Posted November 8, 2009
(Day 2)
Note – See Day 1 here.
The next morning we got up to blue sky. According to Will, it rained hard in the early morning. I never heard it since I was dead asleep, but it was wet outside. We packed up and hiked down the street to the Sagebrush, stuffed ourselves on a great breakfast, and then headed back to Bear Lake.
Today we would be going up the North Inlet trail. In the photo above, Will is waiting for me at the trailhead.
OK. Let me zoom in a little.
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.
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. 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 (a low quality one, care of the great National Geographic TOPO program that one of my sons purchase for me : ) of the Bear Lake to Grand Lake 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.
This trail starts off following a dirt road that goes through private land. You don’t have to worry about cars, but you do need to stay on the road. That said, it’s still very pretty (and flat : ) Here is Will checking out some horses. I spent a few minutes thinking about “borrowing” a couple to ride up the trail a ways. But, they hang people for that, so it didn’t seem like a good thing to do : )
Day 1
Posted October 13, 2009
Every once and a while, you do something really smart. And then, just to keep things in balance, every once in a while you do something really, uh, NOT smart.
And then occasionally, you do something that you’re not really sure was smart or not smart (ok, dumb).
On Monday, Sept 7 (Labor day : ), Will and I began our “we’re not really sure if it was a smart thing to do but we had fun mostly and lived to tell about it” epic hike. The short version of our trip was to start hiking from Bear Lake, RMNP, hike over the continental divide to Grand Lake, and spend the night there in a motel. Around 20 miles.
And then, the next day, hike back to Bear Lake by a different route of another 20 miles.
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.
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. 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 (a low quality one, care of the great National Geographic TOPO program that one of my sons purchase for me : ) of the Bear Lake to Grand Lake 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.
The day started off with extremely nice weather. We got to the Bear Lake parking lot at around 7:30 in the morning. Plenty of time to find a good parking spot. It didn’t cost anything to leave the car there overnight, but I did have to get a permit from the back country ranger station (back at the park entrance).
Bear Lake is around 9,475 feet elevation. The first “leg” of the hike is about a five mile hike up to the top of Flattop mountain at 12,324 feet in elevation. Guaranteed to warm you up : )
The fall colors were just starting to show off.
Now, I’ll go ahead and tell you right at the beginning, you see a lot of Longs Peak on the way up the trail. So, obviously, I had to take some photos.
Posted August 22, 2009
(Yes, I was late in getting this trip posted. My next postings will be about some great hikes I’ve been taking this summer : )
So, it’s the middle of Fall in the rocky mountains (northern Colorado). Where to go for a hike? Especially if don’t get an early start, and you don’t want to play hide and seek with the hunters (nothing against hunters, just don’t like hiking around lots of people carrying guns and looking for an animal to shoot : )
The answer? RMNP (Rocky Mountain National Park). The trails and roads are a lot quieter than during the summer (well, except for one small issue, but more on that later). So, RMNP here I come.
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 (a low quality one, care of the great National Geographic TOPO program that one of my sons purchase for me : ) of the Moraine Park to Cub Lake 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.
One very cool part of RMNP is Moraine Park. Great big wide open meadow. Lots of great views. Nice hiking for people of all ages. And, this time of the year, if you are really lucky you may see a couple of elk walking around. That is, a couple of hundred (or, maybe thousand, anyway, lots). Yep, they all start coming down out of the high country, getting away from the colder higher elevations. And, of course, it’s the rutting season. So, if you are real lucky, you might see some elk fighting and/or hear them bugling.
Oh, and no insects. Nice. So, I took off and got up to the park relatively late in the morning. Decided that while I wanted to hike Moraine Park, I didn’t want to do it the normal way. So, I pulled into a parking lot near the end of the meadow and headed to a what looked like had to be a trail that followed the edge of the moraine (old glacial till) along the south side of the big meadow.
I did find a lovely trail. Better yet. I had it all to myself all the way to where it intersected with the main trail that goes to Cub Lake. So, a great mile or more of trail that wound it’s way along where the pine trees intersected with the meadows and streams.
And, sure enough. Elk.
Closer.
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.
Posted June 13, 2009
Last year, September 20, 2008 to be exact, I decided to take a trip into an area of RMNP (Rocky Mountain National Park) that I’d never hiked in before. It was fall and, if I was lucky, I’d see a few nice colorful aspen up in the high country. One thing I wouldn’t see is a hunter. Another reason for heading into RMNP at this time of year. Nothing against hunters or hunting, but I just don’t like hiking around an area where people may actively be shooting guns if I have an option.
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 North Inlet 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 from Fort Collins, CO. You can click on the map to bring it up in a “live” mode.
I cruised over Trailridge road and the weather was looking quite nice. Not many clouds and pretty mild. It took me a few minutes to find the trailhead, but at least there was plenty of parking. I actually had to park in an upper “overflow” area that is located only a short walk from the main parking area/trailhead.
Once I locked my car up and had my pack on, I headed back down to the trail head parking area.
And a quick glance at the sign. I normally, if it’s at all convenient, try and take a quick look at the trailhead message boards. They usually have a nice map to look at (in case I don’t : ), some background history of the area, and any emergency messages of trail closures, etc. This one was a typical well done park message board. I read it over and took off down the trail.
The first part of the trail follows an old road that, as far as I could tell, was only partially used. There is a sign that says to stay on the first so many miles of the trail as it passes through some private land. But, since it’s all very pretty looking, and no traffic to speak of, it’s a very pleasant walk. This first few miles of the trail is an excellent place to take very young children. They can run up an down the road and not get into any trouble (and hopefully sleep good that night : )
The trail/road goes through some aspen for a while and then breaks out into some rather extensive patches of meadows. This is looking back towards the aspens after exiting them. They were “just” barely starting to get a little fall color.
Posted April 26, 2009
Once or twice (sometimes more) a year I do a hike that turns out to be, ummm, a little more than what I was planning. This hike was definitely one of those.
So, it was end of the summer and I was looking for something just a little different. I thought to myself, gee, what’s different. Well, Wyoming is different. Some people would say VERY different. OK. Wyoming it was : )
Only thing is, I didn’t feel like driving 6 hours to the Wind Rivers. Or, 11 hours to the Beartooth country along the Montana border. Which really narrowed it down to …………. the Snowy Range Yes, just about 30 minutes NW of Laramie, WY , there is the Snowy Range. I’d been there before, but I’d never really been up into the heart of it. The high country. So, one Sunday morning I headed north out of Fort Collins, Co to the Wyoming high country.
As a slight aside, Laramie itself, according to my kids, is rather “different”. I actually have a certain fondness for Laramie since it is where I saw my very first concert, the Nitty Gritty Dirt band, with a lead in by Doug Kershaw (who had to play fiddle all by himself on the stage because the rest of his band was somewhere else in Laramie drinking beer in a bar : ). Of course, you’ve heard of this famous band (not to mention Doug). No? Well, it was a while ago.
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 Snowy Range Loop trail. Per the instructions on the site “…1) Zoom in to your location; 2) click the “MyTopo” button for topo maps…” I’ll try and get a better map of my own after I purchase the Wyoming piece of the TOPO program I own. 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 from Fort Collins, CO. You can click on the map to bring it up in a “live” mode.
Well, when I got to where I wanted to park (which was a story in and of itself) the day was looking like maybe not the best day to hike up to the top of a peak.
Posted March 1, 2009
I decided, one Saturday last summer, to head back up to the Long Draw road area for another hike (yah, if you note the “posted” date above, I’m just a mite behind on my blog : ). I’d recently hiked the Trap Park trail (see my prior post to this one) and wanted to see what else was in that little known (to me) area. Taking a look at the map I could see that not too much further up the road from the Trap Park trailhead was a nice looking stream called Corral Creek. It looked like there was an extensive set of open meadows along the creek. So, it should be nice hiking and held the possibility of seeing moose.
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 Corral Creek 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 from Fort Collins, CO. You can click on the map to bring it up in a “live” mode.
I got up to the area fairly early in the morning (well, early for me; probably around 10 am which meant I left Fort Collins around 8 am). A rather cool and cloudy morning, by the way. But, I had rain gear, so no big deal. One thing that seemed to be different about the creek, from looking at the map, was that there was no indication of a “trail”. So I just went up and found a place to park on the road that was close to where the stream crossed. There was a small rise that I immediately had to get over. Looking back to the south, downstream, I could see the Big South Fork of the Poudre River canyon/valley. I think that is Comanche Peak in the distance.
This is what can be seen looking west up the Corral Creek valley. If you look at a map, you can see that the stream parallels the road (off in the trees to the right) for a good 2-3 miles. The creek then curves away from the road (to the left) once you get closer to that mountain in the distance.
Posted December 25, 2008
After Will and myself’s little escapade on the Blue Lake trail, I decided to look around for something a little lower in elevation until I was sure the snow was gone from the higher elevations. So, Sunday, July 13 I looked at the map at the area around Cameron Pass for some “quick and easy to get to” trails (got off to kind of a late start : ). Now, interestingly enough, I’ve done a fair amount of hiking north of Cameron Pass (the Rawahs), but not much in the country south of the pass. Particularly back in the Long Draw Reservoir area. Hmmm. Looks to be a trail up a valley called Trap Park that was not too far off Hwy 14, so that’s where I headed.
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 Trap Park trail. All links open a new browser window.
In addition to the Google map link above, here is a Microsoft Live map. The red tack shows the general location from Fort Collins, CO. You can click on the map to bring it up in a “live” mode.
Trap Park Traihead
I had to drive up the Long Draw road around 3 miles off of the paved Hwy 14 to get to the Trap Park trailhead turnoff. But, the Long Draw Road is an extremely well maintained gravel road (wide, too) if just a tad bit on the dusty side. The Trap Park turn off was a little tricky to maneuver in my new “low to the ground” Hyundai, but I went slow and it was only 100 yards or so to the parking lot.
The smallness of the parking lot, and the few vehicles that were parked in it, got my “trail o meter” buzzing. Because the country was looking really nice, the trail looked really lightly used, and it had all the makings of a new “gem” (a special trail).
I shrugged into my pack, hung my camera from my neck, and stuck my hat on my head. And off I went.
Here is a shot of the sign at the entrance.
Now, don’t get confused at this point. Because you will see a trail heading off behind the sign. That is not the trail to Trap Park, but instead it is a trail to Trap Lake which is close by (in fact, if you keep driving up the Long Draw road past the Trap Park trail turnoff, you will drive right past the lake). Anyway, assuming you want to got to Trap Park and not the lake, head up the trail that goes through the steel gate (you can see it in my “parking lot” photo).
Also, please have some mosquito repellent with you if you go during the summer. The mosquitos were in full force along the first section of the trail as it winds through some meadows that are lush and damp. You will also encounter them in the woods. Once I got up into the “park”, the breeze was good enough to make the mosquitoes disappear. That said, they weren’t bad enough to make me put on any repellent (I do that as a last resort) nor keep me from stopping to take some photos : )
Posted November 16, 2008
This fall in northern Colorado has been “mild”. Just one long September (well, the leaves changed, but the weather stayed warmish). So, one Saturday I got up, took it easy, did a few chores, and decided it was just too nice to stay in town. Headed up to Rocky Mountain National Park looking for a good hike. Just in passing, there is a reason I go to RMNP at this time of year. Hunters. I have nothing against hunting at all, but the density of hunters in Colorado is pretty extreme at this time of the year. So, I leave them to the hunting and go enjoy the park.
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 Mill Creek trail. All links open a new browser window.
Here is a map of how to get to the Mill Creek trail head. If you click on it, you should be taken to a live map that you can scroll around on and zoom in and out. Pretty cool : )
There was really no snow in the mountains yet, and it was very close to shorts and tshirt weather, so I headed up to Bear Lake to hike up Glacier Gorge (or, somewhere up in that vicinity). Unfortunately, about 10 million people had the same idea. I couldn’t even make it into the Bear Lake parking lot.
So, no problem. There is a neat thing about national parks. They can be really crowded at times, but normally only in the few well known places (Bear Lake definitely being one of those places). But, everywhere else in the park can be pretty uncrowded. So, I pulled into a place along the Bear Lake road I’d never stopped at before to take a look at the hiking possibilities.
Hmmmm. Yah. Looked nice to me : ) This is a pano of two photos. Looking up Mill Creek from the Hollowell Park trailhead.
Now, I can’t say that I didn’t see any other people on the trail. I did. Like, maybe 12 people during the entire hike. But, compare that to the 10 million up at Bear Lake and, well, it’s like I was back in the wilderness. This turned out to be a GREAT hike. And would be an incredible place a little earlier in the fall when the fall colors were max’d out. But even today, there was enough “color” to make it quite pretty.
Here is a shot of the trailhead sign. Checking the map I could see that the area had the potential for some nice loops. I partook of a short loop today, but the other trails that offer a loop are 8 miles in length, so I’ll have to come back and do them some other time. I only went for around 4 miles today. This is also a great trail for kids. Lots of flat wide open places. And the trail spends a good portion of its time pretty close to a stream.
Posted October 19, 2008
Conor, Will, and I actually spent some time together this summer. It’s just taken me a while to get the photos “developed”. I’ve already updated this web site with the photos of the Long Meadows hike Conor and I did together, so here is a hike that all three of us did together.
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 Lake Haiyaha trail. All links open a new browser window.
Here is a Microsoft map of the location for this hike. You can click on it to get more info on how to get there (highways, etc.).
This is a hike in RMNP (Rocky Mountain National Park), Lake Haiyaha (located in Chaos Canyon), that Will first discovered from going up with his climbing buddies early this past summer (they had to walk over/through a lot of snow). As it turned out, it’s a great hike out of the Bear Lake parking area and leads to a lovely high mountain lake. With, as you will see, some great views of the surrounding country almost the entire time of the hike.
We took off on a Monday morning, ate breakfast in Estes Park (at the Egg and I), and got on the trail around noon. Note that the earlier you can get to the parking lot, the more chance you will have to find an open parking space. Your other option, during part of the year, is to take a shuttle bus. The trail starts off at a gentle climb through the forest.
Although my photos won’t show them, we did meet/see a moderate amount of hikers on the first half mile or so to Nymph Lake. Then the number of hikers decreased a lot on the way to Dream Lake. The trail between Dream Lake and Lake Haiyaha was pretty vacant (saw a hand full of hikers including a couple of rangers) and the same at Lake Haiyaha itself. Amazingly low numbers of hikers (I thought) , but maybe the numbers reflect that the official “summer” season had ended. read more…
Posted September 30, 2008
Conor and I took two hikes together during his visit to Fort Collins this summer. Both were in RMNP (Rocky Mountain National Park), Colorado. The first hike, that we took with Will, was to Lake Halyaha above Bear Lake. The second hike was just Conor and myself (Will was working) to Long Meadow on the west side of RMNP. The one to Long Meadow is described now and I’ll post the one to Lake Halyaha next.
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 Long Meadows trail. All links open a new browser window.
Here is a Microsoft Virtual Earth map of the general route to the trail.
Conor and I took off Tuesday morning from Fort Collins and stopped in Estes Park to get a bite to eat (late breakfast). By the time we crossed Trailridge Road (Hwy 34) over the continental divide to the Long Meadow trailhead (officially known as the Onahu Creek trailhead) and actually got on the trail, it was between 10:30 and 11 am. So, not a real early start, but good enough.
The trail starts off fairly level (sorry, no trailhead or parking lot photos : ) and winds through some open forest.
After about 1/4 of a mile, it starts to head uphill. This uphill section was approximately 1 mile long and, while utilizing some switchbacks, was not too steep. You do get to pass by and cross several small stream crossings.
Posted August 17, 2008
Late in June, Will and I headed up to the Blue Lake trailhead (just before you get to Cameron Pass up the Poudre River). You hit timberline right before getting to Blue Lake itself, but I thought it was late enough in the summer that the snow would be mostly gone.
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 Blue Lake trail. All links open a new browser window.
As part of my decision to use Microsoft’s Live Writer, I’ve included a map to see if it adds any value. You can click on the map to bring it up “live” in another window to zoom in/out, change it to aerial/satelite view, etc. I think it adds enough to leave it. I will still use Google maps for my links (see above) and because Google is integrated with my gallery.
Red tack shows approximate location of Blue Lake trailhead.
Got up to the trailhead and the parking lot was pretty empty, blue sky, warm, and spotted a moose across the highway in a meadow. It actually was not that far away, but this photo makes it look that way.
Zoom in max to show what it really looked like. Nice start to the day.
Posted July 27, 2008
Been a long winter, so yesterday (Saturday) Will and I headed up to Livermore and the Eagles Nest Open Space trail. Very nice day (we had breakfast at the Silver Grill on the way out of town, yummy : ) and it was good just to get out with a pack on the back and hike (easy trails : )
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 Lumpy Ridge Loop trail. All links open a new browser window.
Will did most of the hike without his shirt on and only got a little burned.
Posted July 26, 2008
On Saturday, June 14, Will and I got up fairly early for a hike in RMNP (Rocky Mountain National Park). You can loop around a mountainous ridge (Lumpy Ridge; extensively used by climbers), come down the backside of Lumpy along Cow Creek (a trail used to get to Bridal Veil Falls), cut across the end of the ridge to Gem Lake, and then end up back at the car. All in all, a “good” 10 mile hike (so, maybe between 10 and 11 miles) with a variety of hiking.
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 Lumpy Ridge Loop trail. All links open a new browser window.
There are several good reasons to take this hike. One, it only takes 1 hour to drive to it from Fort Collins. Two, it is snow free early in the hiking season. And three, although it is in RMNP, it does not require you to purchase an entry ticket into the park. Good stuff : )
So, we left Fort Collins around 6:30 am, got up to “The Egg and I” in Estes Park around 7:30 am, had a rather great breakfast (combination of excellent service, excellent food, and very reasonable prices), and were on the trail no later than 9 am. I did discover that they have constructed a brand new trail head and parking lot (pretty decent in size), but the parking lot WILL fill up. When we got there at 8:30+am there were only a couple of dozen cars. When got back the parking lot was full (there is an additional row of parking that can’t be seen in this photo).
The trail head does have a restroom facility and a good description of the trails in the area. Take a few minutes to review and it will probably help you decide where to go. If you do not feel like doing the “loop”, there are shorter options as far as hiking.
We immediately were able to see some of the striking rock formations that Lumpy Ridge is known for (most being much larger than this, of course).
The trail cuts over a small ridge ………
Posted June 26, 2008
Well, every so often I take the trail up to the top of Greyrock Mountain located in the Poudre Canyon. You can see Greyrock from Fort Collins, it’s not too far away, and it’s just long enough to act as a short preparation trail for other upcoming summer hikes. It’s a fairly popular trail, and you can expect to see people along the trail and on top of Greyrock. My other son, Conor, and I went up the trail a few years back (the last time I had climbed it) and we met a man from Alaska at the peak. So, figured it would be a good early conditioning hike for Will and myself (and it was : )
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 Greyrock Mountain trail. All links open a new browser window.
So on Saturday, May 11, Will and I ate breakfast at the Silver Grill in Fort Collins (great food and service) and then headed up Poudre Canyon to the trailhead.
The trail’s parking lot (and most of the “off the side of the road” parking) is on the opposite side of the road from the bridge that you use to cross the Poudre River. Most people are fairly cautious driving up the road (Colorado Hwy 14), but you should keep a close lookout for your smaller children as you cross the road. Once you cross the bridge over the Poudre River, there is a nice sign that marks the beginning of the trail.
I decided to do the “loop” (I always do a loop if at all possible). So, we’d take the shorter (by a mile or so) section going up and the longer (thru the meadow) section going down. We both agreed at the end of the hike that maybe it would have been better to do it the other way around since you have to climb up and over a ridge on the way down after passing the meadow. Funny thing, neither of us really felt like doing any more uphill hiking after getting to the top of Greyrock : )
The trail starts off by following the Poudre river for a few hundred yards. This is a good short hike if you have small children.
