RMNP - Upper Beaver Meadows 2017

On Tuesday, I need to make sure I get back before the Grandkids come over after school.  Today, I also had some additional chores to get done, so I took a 'quick' jaunt up to Upper Beaver Meadows from the Deer Mountain Trail.   It was about 17 degrees and the wind was blowing consistently between 10 and 25 miles and hour (my guess).  This generated a wind chill of about -1.  So, it was cold.  There wasn't nearly as much snow as I thought there might be, so no snowshoes or yaktrax were necessary.

Cold weather AlkaliIke

There wasn't nearly as much snow as I thought there might be, so no snowshoes or yaktrax were necessary.

No snow down low

While not the best of days to be out or the prettiest area to do, it was good to get out off the prairie and into the hills.

Overall Track Statistics for RMNP - Upper Beavers Mdws 2017,   1003 data points

 Length 7.331 miles  :  Garmin Length 7.548 miles

 Start Elevation - 8968.34 feet

 Maximum Elevation - 8968.34 feet

 Minimum Elevation - 8229.33 feet

 Date of Hike - Mar 07, 2017

 Start Time - 09:34 AM

 End Time - 12:46 PM

 Total Duration -     3:12 hours:min

 Total Ascent - 1724.74 feet

 Total Descent - 1806.14 feet

 Net Ascent - -81.40 feet

 Maximum Grade - 16.75%

 Average Speed -  2.29 mph :  Garmin Average Speed  2.35 mph

 Maximum Ascent over Mile - 535.70 feet

 Maximum Speed over Mile -  2.91 mph

 Maximum Gain over Mile (%) -  7.88%

RMNP - Black Canyon & Macgregor Falls

It was forecast to be a gorgeous day, so off the RMNP I went.  I wasn't expecting too much snow, although I was sure that if I went on the the north facing trails I would encounter snow, so I took my snowshoes just in case.  I had been on the Black Canyon Trail two years ago when I looped from Lumpy Ridge to Bridal Veil Falls.  I had attempted Macgregor Falls earlier in the year, but was stopped by snow & ice.  Today was the day!

I arrived at the Lumpy Ridge trailhead about 0830.  There were two other cars in the lot, one had three guys looking like they were preparing to tackle a trail with some snow.  My guess was they were headed for the Bridal Veil Falls loop.  I later met them on the way back down.  Sure enough, they encountered over a foot of snow on the north-facing trails and decided to turn back.

The trail from Lumpy Ridge to the RMNP property fence line is a straightforward hike along the base of Lumpy Ridge overlooking the Macgregor Ranch.  Today, I decided to take the trail that wound about halfway to Gem Lake then cutoff back to Black Canyon.  There would be good elevation gain there and I had not been on the cutoff before.  Once I reached the Gem Lake/Black Canyon junction the trail was smooth and quiet.

Early Trail Conditions - nice!

There are good views of the Long's Peak and the Continental Divide.  As usual, I can't resist taking pictures of Long's and Meeker.

Long's Peak & Mount Meeker

I continued on along Black Canyon Trail until I reentered RMNP.  From there I did a quick quarter mile bushwhack to the Macgregor Falls Trail.  Just before you reenter RMNP, there is also a short cutoff to a road that leads to the Macgregor Falls Trail, but the road is on private property.  This time the hike to Macgregor Falls was uneventful, other than the few times I had to work my way around flood damage.

Big log jam

New creekbed

I did come across a new waterfall that I think was created by the September 2013 floods.  The original creek bed was just to the left of the area shown in the photo.  These falls were cut about six to ten feet below the original creekbed.

New Falls

Macgregor Falls were very nice, but a little hard to get good pictures.

Macgregor Falls - Lower (1)

Macgregor Falls - Lower (2)

Macgregor Falls - Lower (3)

Macgregor Falls

The rest of the trip was uneventful with the exception of the good, steady climb to the junction with the Dark Mountain/Cow Creek Trail.  When I got back to the trailhead, the parking lot was nearly full and on the way down the canyon, there were plenty of fisherman on the river and RVs headed to Estes.  I guess hibernation has ended.

All in all a good day.

Overall Track Statistics for RMNP - BlackCynMacregorFalls,   1421 data points

 Length 10.174 miles  :  Garmin Length 10.907 miles

 Start Elevation - 7863.25 feet

 Maximum Elevation - 9121.62 feet

 Minimum Elevation - 7758.86 feet

 Date of Hike - Apr 22, 2016

 Start Time - 08:34 AM

 End Time - 01:38 PM

 Total Duration -     5:03 hours:min

 Total Ascent - 2567.52 feet

 Total Descent - 2671.92 feet

 Net Ascent - -104.40 feet

 Maximum Grade - 18.16%

 Average Speed -  2.01 mph :  Garmin Average Speed  2.15 mph

 Maximum Ascent over Mile - 718.90 feet

 Maximum Speed over Mile -  3.14 mph

 Maximum Gain over Mile (%) - 13.17%

Hermit Park r2 - Homestead South / Kruger Rock

We were due for a three-day spring storm starting on Friday, so I accelerated my plans to tackle the southern homesteads in Homestead Meadow by a day and went Thursday.  The day was about as good as it gets.  Temperatures were in the low-mid 60's, just a hint of a breeze, and partly cloudy.

I got to the Hermit Park Open Space about 0815.  While I was getting ready a Larimer County Ranger stopped by to talk.  He said that there were still a few elk and maybe a moose around Hermit Park.  It would be great to spot a moose, but I didn't get my hopes up.  I was up here almost a month ago.  It was only snowy in spots, no traction devices or snowshoes necessary.  Since I had already visited the northern homesteads, it would be a pretty long hike to the first homestead; Engbert.

Egbert Homestead is up a long ascent to a small meadow near a local mountain top at 8800'.  The Lion Gulch Fire of 2002 destroyed the homestead, so there isn't anything left but the information sign and a four burner stove.

Information Plaque at Engbert Homestead

Site of Engbert Homestead

Remains of a four burner stove

The forest seems to be recovering nicely from the fire of 2002.  There were many 4-5' trees growing amongst the debris of the fire.  Homesteaders certainly made-do with whatever they could; an example is below.

Home-made furnace

The next homestead on the list was Laycook.  This homestead lay about a mile and a half away, down a long steep hill into another drainage.

I can see Twin Sisters Peaks from my front deck, but this was the first time I have been this close on the east side.  There are pretty impressive.

Twin Sisters Peaks

Twin Sisters Peaks from Engbert Homestead

The Laycook Homestead is the oldest one in the area, claimed in 1891.  I don't believe there is anything left of the original homestead.  The cabin ruins date from the 1950s.

Laycook Homestead Information Plaque

Cabin (circa 1950)

Laycook Homestead

Barn Foundation remains and corral

While on my hike, I decided to skip the last two homesteads for now in order to go back to Hermit Park and see if I could tackle Kruger Rock after a long day.

Kruger Rock sits at 9124' just south and east of Estes Park.  It would be a climb of 800' in about 2 miles.  Not quite the climb of Monday, but healthy nonetheless.  There are several locations on the trail where there are good views of Estes Park, the Mummy Range, Continental Divide, and, of course Long's Peak and Mt Meeker.

Mt Meeker/Long's Peak from Kruger Rock

Twin Sisters Peaks, Mt Meeker, Long's Peak from Kruger Rock

Even though for 16 years, I have seen these mountains from my front deck and have viewed them from every angle except from on top; they never get old.

As you can see the Friday storm was beginning to arrive.  All in all this was another good hike; the second longest of the year.

Oh, by the way, no moose was sighted.

Overall Track Statistics for HermitPark - Homesteadr2KrugerRock,   2389 data points

 Length 16.433 miles  :  Garmin Length 17.073 miles

 Start Elevation - 8438.32 feet

 Maximum Elevation - 9244.29 feet

 Minimum Elevation - 8224.08 feet

 Date of Hike - Apr 14, 2016

 Start Time - 08:19 AM

 End Time - 03:59 PM

 Total Duration -     7:39 hours:min

 Total Ascent - 3438.02 feet

 Total Descent - 3652.26 feet

 Net Ascent - -214.24 feet

 Maximum Grade - 19.36%

 Average Speed -  2.15 mph :  Garmin Average Speed  2.22 mph

 Maximum Ascent over Mile - 608.63 feet

 Maximum Speed over Mile -  3.29 mph

 Maximum Gain over Mile (%) -  9.28%

Hermit Park - Homestead Meadows Trail - north

My friend, Galen, before he passed away had talked about someday our hiking to Homestead Meadows.  He knew I liked to explore old homesteads and ranches.  Unfortunately, he passed away before we could do that.  The primary way into the area was via the Lion Gulch Trail from US36 out of Lyons, but that trail has been closed since the flood of 2013.  Early this winter I discovered that there was a Homestead Meadows Connector Trail from the Hermit Park Open Space.  I decided that as soon as I learned that Hermit Park was open, I would tackle this trail.  Last week, it opened, so here I went.  The winter parking area is about a mile from the trailhead.

Homestead Meadows Connector TH

There are eight homesteads in the area, dating from 1889 to 1923.  They are spread out over a fairly large area, but possibly doable in a long day.  Unfortunately, the weather didn't quite cooperate (snow!) and I only was able to explore the four most northern homesteads.  These pictures don't show much snow, but after I made it to the Brown Homestead, there was plenty on the ground and more coming.  By the time I got back to this parking lot, both my truck and the lot were covered in snow.  Oh well, that will give me a chance to tackle the others in a few weeks when the weather might be better.

No snow at the parking lot, just wait

Irvin Homestead:

The first homestead I visited was the Irvin Homestead and it was the most extensive.  The homestead went through several owners and was generally occupied from 1914 through the mid-1960s.  As a result, the main house and outbuildings are in pretty good shape, therefore there are quite a few pictures.

Irvin Storyboard 

3 stall stable/barn

stalls 

Main Ranchhouse

Main House privy 

Main House bathhouse

According to the sign there is a sunken bathtub here.  Too much snow to check today.

Ranch Office

I'm guessing the above was the ranch office, there was a counter, scales, and stove inside.

Washtubs outside the bunkhouse

 I remember taking a few baths in one of these!  Our indoor shower/tub didn't work too well.

Bunks in the bunkhouse

Bunkhouse privy

So, this is a three-hole privy, two on this side and one on the other.  Not sure why you would need three spots.

Griffith Homestead:

The next homestead on the list was the Griffith Homestead.  It was settled in 1923 and, as far as I can tell was abandoned around 1936.  This homestead had some tragedy.  The homesteader, William Walker, was mending some fence when he returned to the cabin complaining of being short of breath and dizzy.  He took some soda, went back out and was never seen alive again.  They found him about 3/4 of a mile away where he apparently died of a heart attack.

Griffith Storyboard

Main Ranch house

I'm guessing this is what is left of the barn

View of Elk Park from Griffith Homestead

Walker Homestead:

The story of this homestead is one of a self-sufficient and capable women, Sarah Walker.  She left England with her husband and two children.  Somewhere in the story, her husband and children died.  She arrived in Lyons in 1908 and settled her homestead in 1914.  Here she lived for 15 years, alone, until she moved back to Lyons about 1929.

Walker storyboard

I believe this is a bed frame 

Remains of the house (very small house).

There is probably not 150 square feet covered by the stone foundation.  Not much to live in for 15 years.

Brown Homestead:

There was no story board here, so I learned the story of this homestead from a story on the Denver Channel 7 website.  Harry Brown raised cattle and sold timber here starting in 1918.  Sometime later he married and build a house along US36 where he and his wife raised their family.

No Storyboard here.  Main Ranch House

View of house and incoming snow storm

What would have been the view off the front porch

Snow coming in quick

This hike was different than any of my other ones.  I called this a hiking tour.  All my other hikes were either destination, mileage, or time hikes.  It was a lot of fun.  I look forward to tackling the other four southern homesteads and the additional seven or eight miles in the next few weeks.  Here are few other pictures.

There were plenty of tracks of both wild and domestic animals

Typical terrain.  I bet it is beautiful in spring.

Overall Track Statistics for HermitPark - HomesteadNorth,   1503 data points

 Length 10.523 miles  :  Garmin Length 11.008 miles

 Start Elevation - 8417.98 feet

 Maximum Elevation - 8697.90 feet

 Minimum Elevation - 8187.57 feet

 Date of Hike - Mar 14, 2016

 Start Time - 08:56 AM

 End Time - 01:52 PM

 Total Duration -     4:56 hours:min

 Total Ascent - 2267.39 feet

 Total Descent - 2292.55 feet

 Net Ascent - -25.16 feet

 Maximum Grade - 15.80%

 Average Speed -  2.13 mph :  Garmin Average Speed  2.22 mph

 Maximum Ascent over Mile - 432.61 feet

 Maximum Speed over Mile -  3.28 mph

 Maximum Gain over Mile (%) -  5.64%