Comanche National Grassland: Picketwire Canyon

I arrived at the Withers Canyon Trailhead/Camping area in the dark last night and quickly set up camp. It was a clear, calm night and so I decided to try and take a few astrophotography photos with my new lens. I ended up getting a decent photo of the Milky Way above my glowing tent.

This morning, I woke up, ate breakfast and hit the trail. The hike starts with a pretty steep descent down into the canyon. Once down below the hiking is pretty flat and easy with lots of views of the wide canyon system.

Late season blooming wildflowers (Rocky Mountain bee plant and sunflowers) were still in bloom.

The first point of interest was the ruins of a stone building.

From the building the trail continued on southwest through some pleasant scenery with scattered cottonwood trees.

Along the way I found a few panels of rock art: petroglyphs carved into the rock.

The next point of interest was the Dolores Mission and Cemetery. 

Dating from the late 1800s, the mission served a small Hispanic community in the Picketwire Canyon. Headstones in the cemetery mostly mark the graves of young children and were the ornate carvings were carved into "blanks", headstones that could be purchased pre-made. 

After a short time exploring the mission and cemetery, it was time to move on to the main attraction of Picketwire Canyon: the dinosaur trackway. Just before reaching the trackway, there is a replica Apatosaurus shoulder blade. The replica is based on an actual shoulder blade that was excavated from this area.

Shortly after checking out the shoulder blade, I arrived at the track site. It is the largest dinosaur track site in North America. 

The tracks found here are mainly from two different species of dinosaurs: herbivorous apatosaurus and carnivorous allosaurus. The tracks are found in the rocks on both sides of the Purgatory River.

Tracks on the opposite side of the river from the trailhead were difficult to find. It seems that river has flooded fairly recently covering parts of the trackway with logs and other debris. I spent about an hour at the trackway before moving on. 

The last stop of the hike would be Rourke Ranch. Along the way to the ranch house, I found an interesting natural arch.

 There was also more rock art,

and some nice views of the Purgatory River.

The ranch itself was a little bit anticlimactic. The old house is interesting, but the area surrounding it is a bit weedy and structures seem to be falling down.

I relaxed, snacked and dozed off for a bit on the porch of the ranch house. As I moved on, retracing my steps back to the trailhead, I observed a few migrating tarantulas.

I was a long, but worthwhile hike. I would return to the area again. However, I don't think I would bother hiking all the way back to the Rourke Ranch. I would probably turn around at the arch, just past the dinosaur trackway.

Paint Mines Interpretive Park

This morning we ate breakfast at Jay's Prairie Rose in Laramie and then went for a short walk along the Laramie River in town. After our walk, I headed south into Colorado to use up some Annual Leave while Noelle, Mom, and Sierra headed east to home. It was an uneventful drive into the eastern plains of Colorado and I was excited to finally arrive at Paint Mines Interpretive Park just outside the small community of Calhan. I parked at the Overlook Parking Lot, checked out the overlook 

and then headed out on the trail system.

The views in this small park out on the plains are spectacular!

It's like a smaller, more colorful version of Badlands National Park. There are areas of colorful hoodoos.

A well-designed trail system takes you right into the heart of the formations.

After exploring the main section of the park, I hiked a trail up above the heart of the formations with a few nice overlooks of the badlands and some wildflowers.

Then, the trail heads away from the paint mine formations into the prairie. Still, the views are pretty nice, even with the windmills spinning off in the distance.

Wildlife spotted included a garter snake and a small herd of mule deer.

As I started to make my way back to the badlands, I was treated to the sight of a beautiful rainbow in the sky above.

I returned to the car just as the sun was starting to set.

It would be a long drive in the dark to my campsite at the Wither's Canyon Trailhead just outside of La Junta, Colorado. 

Medicine Bow National Forest: Centennial Trail

This morning, Noelle, Sierra, Mom T and I set out for a little mini road trip to Laramie. We had lunch at a picnic table behind the Centennial Visitor Center, then headed up into the high country for some sightseeing (and moose spotting!)

before returning to the visitor center to hike the short Centennial Trail and enjoy the fall colors.

This would be our second time on this trail. We had previously hiked it on our way back home from our Idaho/Utah trip this summer. According to Marc Smith's book "Hiking Wyoming's Medicine Bow National Forest" this is supposed to be a loop hike, but we haven't found a loop either time we've hiked it. 

The trail starts just behind the visitor center and almost immediately features some nice fall color.

The aspen trees feature not only the standard gold foliage color, but also some rich oranges and reds. It is an extremely easy hike and roundtrip we probably walked about 1 mile. 

Quandary Peak

Last night I camped at the pleasant Peak One Campground near the Dillon Reservoir. 

My site was really nothing special, but it was fun to watch the chipmunks,

and I had a great view of a mountain that I suppose is Peak One. 

This morning I woke up at 4 am and packed up camp and ate breakfast. Then, I made the short drive into Breckenridge where I parked at the South Gondola Parking Structure and caught the first shuttle of the day bound for the Quandary Peak Trailhead. We arrived in the dark at about 5:30 and I immediately hit the trail. 

The hike starts by following a short section of road, before veering off onto a true hiking trail. 

The first mile or so of trail, passes through a pleasant, wooded area with a steady, but not too steep, incline.

I reached tree line just as the sun rose through a low bank of clouds. 

Soon, the climbing would start in earnest. There were nice views off to the south and the Blue Lakes.

As I ascended higher, I caught a glimpse of several pikas 

and a large flock of rosy finches. 

There were intermittent stretches of sun and clouds.

However, by the time I found myself at the final climb to the summit, I was completely engulfed in clouds.

The last mile was pretty slow going. I would hike for about 100 yards and then take a short break. Eventually, I was standing on the summit without any view of the surrounding landscape.

I spent about 5 minutes at the summit area, but it was cold and there wasn't any view and so I headed down. As I descended, the clouds started to lift a bit offering some nice views.

The going down was much easier than the ascent and I was able to enjoy the view and the wildflowers more than I had on the way up.

A ground squirrel seemed to pose for a picture just off the trail.

I was back to the trailhead in time for the 10:30 shuttle back to Breckenridge. I feel like I made pretty good time. I would estimate 3 hours up and 2 hours on the way back. Once back to the parking structure, it was a long drive back home.