the normally, at this time of year, crystal clear water. This is due to a little runoff from a recent snow storm that hit the high country a day before. Of course, the water is still crystal clear compared to how this river looks further downstream. Say, around Moab, UT : )
Baker Pass, Never Summer Wilderness,CO July 31, 2010
There’s a place, an area, a gem of a trail I found last summer (summer of 2010; sorry I’m a little slow : ). I kinda hate to write about it, because I just want to keep it for myself. But, that’s selfish (which doesn’t bother me too much : ). And, it’s an unnecessary worry because from what I can see the number of people going hiking continues to decline. So, if you’re interested in a cool kind of out of the way, but not too far of a drive, hike, then check this out.
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 (and there are more of them). In addition, 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. You will need to 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. (If you want to see all my trips, 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 map that shows the trail I took . Please note that all links open a new browser window.
The Never Summer range of mountains is a section of country I haven’t spent much time in (but have done so since this particular hike). The range of mountains forms a big chunk of Rocky Mountain National Park’s western boundary. I’d looked at the Never Summer’s (such as when I come down off of Trailridge road) over the years, and even did some hiking on a little of it with Will. But, I’d “never” been on it’s western slopes. So, last summer figured it was about time. Summer of 2010.
In addition to the Google map link above, please see a Microsoft Live map below. The red tack shows the general location of the trail from my home in Fort Collins, CO. You can click on the map to bring it up in a “live” mode and zoom in or out (and move the map around) to get more detail. Just make sure you don’t close the Microsoft “My Places” editor that pops up with map. If you close the editor (it is small and you can use/scroll/zoom the map without the editor getting too much in the way) without first saving the new location, the location button will disappear. If that happens, just close the map and click on it again on my web page.
If you head up over Cameron Pass, going west, you drop down into the Michigan river valley. You soon enter the rather, um, dainty little town of Gould. Yes, I’ve zoomed through it many a times headed for Walden and the Zirkels. But this time, I turned off onto Forest Access road 740 in Gould, crossed the Michigan River, and headed up the road into the unknown. And boy, was I in for a shock. Because when you cross the river you enter the REAL town of Gould. It can’t be seen from the highway. But, there’s a town back in there. As in lots of houses. Lots of families. Very interesting. Very pretty. Very secluded.
(photo below is from up the trail a ways, not of Gould)
Anyway, I passed on through Gould going past the Pines campground and on up road 760 (dirt/gravel) until I came to the South Fork of the Michigan River trailhead. Sorta. As I found out, this is kinda a back country area and they don’t keep the roads up past a certain point. So, about 3 miles from the trailhead, on a dirt road, I saw a sign that said something about parking for the trail. But, hey, the road kept going. So, I kept driving. But, I drove VERY slowly in my small car. Why? Because I had to weave in and around mud holes that were large enough to swallow my car. I swear I saw fenders partially sticking up out of some of the bigger ones. Hope the drivers got out in time. I would, much later, almost regret that little section of drive because while tricky to navigate with daylight, it was not something that you’d want to have to deal with in the dark.
After about an mile and a half of slow driving I saw another sign that said 4WD only from that point on. And the trailhead was another one point five miles ahead. Sigh. Okay, better safe than sorry. I parked my car and began a walk up the 1.5 miles of 4WD road to the actual trailhead. Very pleasant scenery to look at, so no big deal. No one else was parked there, or earlier. I saw no one on the road, and I saw no one on the trail.
East Inlet Trail, RMNP, June 13, 2011
Because of the heavy snow pack from the late spring and early summer storms, I decided to head back to RMNP (Rocky Mountain National Park) on Sunday, June 13, 2011. It had a fair amount of trails that were lower in elevation, but still in pretty areas whose trails would not be flooded. In addition, I wanted to check out Trail Ridge Road, because I’d heard that it had some pretty interesting scenes due to all the snow.
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 (and there are more of them). In addition, 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. You will need to 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. (If you want to see all my trips, 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 map that shows the trail I took . Please note that all links open a new browser window.
In addition to the Google map link above, please see a Microsoft Live map below. The red tack shows the general location of the trail from my home in Fort Collins, CO. You can click on the map to bring it up in a “live” mode and zoom in or out (and move the map around) to get more detail. Just make sure you don’t close the Microsoft “My Places” editor that pops up with map. If you close the editor (it is small and you can use/scroll/zoom the map without the editor getting too much in the way) without first saving the new location, the location button will disappear. If that happens, just close the map and click on it again on my web page.
So, I got up Sunday morning, stopped by Starbucks on my way out of town, and by the time I hit timberline on Trailridge I had to agree with what I’d heard. Yes, they had lots of snow.
This trip saw me begin to use a slightly different technique of taking some of my photos. I’d seen my children use the method of taking photos from a moving vehicle. So, I did the same. However, it was a little different in that I was the driver. Ummm, I really don’t recommend doing this, but it did allow for some nice photos. Of course, I should add that whenever I took the photo I looked behind me, make sure there was no traffic behind me, stopped the car, and then took the photo. Yeah, sure. That’s exactly how I did it.
Lumpy Ridge Loop Trail, RMNP, May 28, 2011
As per normal, I took my annual hike on the Lumpy Ridge Loop trail on a Sunday, May 29 of this year. This is memorial day weekend which means I get the following day, Monday, to rest. As this is an eleven mile hike, and near the beginning of my hiking season, it always seems prudent to allow for a day of rest prior to going back to work. Just in case : )
Since I take the hike each year at the same time, its very evident from year to year about the differences in the local environment due to the current weather patterns. So, some years at this time, as in 2009, there were wild flowers everywhere. Including lots of columbines. This year they were unable to open Trail Ridge road for the Memorial Day weekend due to all the snow. And I saw very few flowers.
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 (and there are more of them). In addition, 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. You will need to 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. (If you want to see all my trips, 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 map that shows the trail I took . Please note that all links open a new browser window.
In addition to the Google map link above, please see a Microsoft Live map below. The red tack shows the general location of the trail from my home in Fort Collins, CO. You can click on the map to bring it up in a “live” mode and zoom in or out (and move the map around) to get more detail. Just make sure you don’t close the Microsoft “My Places” editor that pops up with map. If you close the editor (it is small and you can use/scroll/zoom the map without the editor getting too much in the way) without first saving the new location, the location button will disappear. If that happens, just close the map and click on it again on my web page.
When I woke up and looked out the window that Sunday morning, it was raining. Not very hard. But still… Who wants to take off for a hike in RMNP when its cloudy, cool, and wet? And, if it’s that way in the Fort, more than likely it’s that way in Estes Park. I took a quick glance at some web cams in Estes. Yep, cloudy and wet looking. But, not actively raining. Hmmmmm. Went back to bed.
Sigh. Couldn’t get to sleep and decided to go for it. I’d packed the night before, so it didn’t take long to throw stuff into the car and head to RMNP (stopping at Starbucks on the way, of course : ) By the time I got to Estes Park and the Lumpy Ridge trail head (which is really the Gem Lake trailhead), the clouds had started to rise a little. And, better yet, it wasn’t actively raining.
As I headed up the trail, the clouds continued to rise until some of the peaks were able to peak through the clouds.
Zoom
(Note – Yes, it’s 2011, but I’m still posting about some hikes I did in 2010. But, I’ve also started posting about hikes in 2011. You’ll just have to scan down to see them.)
And it came to pass that one weekend I felt like doing “something different”. Yeah. Like, umm, not driving up Poudre Canyon again. For a while. And, no, I really didn’t want to drive up to Laramie, WY and points west. Well, that really only left one area close by. Yes, RMNP (Rocky Mountain National Park). So, I got up fairly early, since, well, it IS tourist season so parking is a little tricky in some areas, and headed to RMNP.
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 (and there are more of them). In addition, 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. You will need to 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. (If you want to see all my trips, 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 map that shows the loop I took (care of the National Park Service). Please note that all links open a new browser window.
This was one of my “I don’t really know where I’m going to go hiking so I’ll just drive and eventually get there” kind of decision of which trail to end up at. Which is what I did.
It was a very nice day and I got up into the park, and,
“….hmmmm, turn here and go right towards Trail Ridge?”
“No, guess I’ll turn left. Yes, left feels good.”
“Lets see, should I stop here? Nah, I’ll just keep driving till the road ends.”
“Oh look. Imagine that. The Bear Lake parking area. Guess I’m supposed to park and hike here.”
And, since it was before 8 am, there was still some open parking (its actually quite a large parking area, but it does fill up quickly in summer time). Of course, the Glacier Gorge parking area had already been full, or I would have parked there. Oh well. Fate.
(Note – RMNP has a great shuttle bus system. So, if you get up too late to find a parking space, enquire about the available shuttle buses (some of which can be caught right at the visitor’s center) and let someone else do the driving.)
I wandered over to the trail head, still not sure where I was headed, and took a look at the map.
“Yesssss. Well, nah, don’t feel like going up Flattop mountain, thank you very much. Glacier Gorge? Hmmm. The Lock? Hmmm. Geee. I’ve never been to a lot of those areas.”
And, it came to me that most of the hiking around Bear Lake I had never done. Which, as I have been living in the area for approximately 237 years, you would have thought I’d hiked most of RMNP by now. But then, as I looked around the trail head, I could understand why much of it I had still left to hike. It was, to make a slight understatement, crowded. Well, I’d just act like a tourist then. And, since I’d never been to a lot of the areas, I’d do a loop. And that’s what I did. A very nice loop that let me get introduced to the area. And, to my surprise, I liked it. I plan on going back (although, maybe not in the middle of the summer : )
In addition to the Google map link above, please see a Microsoft Live map below. The red tack shows the general location of the trail from my home in Fort Collins, CO. You can click on the map to bring it up in a “live” mode and zoom in or out (and move the map around) to get more detail. Just make sure you don’t close the Microsoft “My Places” editor that pops up with map. If you close the editor (it is small and you can use/scroll/zoom the map without the editor getting too much in the way) without first saving the new location, the location button will disappear. If that happens, just close the map and click on it again on my web page.
If you go to this link, http://www.nps.gov/pwr/customcf/apps/maps/showmap.cfm?alphacode=romo&parkname=Rocky%20Mountain%20National%20Park you’ll find a very nice map of RMNP that you can zoom in on and scroll around. And the loop I did was the following (and easy to see on the map);
Start at Bear Lake, head down the trail to the Glacier Gorge trailhead, take the trail from there to Alberta Falls. After Alberta falls I acted like I was heading to the Lock. But, after a while I hit an intersection and took the trail to Lake Haiyaha (but, I took the primitive trail option; more on that later). Then I just kept on the trail to Dream lake, past Nymph lake, and ended back at Bear Lake.
How far was that? Well, around 6 miles. I think. But, it gave me a great view of the country and all the other trails that I could come back and do some other time. Like, in the Fall : )
Okay. Enough of all that. On to the hike. The loop started off in the forest. It was very green and quiet. I remember lots of ferns. Elves flitting through the leaves. Okay, maybe not the elves (although, there might have been elves). This section of trail heading towards Glacier Gorge trailhead sorta parallels the road, but there are only a few times that you can see the road through the trees and I don’t remember hearing any car noises.
On day four of our trip to Moab, Utah I walked out of the motel room (early in the morning to go find an americano to drink : ) and into a much different, and better, weather situation than the cloudy/rainy day before. This was good. I figured we had a six to seven hour trip to get us back to Fort Collins at a decent hour. If we used our time wisely, we could fit in one more hike prior to hitting the highway back to FC.
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 (and there are more of them). In addition, 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. You will need to 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. (If you want to see all my trips, this link will direct you to a Google map that shows ALL my trips.) In order to help you with the actual area itself, you can use this link to view a road and trail map (care of the official Arches Nat Park website) where you can see the Delicate Arch trail. Please note that all links open a new browser window.
In addition to the Google map link above, please see a Microsoft Live map below. The red tack shows the general location of the trail from my home in Fort Collins, CO. You can click on the map to bring it up in a “live” mode and zoom in or out (and move the map around) to get more detail. Just make sure you don’t close the Microsoft "My Places" editor that pops up with map. If you close the editor (it is small and you can use/scroll/zoom the map without the editor getting too much in the way) without first saving the new location, the location button will disappear. If that happens, just close the map and click on it again on my web page.
I got Conor and Will up in time to walk over to the Love Muffin cafe (where I had found my first cup of coffee for the day) for breakfast. Great place. Go there.
Once done with breakfast we packed up and headed to the Arches National Park for what looked like a nice short hike. Delicate Arch. It was only a three mile (round trip) hike, so sounded perfect.
When we arrived I saw that this was NOT going to be a wilderness experience. The very large parking area at the old Wolfe Ranch (trailhead for the hike to Delicate Arch) was already close to full and we could see lots of people on the trail. I believe that this was approximately 10 am. No matter, the day was pretty and the area was spectacular.
Conor checking out one of the old Wolfe Ranch "buildings".
Will was going to set the pace for this hike. It was a moderately fast pace : )
When I said we could see people on the trail, I meant that literally. As, the majority of the trail is all viewable from the beginning. It heads straight up and over that rim of rock in the distance that the trail section below is pointed at.
Day three in Moab had us wake up and discover two things.
1. We were tired and sore from the hike to Druid Arch the day before.
2. It was cloudy and rainy looking.
After we discussed the above two issues at breakfast, it was decided to head to the northern Canyonlands NP "Island in the Sky" area for short hikes and general sight seeing. We headed north of town to the Canyonlands turn off and headed up the small two lane paved road. After a few miles driving up a nice open canyon, we started to climb. The road just kept going up, switch back after switch back, until we ended up on top of a very big mesa.
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 (and there are more of them). In addition, 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. You will need to 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. (If you want to see all my trips, this link will direct you to a Google map that shows ALL my trips.) In order to help you with the actual area itself, you can use this link to view a road and trail map (care of the official Canyonlands Nat Park website) where you can see the Island in the Sky area. Please note that all links open a new browser window.
Photo by Conor
In addition to the Google map link above, please see a Microsoft Live map below. The red tack shows the general location of the trail from my home in Fort Collins, CO. You can click on the map to bring it up in a “live” mode and zoom in or out (and move the map around) to get more detail. Just make sure you don’t close the Microsoft "My Places" editor that pops up with map. If you close the editor (it is small and you can use/scroll/zoom the map without the editor getting too much in the way) without first saving the new location, the location button will disappear. If that happens, just close the map and click on it again on my web page.
“Well, this was interesting”, I thought. The road was rolling through lots of nice big open meadows. But, not much to look at. I stopped after around twenty miles or so at the park visitors center, just after the park entrance, and took a look at some of their maps. Hmmmm. Here’s some sort of overlook just up the road called "Shafer Canyon Overlook". Made a list in my mind of a few other possible "views" and short hikes, and we drove a couple of miles to the parking area and headed up a short trail.
"What’s this, dad?" asked my sons as we parked.
"Not sure, some sort of view I guess. Might be nice.", I replied.
We didn’t need to get very far on the short trail before we saw that, yeah, it was a view all right.
Zoom. Damn. I could only imagine what this would be like on a clear day, because even with the cloudy weather, and the occasional spit of rain, it was breathtaking.
Tuesday morning, day 2 of our trip to Moab, dawned with perfection. I have not seen such clear air and blue skies for a long time. Advance warning that there are a lot of photos here. It was a long day, a long trail, and LOTS to see.
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 (and there are more of them). In addition, 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. You will need to 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. (If you want to see all my trips, 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 road and trail map (care of the official Canyonlands Nat Park website) of the Druid Arch trail. Please note that all links open a new browser window.
In addition to the Google map link above, please see a Microsoft Live map below. The red tack shows the general location of the trail from my home in Fort Collins, CO. You can click on the map to bring it up in a “live” mode and zoom in or out (and move the map around) to get more detail. Just make sure you don’t close the Microsoft “My Places” editor that pops up with map. If you close the editor (it is small and you can use/scroll/zoom the map without the editor getting too much in the way) without first saving the new location, the location button will disappear. If that happens, just close the map and click on it again on my web page.
And, of course, we were in Moab, Utah, so the scenery from our motel was nice. Right across the street (on the left side of the photo below) is the Wicked Brew drive up java stop. Great cup of java.
Zoom. That bike rack is right in front of the Love Muffin Cafe. A really great place to eat breakfast. Really great in just about every area you could think of. Really. Trust me. Or, ask my sons. And only about a one minute walk (50 yards maybe) from our motel, the Bowen Motel, door. This is the second year we spent at the Bowen, and I’ll probably go there again.
Will getting ready to hit the trail. (Photo by Conor)
Oh, did I mention that just across the street from the Bowen is the the Wicked Brew drive up espresso bar? So, if for some reason you didn’t want to go to the Love Muffin Cafe, or you were in your vehicle, the Wicked Brew is a great place for a very good quick cup of java (an Americano in my case). Which I am drinking here as I wait on my sons (on the trail, of course, they had to wait on me : ) Photo by Conor.
I forgot how long a drive (around 90 minutes) it was to the Squaw Flat trailhead from Moab. But, Conor and Will caught a little more time of sleeping, so no big deal. We got on the trail and we were happy.
I had decided that we would do a loop hike to Druid Arch. I’d never been there before and that seemed like a good reason to go. The first 3-4 miles or so led us over some trails we had covered the year before. But, it was still fun. And the weather and scenery were perfect.
This looked strangely familiar. But, the needles are always imposing.
Moab, Conor and Will, Spring 2011 Day 1
In the late afternoon of Monday, April 4, 2011, my two sons, Will and Conor, and I rolled into Moab, Utah. Probably close to 5 pm’ish. The drive from Fort Collins had been relatively quick and uneventful aside from the normal occasional highway work closures (lost at least 30 minutes to that) and one wreck (lost another 30 minutes there). But, the weather was pleasant and I saw that the Spring season was a “little” more advanced from when we had been to Moab last year.
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 (and there are more of them). In addition, 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. You will need to 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. (If you want to see all my trips, 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 road and trail map (care of the official Arches Nat Park website) of the Windows Arches trail.Please note that all links open a new browser window.
In addition to the Google map link above, please see a Microsoft Live map below. The red tack shows the general location of the trail from my home in Fort Collins, CO. You can click on the map to bring it up in a “live” mode and zoom in or out (and move the map around) to get more detail. Just make sure you don’t close the Microsoft “My Places” editor that pops up with map. If you close the editor (it is small and you can use/scroll/zoom the map without the editor getting too much in the way) without first saving the new location, the location button will disappear. If that happens, just close the map and click on it again on my web page.
We made sure that the motel room was ready, unloaded our gear into the room, and then headed to Arches NP. The entrance to Arches is just across the Colorado River about a mile north outside of town. We pulled into the visitors center, talked to a nice ranger about available hikes, and I purchased my normal annual parks pass. I did learn one good thing. Next year I would be able to purchase a non-expiring (well, not until I die : ) pass for $12 (good for all National Parks). Quite the deal.
The sun hadn’t set so we drove to the Windows section of arches. This is a set of arches that has a bit of a looping trail and some great views. Our plan was to “bag” these arches and then head back to Moab and get something to eat. I think all of us wanted to get out and do something after being cooped up in the car for 7 hours.
We found that the arches, and the area itself, were very nice. I encourage anyone to visit this set (5 or so) of arches. Particularly if you have children. Short easy trails take you from one arch to another. I’d recommend doing it in the early morning or late afternoon when the light is at it’s best.
Even without the arches, the views were quite nice.
Some of the arches only make themselves known as you walk the trails. From the parking lot, you could not see this arch. But, once you walked up the trail a ways, the new angle exposed the window.
Zoom.
Other arches were pretty much in your face from the get go. Conor and Will standing in one of the most accessible.
Several zooms.
McIntyre Trail, Rawahs, CO June 26, 2010
The weekend after doing the la Poudre Pass hike, I decided to head for a slightly different hiking location and environment. I knew that, more than likely, any above timberline areas were probably still under snow. But, some of the upper valleys should be getting hike-able. And, there was one area that I’d been trying to hike to for years that should be snow free. Shipman Park in the Rawah Wilderness Area. After years of repeated efforts, I’d never been able to reach the place. There were a couple of places like this that my attempts to reach had been unsuccessful. Just poor planning. Just bad luck. Right.
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 (and there are more of them). In addition, 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. You will need to 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. (If you want to see all my trips, 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 (care of the great National Geographic TOPO program(http://www.natgeomaps.com/software.html ) that one of my sons purchased for me : ) of the McIntyre Creek trail. Please note that all links open a new browser window.
In addition to the Google map link above, please see a Microsoft Live map below. The red tack shows the general location of the trail from my home in Fort Collins, CO. You can click on the map to bring it up in a “live” mode and zoom in or out (and move the map around) to get more detail. Just make sure you don’t close the Microsoft “My Places” editor that pops up with map. If you close the editor (it is small and you can use/scroll/zoom the map without the editor getting too much in the way) without first saving the new location, the location button will disappear. If that happens, just close the map and click on it again on my web page.
Anyway, the good thing is, the trailhead is relatively close to Fort Collins, CO. An hour or two closer than some of the hikes I tend to hit that are located in the Zirkels west of Walden, CO. From Fort Collins, you head up Poudre Canyon (Hwy 14) like you were going over Cameron Pass. Then, shortly before reaching Chambers Lake, you take a right (heading north) on the (nicely) graveled Road 103. This follows the Laramie River all the way to Woods Landing in Wyoming (which is on Hwy 230 on the way to Walden, CO). However, for this hike you don’t want to go to Woods Landing. You only go 10-15 miles before turning to the left on Rd. 190 which heads to Glendevey. Before reaching Glendevey you will find the Link-McIntyre trailhead and parking area in the same area as Browns Park campground (just after it if I remember correctly). The traffic was rather “light”.
Here is what the parking area looks like. I took this at the end of the day after the clouds had rolled in. The day actually started off clear and sunny.
The trail doesn’t begin on the McIntyre Creek . Well, actually, there is a trail that “does” begin on McIntyre Creek, but you need to go further down the road to Glendevey. I have no idea what that trailhead is like. There may be some guest ranches and cabins located there. From the trailhead I started at, you have to hike up and over a ridge to get to the creek. But, it’s a nice walk. It’s also the trailhead for the “Link” trail. So, the McIntyre trail heads to the right (from the parking area) while the Link trail will be heading to the left. The signs were pretty clear.
The trail reaches the Rawah Wilderness boundary near the top of the ridge.
The rise in altitude provides you with a great view of the Laramie River valley. If you take the drive all the way down to Woods Landing, it’s a very scenic drive through rolling hills of grass and sage with the mountains off to either side. Once you get past the Glendevey turnoff, it’s all private land next to the road. There are still forest access roads along the way that you can turn off to get to more camping and hiking areas. Some lead to roads that are 4WD only.
Zoom.
Poudre Pass, RMNP, CO June 19, 2010
After my adventure in trying to hike in the Zirkels the week before, I wanted to hike somewhere closer to home and, hopefully, a little more snow free. I decided to hike to the headwaters of the Colorado River. Yes, the same river that flows right outside of Moab, UT.
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 (and there are more of them). In addition, 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. You will need to 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. (If you want to see all my trips, 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 (care of the great National Geographic TOPO program(http://www.natgeomaps.com/software.html ) that one of my sons purchased for me : ) of the Poudre Pass trail. Please note that all links open a new browser window.
In addition to the Google map link above, please see a Microsoft Live map below. The red tack shows the general location of the trail from my home in Fort Collins, CO. You can click on the map to bring it up in a “live” mode and zoom in or out (and move the map around) to get more detail. Just make sure you don’t close the Microsoft “My Places” editor that pops up with map. If you close the editor (it is small and you can use/scroll/zoom the map without the editor getting too much in the way) without first saving the new location, the location button will disappear. If that happens, just close the map and click on it again on my web page.
So, one sunny morning I crossed over Trail Ridge road, in RMNP (Rocky Mountain National Park) and found myself at the Colorado River Trailhead going to Poudre Pass.
It was an incredibly nice day. Just a little cool, but very sunny and pretty much wind free (along with, from what I could see, snow free). A year ago Will and I headed up this same trail about two weeks earlier in June. It was quite snowy on a lot of the trail and a fair of amount of snow in the air. So, this was looking real nice. Of course, we hit all the snow higher up than this, but at least you could see blue sky today.
Trail to Katherine Lake, June 5, 2010
Early last summer (of 2010), I wanted to get up into the mountains, but wasn’t sure where to go. I’d done Lumpy Ridge, with my son Will, in RMNP a week earlier, but was wanting to “get away from it all.” Meaning, the people : ) That said, I knew I couldn’t hike up into the higher elevations yet due to the snow. There was a trail I wanted to check out, actually, a entire canyon in the Zirkels. So, I figured that I’d just stay low and everything would turn out okay. Hmmm. I should know better.
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 (and there are more of them). In addition, 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. You will need to 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. (If you want to see all my trips, 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 (care of the great National Geographic TOPO program(http://www.natgeomaps.com/software.html ) that one of my sons purchased for me : ) of the Katherine Lake trail. Please note that all links open a new browser window.
In addition to the Google map link above, please see a Microsoft Live map below. 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 (and move the map around) to get more detail. Just make sure you don’t close the Microsoft “My Places” editor that pops up with map. If you close the editor (it is small and you can use/scroll/zoom the map without the editor getting too much in the way) without first saving the new location, the location button will disappear. If that happens, just close the map and click on it again on my web page.
Anyway, I took off in slightly inclement looking weather, but decided that the worst case scenario was the trip would get me out of Fort Collins and I could possibly see my sister in Walden, CO. By the time I got to where I could look at the area where my trail was, I could see that the snow pack was even heavier than I’d figured. My plan was to go up to a trailhead pretty much right where the road was pointed in the photo below (well, the canyon just to the right of the end of the road). Then hike along the edge of the mountains, and the Zirkel wilderness area, to Red Canyon off to the left. Where you can see some steep cliffs.
Beyond Bridal Veil Falls, RMNP, Sept 26, 2009
Last year (yes, 2009) on September 26, I headed up into the mountains for a hike that would, hopefully, include some nice Fall colors. A week or so earlier, Will and I had done the famous (or, infamous) 40 mile Bear Lake to Grand Lake and back again loop. So, I wasn’t looking for anything extreme. Done that.
Now Bridal Veil Falls is a very close to Fort Collins hike. Which was a good thing. And it’s quite pretty with a fair number of aspens. But, for me, it was almost too short. Except for one little option that I’d never done before. Gone “beyond” the falls. See, the trail is to the falls. And, a fair number of hikers scramble up to the top of the falls for the view, etc. I always do that also. But one time I took a little walk up the stream above the falls and determined that it appeared there was an old “unused” trail that continued up Cow Creek. The key word here is “unused”. Which is like putting a big blazing sign up that is invisible to everyone but me that says “Geoff, go this way.” Ok. Time to go see where that would lead me.
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 (and there are more of them). In addition, 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. You will need to 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. (If you want to see all my trips, 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 (care of the great National Geographic TOPO program(http://www.natgeomaps.com/software.html ) that one of my sons purchased for me : ) of the Bridal Veil Falls trail. Please note that all links open a new browser window.
The day turned out to be quite nice and, from the look of the time on the photo, I must have gotten up to the trailhead around 9am or so. Those buildings in the distance are located at the trailhead.
In addition to the Google map link above, please see a Microsoft Live map below. 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 (and move the map around) to get more detail. Just make sure you don’t close the Microsoft “My Places” editor that pops up with map. If you close the editor (it is small and you can use/scroll/zoom the map without the editor getting too much in the way) without first saving the new location, the location button will disappear. If that happens, just close the map and click on it again on my web page.
I was early enough to find some parking which is always in short supply. The problem is they have blocked off the side of the road so if you want to find a free slot in the small section of road that is still allowed to park on the side, you have to get there early. There is no ordinary parking lot. It’s all find a spot by the side of the road.
What you see here is pretty much the “parking space” for the trailhead.
You cross Cow Creek right before getting to the trailhead (and all the old ranger buildings which look like they are still used for something). The area downstream is private property. I think.
Crater Lake Trail, Indian Peaks Wilderness, August 29, 2009
Monarch Lake
Yes, a 2009 hike. Still clearing up my backlog : )
Late summer of 2009 I was looking for a slightly different place to hike. I decided on the western section of the Indian Peaks Wilderness area that is on the southern border of Rocky Mountain National Park. Not sure why I’ve never been there before, I have been into the area from the east, but looked like it had some very nice hikes.
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 (and there are more of them). In addition, 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. You will need to 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. (If you want to see all my trips, 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 (care of the great National Geographic TOPO program(http://www.natgeomaps.com/software.html ) that one of my sons purchased for me : ) of the Crater Lake trail. Please note that all links open a new browser window.
One issue to be aware about is that for this section of the wilderness area that I was interested in visiting is a bit of a drive from Fort Collins, CO. The route I took, which I think is the shortest route for me, was through Rocky Mountain National Park, over Trail Ridge, and then past Lake Granby. You actually spend a fair amount of time driving along the shoreline of Lake Granby, then cutting off on a small two lane road (which eventually turns into a well maintained gravel road) into the Arapahoe National Recreation Area. I needed to travel through the "rec" area in order to get to the trailhead that I wanted to use that goes into the Wilderness area. Of course, the wilderness area extends over the continental divide to the east, so you could enter it on the east side by going up through Longmont or Boulder. However, the eastern sections will be more traveled and of a different ecosystem (generally drier).
In addition to the Google map link above, please see a Microsoft Live map below. 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 (and move the map around) to get more detail.
Sometimes I find it a mite difficult to get up early. Suffice to say, I got to the trailhead a little later than normal. According to my photos, I reached the trailhead parking for Crater Lake sometime between 2pm and 3pm (after approximately a 3 hour drive). I did find out that I had to pay an entrance fee (I don’t remember the exact amount, probably $10-$15) to travel through the "rec" area. But, that price wasn’t too bad. As it turned out, the area was well worth the price (don’t tell the government that or they will just raise the price even sooner than later : ) I think you can purchase a seasonal pass for these types of locations, so consider doing so if you plan on going to such “rec” areas more than a couple of times a year.
There were a fair number of people parked at the trailhead, but I’m not sure where they all were hiking as I saw very few on the trail itself. Only one hiker that I can remember seeing on the Crater Lake trail after leaving the lake area and a few people hiking/fishing around Monarch Lake itself.
There is a small ranger station at the point where the trails begin near the northwestern end of Monarch Lake
Along with a pretty complete description of the area, and trails available, both at the station and posted on some signs next to the lake.
My plan, using the term loosely as my "plans" tend to be rather fuzzy in nature, was to head towards Crater Lake. Due to the late start I did not really consider it likely that I’d get all the way to Crater Lake, but I thought I "might" get as far as Cascade Falls. That said, I was more interested in just checking out the area for more hikes in the future. I knew it was late and I really don’t like going back over Trail Ridge in the dark. Since the day was overcast, and with the occasional light rain, there was a good chance that I might hit wet snow on Trail Ridge which was always a bit, um, interesting (yeah, getting old : )
So, I headed up the trail just puttering along and enjoying the scenery. Even with the overcast day, I thought the area was very nice.
Forest Canyon, Trail Ridge, RMNP, Sept 18, 2010
On Saturday, Sept 18, 2010, I took what was to be my last hike (well, that I know of : ) for the year. I didn’t know that at the time, but I did make a great choice. When I got up that morning, the sky was overcast in Fort Collins and there was a fine cold drizzle falling. Lovely. I ran back in the house and checked the weather for the day on the Internet. Specifically for RMNP (Rocky Mountain National Park). Hmmmm. Sunny. Okaaaaaaaaaaay then. Right. Went back outside. Still drizzling.
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 (and there are more of them). In addition, 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. You will need to 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. (If you want to see all my trips, 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 (care of the great National Geographic TOPO program(http://www.natgeomaps.com/software.html ) that one of my sons purchased for me : ) of the Forest Canyon Pass trail. Please note that 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 (and move the map around) to get more detail.
Back to the day.
Hey, some times you just gotta take a chance. So, up the Big Thompson canyon I headed (after grabbing a large americano and cranberry scone from the local Starbucks, of course). By the time I was half way up the canyon to Estes Park, the sky was showing lots of blue. By the time I got to Estes Park, a lovely autumn day was to be had.
Now, so far this summer I hadn’t really done a lot of above timberline hiking. So, when I got to the visitor’s center at the top of Trail Ridge road (I was headed west to a vague idea of hiking to Timber Lake or going up some trail out of Grand Lake), I stopped to “check” the situation.
Nice trail available here? Check. I’d been wanting to hike along the continental divide and Forest Canyon for a long time. Ever since my eldest son Conor and I had done a survey hike in the same area years ago. At that time we had started from Milner Pass.
Nice weather? Check. Just a mild breeze (it can be rather windy : ), sunny, almost cloudless.
Warm? Check. It can be a little chilly up this high. Particularly in September.
Pretty photo ops? Check, check, and triple check. Done. It was a go.
So, I headed on down the trail. Specifically, this was the “Milner Lake” trail. Which is about a 4 mile (I think) hike down to Milner Lake situated on Milner Pass. Now, this area is a trifle confusing because it looks like your on top of the world here, but for the first part of the hike you are going “down” to the continental divide (Trail Ridge is down and to my right in those trees). And, you start off on the east side of the continental divide.
The continental divide gets a little confused in this area. It zigzags to Milner pass, and then heads “northerly” along that ridge in the distance. Not the farther rocky looking ridge (which is the Never Summer range), but the closer looking ridge that has trees going almost up to the top. Yeah, it follows that ridge to my right to the top of the Colorado River drainage, then curves around and heads almost straight south (now you can look at the rocky ridge in the distance). About halfway down that it all of the sudden heads west towards the Rabbit Ears pass area and then north along the Zirkels before petering out in the red desert area where it kinda gets very confused (some maps have it splitting in two for a while : ) before ending up in the Wind River mountain range in Wyoming. Whew.
