Ft Collins - Big South Upper

This was the second half of the Big South Trail.  The Big South Trail is broken into two parts; upper and lower because a footbridge over the river has been washed out and the Forest Service has no plan to replace it.  The trailhead is located near Long Draw Reservoir and is about a 2:15 drive from home.  I got started a little late and didn't arrive at the trailhead till after nine, but I had all day so no worries.

I much prefer hikes that start by going up hill, then I know I will be headed down hill at the end when I am most tired.  Unfortunately this was not one of those trails.  I have to say this was one of the most beautiful trails I have been on.  There were wildflowers, various river moods, deep forest, and meadows galore.  For the most part the trail was rolling, although near the EOT there was a hefty climb out off the river, around a small peak, then back down to the river.

I started out along Corral Creek which was turbulently flowing down hill to the Big South Fork.  There was still plenty of runoff water so there were spots in the trail that were muddy and sloppy.  After about a mile, I hit the Big South/RMNP trail junction.  By going South, you can enter Rocky Mountain National Park's NW corner which has many lakes and remote mountains.  However, I turned north. I immediately encountered a nice meadow.  I saw no animals, but later in the day I met two folks from the Poudre Wilderness Volunteers that said they saw two moose in that meadow.  Bummer!

Trail Junction

Talk about tranquil, but no moose

I continued north where the trail followed the river closely.  I walked through a small meadow where the trail was marked by cairns.

Soon after the meadow I began to hear what sounded like fast water.  I encountered one of three rapid/falls on the river.  Each ended in a nice slow pool where, on the return trip, I encountered two guys fishing.

First falls

Same falls, different view

The second falls

The trail continued to meander along, but left the river and climbed along the side of the mountain for  a while.  When it again worked its way back to the river, I encountered the best part of the hike.  A long stretch of slow water that would be an excellent place for lunch, make camp, or to fish.

Fishing Spot

Peace, quiet, and serenity

All along both the upper and lower parts of the Big South trail there are primitive campsites.  In all there are 20 different sites all marked with a single sign, which is easy to miss.

I was near the end of my trail, but the hardest part was now coming up.  The trail left the river and climbed up and over a small unnamed peak, intercepting the Peterson Lake trail and then steeply descended to the washed out footbridge.

End of the trail

I had my lunch, then turned and headed for home.  I got back to the truck in plenty of time to make it back down the hill, so I decided to make a couple of sight-seeing stops along the way; one at Peterson Lake, the other at the Poudre Falls.  I even stopped to drop a fishing line in the water.  No luck, oh well.

Peterson Lake

Poudre Falls along Highway 14

Finally, I headed down the mountain to meet my wife for dinner at Olive Garden in Fort Collins.  All in all a great day!

Overall Track Statistics for track Ft Collins - Big South - Upper

 Length 9.978 miles

 Start Elevation - 10098.62 feet

 Maximum Elevation - 10098.62 feet

 Minimum Elevation - 9259.15 feet

 Date of Hike - Jul 17, 2015

 Start Time - 09:13 AM

 End Time - 01:59 PM

 Total Duration -     4:46 hours:min

 Total Ascent - 1855.02 feet

 Total Descent - 2031.23 feet

 Net Ascent - -176.21 feet

 Maximum Grade - 13.87%

 Average Speed -  2.09 mph

 Maximum Ascent over Mile - 424.97 feet

 Maximum Speed over Mile -  2.87 mph

 Maximum Gain over Mile (%) -  6.95%