Ft Collins - Horsetooth 2017 r1

The weather was to be unsettled and I didn't feel much like a long drive today, so I opted for a tried and true hike near home;  Horsetooth Mountain Park just outside of Ft. Collins.  It is about a 1/2 hour drive and the park has quite a few good trails; although I have been on them several times.

I opted for a semi-perimeter hike.  I felt like that would give me both the miles and gain I wanted, but nothing too serious.  Since I've been here many times, I didn't take many pictures

When I started out, the weather was fairly nice, but chilly, low- to mid-30s.  There were a couple of good pictures of the Masonville valley and Longs Peak/Mt Meeker to be had.

Masonville valley

Longs Peak/ Mount Meeker

Today, I approached Horsetooth Rock from the south and was able to get a picture from a little different angle.

Horsetooth Rock

I've been to Horsetooth Rock a couple of times and, since I knew there would be many people there and I didn't want to mess with them, I didn't go to the Rock today.  I continued on around the perimeter.  About 1100 I could see that the weather was starting to work it's way in and it was starting to get colder.

Weather coming

I worked my way around on various trails and started the final leg back to the truck when the snow started to fall.

Summer is just around the corner???

I got off the trail and the truck said it was 33 degrees.  Brrr.

The day was nice, but chilly.  I dressed for it so no problem.   Next week we head out on our first fifth wheel adventure of the year; a short trip down to Colorado Springs.

Overall Track Statistics for Ft Collins - Horsetooth 2017 r1,   1526 data points

 Length 11.087 miles  :  Garmin Length 11.546 miles

 Start Elevation - 5739.76 feet

 Maximum Elevation - 7135.70 feet

 Minimum Elevation - 5636.52 feet

 Date of Hike - Apr 28, 2017

 Start Time - 09:29 AM

 End Time - 01:49 PM

 Total Duration -     4:20 hours:min

 Total Ascent - 3154.66 feet

 Total Descent - 3076.54 feet

 Net Ascent - 78.12 feet

 Maximum Grade - 19.39%

 Average Speed -  2.55 mph :  Garmin Average Speed  2.65 mph

 Maximum Ascent over Mile - 593.21 feet

 Maximum Speed over Mile -  3.15 mph

 Maximum Gain over Mile (%) - 10.98%

Ft. Collins - Greyrock Mountain Trail

Ft. Collins - Greyrock Mountain Trail

Today was a bit different than usual; it was a hike on a Saturday on a popular trail.  Wow, what a pile of people on the trail.  I saw all types; young, old, with dogs, without dogs, rock climbers, trail runners, folks well dressed for the weather and those in shorts and T-shirts.  I even saw two fellows with their babies on their back (the wives were following)!

This was the third time I had been on the Greyrock Mountain Trail.  The first was 2012 soon after the High Park fire.  This area had been burned extensively.  At that time I was not familiar with the trail and my route finding skills were untested.  Several places on the meadow trail the trail had been obliterated by the fire, so I bushwhacked my way back down and to the trailhead without making it to the mountain.

The second time was in October of 2012, where I took the trail that led directly to the summit.  This time I made it to the summit and was pretty proud.  At that time, the area had recently been reseeded by air.

Today, I decided to tackle a counter clockwise loop.  A clockwise loop had been my plan on the first trip.  Today, I decided counter clockwise, so I could get to the summit of the mountain first, then decide if I wanted to loop through the meadows.  There was snow forecast for later in the day.  All north-facing and shaded areas were icy just like the picture shows.

Trial ice

As I crossed the bridge over the Poudre River, I saw some cool looking ice formations.

Poudre River (1)

Poudre River (2)

The trail generally climbs through a gulch until it tops out about half mile from the mountain.  The climb to the top of the mountain is quite challenging.  It is very steep, full of rocks & boulders, and sometimes difficult to find.  Once you get near the top you find a large bowl that is flat and full of trees and a small lake.  Very interesting formation.  I'm sure some glacier carved it out.

Greyrock Bowl

The actual climb to the top is sort of marked by some trail signs, but there seem to be many ways to the top.  It is all a scramble anyway.  Once to the top the 360 degree views are astounding.

Looking generally south.  Summit is just a few feet from here

 If you look closely at the next picture, you can barely see Horsetooth Reservoir.  It was a lot easier in person.  Sometimes cameras just don't do the scenery justice.

Looking generally east from near the summit. 

 Notice that the storm has socked in Cameron Pass to the west.

Looking west.  

I'm sure that not everyone would agree, but I find going down a scramble to be much more challenging that going up.  It seems that while going up I get winded, but going down hurts more.  This was no exception.  After getting down safely, I decided that since the weather still looked good, the wind was still manageable, and I was still feeling pretty spry, I decided to tackle the meadow trail and make it a loop.  The trail leads down the south west ridge to the meadow, not a steep descent but still interesting.  The meadow is quite spectacular.  I'm sure it is every more awesome in the summer with green all around.

The Greyrock Meadow

 In the middle of the meadow there is a large boulder out by itself.  As I did a cursory look around the meadow, it didn't seem that was another lonely boulder anywhere to be found.  I guess this was glaciation at work again.

Meadow Boulder

Once through the meadow, you have to climb about 300 feet to reach the top of the next ridge line where it will be all steep downhill from there.  About halfway up the climb, you get a great view of Greyrock Mountain.

Greyrock Mountain

On the way down the meadow trail, you get some nice views of the Hewlett Gulch trail from Trailhead to the about the Spaulding Mine.  Kind of cool to see that trail from a different perspective. By the way, that parking lot was full too.  Finally, I made it back to the trailhead where I discovered not only was the parking lot full, but there were quit a few cars parked on both sides of the road.

Trailhead

I have to say this was quite the challenging hike; the trail to Greyrock wasn't challenging, but the climb to the summit and the long pounding descent on the meadows trail on a trail with quite a bit of ice makes you concentrate on the trail, not the view.

All in all a good day, but I think I'll not repeat this one any time soon and when I do, it will be on a weekday.

Overall Track Statistics for Ft. collins - greyrock,   1286 data points

 Length 7.664 miles  :  Garmin Length 8.320 miles

 Start Elevation - 5560.86 feet

 Maximum Elevation - 7562.80 feet

 Minimum Elevation - 5529.66 feet

 Date of Hike - Jan 30, 2016

 Start Time - 08:41 AM

 End Time - 01:03 PM

 Total Duration -     4:22 hours:min

 Total Ascent - 3015.35 feet

 Total Descent - 2996.62 feet

 Net Ascent - 18.73 feet

 Maximum Grade - 23.93%

 Average Speed -  1.75 mph :  Garmin Average Speed  1.90 mph

 Maximum Ascent over Mile - 850.82 feet

 Maximum Speed over Mile -  2.25 mph

 Maximum Gain over Mile (%) - 15.81%

Fort Collins - Horsetooth Outer Loop

Fort Collins - Horsetooth Outer Loop

I was looking to hike something that would meet three objectives: 1)relatively close to home, 2) could be made fairly long, but with bailout points, and 3) had some good elevation gain.  I found that in the combination of Horsetooth Mountain Park and Lory State Park.  I had not been to Horsetooth Rock since 2008, so that had to be on the list.  Earlier this year I had hiked the Tower Trail to the radio towers, and I had hiked several times along the base of the mountain along Horsetooth Reservoir.  I decide that today would be a good day for an 'outer loop' hike.  I would work to hike the perimeter of Horsetooth Mountain Park, dipping into Lory State Park only as much as necessary to make a good loop.

The day was a bit mixed.  Clouds would roll by, sun would shine for a few minutes, then more clouds.  Eventually is snowed a little, but hardly enough to get the ground damp.  The temperature was in the mid-30s, but there was a consistent wind that made if feel quite a bit colder.  I parked at the upper parking lot, paid my six dollars, and hit the trail.

The climb to Horsetooth Rock is steep and long (about 2.5 miles).  The trail was in good shape until I got to within about a quarter mile of the top.  There it began to get extremely icy.  Even with my YakTrax I had to take care to pick my way around the most severe ice.  When you reach Horsetooth Rock you can climb about 30' or so to get to the gap .  Given the ice and snow on that stretch, I chose to skip that part.  The scenery from Horsetooth Rock is quite nice.

Rocky Mountain National Park

Horsetooth Rock

And I found a miniature snowman.

Snowman!

From there I headed back down to the junction of Horsetooth Rock Trail and WestRidge Trail.  Taking WestRidge Trail I headed for the radio towers.  WestRidge Trail takes you below and north of the radio towers where you have to climb a steep service road to the towers.  There is an unofficial side trail about half way to the towers that follows the ridgeline.  I took that trail directly to the south tower, then down and back up to the north tower.  The view from the north tower is nice too.

Mountains west of Horsetooth towers

From there I went to Mill Canyon.  This is a steep down hike in a densely forested area.  Along the way, I found the fur and bone remains of some small animal, maybe a rabbit.  Eventually the Mill Canyon Trail meets with the Mill Creek Link Trail to Lory State Park.  I took this and ate lunch at the Arthur's Rock trailhead in Lory.  I headed back out along the Shoreline Trail back to Horsetooth Park, then up Sawmill to Stout and then back to the truck.

Hogback Valley from Lory State Park

Except for the severe ice near Horsetooth Rock the trail was well packed, but with patches of ice.  I used my YakTrax on much of the trail on the north sides of the mountain.  It was a very quiet day.  I met no one, saw no animals, and was only squawked at bir a old crow once.  All in all this hike met all the objectives for the day.

Overall Track Statistics for Ft. Collins - HorsetoothOuterLoop,   2138 data points

 Length 14.247 miles  :  Garmin Length 15.032 miles

 Start Elevation - 5794.85 feet

 Maximum Elevation - 7184.42 feet

 Minimum Elevation - 5508.79 feet

 Date of Hike - Jan 25, 2016

 Start Time - 08:18 AM

 End Time - 03:37 PM

 Total Duration -     7:18 hours:min

 Total Ascent - 3997.01 feet

 Total Descent - 4022.67 feet

 Net Ascent - -25.66 feet

 Maximum Grade - 21.67%

 Average Speed -  1.95 mph :  Garmin Average Speed  2.05 mph

 Maximum Ascent over Mile - 712.60 feet

 Maximum Speed over Mile -  2.84 mph

 Maximum Gain over Mile (%) - 12.40%

Fort Collins - Dadd Gulch r2

Fort Collins - Dadd Gulch r2

I decided it was time to head up the Poudre to Cameron Pass and tackle a trail up there.  The drive is about 2 1/2 hours, so I needed to get an early start.  Unfortunately, about 15 miles from Cameron Pass, I found that Colorado 14 and Cameron Pass was closed.  I later learned that either an avalanche or the threat of an avalanche had closed the road.  Back down toward home I went, thinking about where I wanted to hike.  I settled on Lower Dadd Gulch.  I had hiked Lower Dadd Gulch last year in the summer, so it was not a new trail and I knew what to expect terrain wise.  What I didn't know was what winter trail conditions would be like.

All started well with the trail being packed and marked with plenty of people and dog tracks.  A bit more than a mile into the hike, my right snowshoe failed.  The brad that holds the harness to the frame had failed.  I rummaged through my pack looking for something to jury-rig the shoe, but didn't find anything that would reliably work, so I strapped the shoes to my pack, put on my YakTrax and continued on the the hill.  I knew that all would be fine as long as I didn't encounter heavy snow or drifts.

The trail is not very scenic so there isn't much to take pictures of until you get to the top.  There you are able to look over the mountains toward Comanche Peak and the Mummy Range.  However, I didn't make it that far.  About a quarter-mile from the top, I ran into many snow drifts that were knee deep.  I didn't want to posthole the rest of the way, so I sat down ate a snack and headed back down.

On my way down, I met up with about 12 people and 5 dogs on their way up.  All of them were Cameron Pass refugees too.  While the target hike for the day was a bust, I was still out and about in the mountains.

Lunch break

Overall Track Statistics for Ft. Collins - Dadd Gulch r2,    767 data points

 Length 5.985 miles  :  Garmin Length 6.508 miles

 Start Elevation - 7034.78 feet

 Maximum Elevation - 8334.97 feet

 Minimum Elevation - 6964.86 feet

 Date of Hike - Jan 18, 2016

 Start Time - 09:43 AM

 End Time - 12:58 PM

 Total Duration -     3:14 hours:min

 Total Ascent - 1459.02 feet

 Total Descent - 1528.94 feet

 Net Ascent - -69.91 feet

 Maximum Grade - 14.30%

 Average Speed -  1.84 mph :  Garmin Average Speed  1.98 mph

 Maximum Ascent over Mile - 552.40 feet

 Maximum Speed over Mile -  2.99 mph

 Maximum Gain over Mile (%) - 10.10%

Fort Collins - Hewlett Gulch Trail

Fort Collins - Hewlett Gulch Trail

Trailhead

OK, so here goes another journal entry; I hope you like it.  This is the fourth time I have been out to Hewlett Gulch in the last two years, but the first time this year.  The early part of this hike is a great Grandkid hike, so I have brought all of them out at least once.  Today was the first time I have been here in winter.

While there was some snow on the ground, there was not enough for snowshoes, so I left them in the truck and headed out with just my Yaktrax.  The day was beautiful; few clouds, not a whisper of wind, and the temperature was in the high twenties, low thirties.   The trail is pretty much flat for the first three miles to the 'lollipop' loop junction.  It is called a lollipop loop because the track looks like a lollipop.  Once to the junction the trail climbs steeply to the west.  This is the hardest part of the day.  It turns out for at least an eighth of a mile to be slightly less than a 15% grade!  Overall, the climb is closer to 10-12%, but it is only for about 3/4 mile.  Once I reached the top of the climb, I was able to see into the Red Feather Lakes area.

Looking out toward the Red Feather area

When this area was settled, people built a road from the Poudre River to Red Feather Lakes, but that road has been abandoned for ages.

This area was burned in 2012 by the High Park fire, so there is plenty of dead trees through out the hike.  I'm sure it would have been beautiful before the burn.  After I got to the top of the hill and started down, I got a good view of the gulch.  

Hewlett Gulch looking from the North.

At this point I began heading steeply downhill and back to Gordon Creek.  While up on the hill, I had decided to be on the lookout for some small waterfalls and snow.  Maybe I could get a decent picture.  By the way there were 16 unique water crossings on this hike.  Only a few of them were ice bound, most flowing water to navigate and not fall into. 

Small waterfall

Closer look at the ice shelf

Side view

Once back on the flat part of the trail, it was clear sailing to the truck.  All in all a great day.

Overall Track Statistics for Fort Collins - Hewlett Gulch,   1208 data points

 Length 8.224 miles  :  Garmin Length 8.563 miles

 Start Elevation - 5621.88 feet

 Maximum Elevation - 6827.82 feet

 Minimum Elevation - 5621.88 feet

 Date of Hike - Jan 13, 2016

 Start Time - 09:29 AM

 End Time - 01:26 PM

 Total Duration -     3:57 hours:min

 Total Ascent - 1755.31 feet

 Total Descent - 1655.84 feet

 Net Ascent - 99.48 feet

 Maximum Grade - 14.99%

 Average Speed -  2.08 mph :  Garmin Average Speed  2.16 mph

 Maximum Ascent over Mile - 638.19 feet

 Maximum Speed over Mile -  2.92 mph

 Maximum Gain over Mile (%) - 11.61%

Ft Collins - Eagle's Nest Open Space r2

This Friday was supposed to be a nice day with temperatures in the low 50s.  There was still snow on the ground and I really didn't want to head too far into the mountains, so I chose to tackle the Eagle's Nest Open Space trails; Triple-bar and the OT.  Together these trails make up about a six mile loop or figure-8, depending on what you want to do.  Today, I did a clockwise loop.

The 'attraction' of the Eagles Nest is a small peak (aptly named Eagle's Nest), where there is an Eagle's Nest.

Eagle's Nest Rock (6286')

For me the other 'attraction' to the Eagle's Nest is a nice section of the North Fork of the Poudre River.  I keep telling myself to bring my fishing pole and spend a couple of hours fishing, but I haven't yet.  Here is a picture of the two 'attractions' together.

Eagle's Nest on the North Fork of the Poudre River

The hike is not too strenuous, but there are several steep areas.  Anyway, it had been a couple of weeks since my last adventure, so this was today's!  A nice, not too challenging hike.  Here are a few pictures.

Bench on the North Fork

North Fork of the Poudre

Cloud Bank

Overall Track Statistics for track RedFeather-EaglesNest r2

 Length 6.191 miles

 Start Elevation - 6054.72 feet

 Maximum Elevation - 6131.10 feet

 Minimum Elevation - 5635.96 feet

 Date of Hike - Dec 04, 2015

 Start Time - 10:03 AM

 End Time - 12:26 PM

 Total Duration -     2:22 hours:min

 Total Ascent - 1077.95 feet

 Total Descent - 1196.98 feet

 Net Ascent - -119.03 feet

 Maximum Grade - 10.71%

 Average Speed -  2.61 mph

 Maximum Ascent over Mile - 318.90 feet

 Maximum Speed over Mile -  3.07 mph

 Maximum Gain over Mile (%) -  4.24%

Lory State Park - Overlook/West Valley Loop

This was a family hike with my wife, daughter, grandson, and son-in-law.  It has snowed the day before so we were looking for a low elevation hike that would not require snowshoes and was not too strenuous.  I chose Lory State Park.  We started out from the Homestead Picnic area on the Well Gulch Nature Trail.  This trail almost immediately begins a strenuous climb to the junction with the Overlook Trail.  We needed a bit of a rest part way up.

Family on Well Gulch Trail

Resting a bit

We made the turn to the Overlook Trail.  The Overlook Trail moves along the line of the hills below Arthur's Rock, just inside the tree line.  It continues to climb but had several fairly long stretches of more 'level' ground.  Everyone did well in getting through this stretch of trail.  About two-thirds along the Overlook trail is a nice rock formation that gives great views of Horsetooth Reservoir, the eastern plains, and Fort Collins.  We stopped there for a few photo opportunities.

View from Rock Outcropping on Overlook Trail

Grandson & his Momma

Grandson & his Dad

Poppi & Grandson

You might be wondering where the picture of Nini and Grandson are, but since she is the one behind the camera we didn't get one of them together.    I should/ve thought of that.  Sorry Nini.

By the way all the pictures contain in this post except the family picture below are providedwith permission of Just4Grins Photography.  Thanks Nini.

By the time we got the the junction with the Arthur's Rock Trail, everyone was starting to slow down, but once we made the turn onto West Valley Trail, all could see the end in sight.  Seemed like everyone had more energy then.  

Family Photo!!!

A thermos of hot chocolate awaited us at the trailhead.  All in all a great day with part of my 'crew'!!

Overall Track Statistics for track Lory-OverlookWest

 Length 3.139 miles

 Start Elevation - 5566.04 feet

 Maximum Elevation - 6105.18 feet

 Minimum Elevation - 5403.02 feet

 Date of Hike - Nov 21, 2015

 Start Time - 11:25 AM

 End Time - 01:39 PM

 Total Duration -     2:13 hours:min

 Total Ascent - 837.50 feet

 Total Descent - 1000.52 feet

 Net Ascent - -163.02 feet

 Maximum Grade - 17.67%

 Average Speed -  1.41 mph

 Maximum Ascent over Mile - 577.36 feet

 Maximum Speed over Mile -  2.40 mph

 Maximum Gain over Mile (%) -  9.69%