Natural Fort

 For years now, when driving the stretch of Interstate 25 between Cheyenne, WY and Fort Collins, CO; I've noticed a really interesting cluster of rocks just south of the Wyoming border. 

I also noticed that a gravel frontage road runs parallel to the interstate at this point and figured there must be a way to use the road to access the rocks. Well today, I finally had an opportunity to check out the rocks. A little research on the internet reveals that they are called the Natural Fort and that the fort was the site of an 1831 battle between Crow and Blackfoot peoples. The fort was also the site of a former rest area. Apparently, the rest area was closed at some point due to vandalism taking place. 

Today, the rocks of the Natural Fort still show signs of vandals. There's lots of graffiti, broken glass and trash. Still, it is an interesting area to stop and have a look around. 

Roosevelt National Forest: Youngs Gulch Trail

 Sierra had another birthday party to attend today. Since my days off are changing and I only have a one-day weekend, Noelle told me to go have an adventure to myself. I made the drive through cold fog and drizzle and ended up in beautiful 65 degree weather in the Poudre Canyon of Northern Colorado. From there I drove west to the Youngs Gulch Trailhead.

On the drive in I found the Greyrock Trailhead absolutely crammed with cars. Luckily, the Youngs Gulch Trail does not seem to get quite as much use and there was plenty of parking to be found. I quickly gathered my pack and hit the trail with mountain scenery and blue sky.

The trail climbed gently up a hillside and away from the creek that was swollen with snowmelt.

Soon, I made my first crossing of the creek on a substantial bridge.

As I climbed further up the canyon, I noticed lots of spring wildflowers in bloom.

The trail never seemed to steer very far away from the creek, and crossed it many times.

Most of the many stream crossings had a log bridge, or at least an improvised bridge of some type. There were however, two crossings where I couldn't help but get my feet wet. One had a this log stretching across the creek. 

I didn't feel confident enough to use it though. A map of the Youngs Gulch Trail shows that the canyon it follows makes a right hand turn as it ascends into the mountains. I never noticed the turn and so when I reached the very obvious end of the trail, I was a little bit surprised. 

I ate a snack on a log there and drank some water before heading back the way I had come. The trip down the trail offered a different perspective of the mountain scenery.

After I had completed my hike, I made a short drive further up the canyon to check out the Mishawaka. It was packed and so I turned around and stopped at one of the picnic areas along the Cache la Poudre to check out the view before my drive north.

The water in the river was the highest I've seen it and lots of kayakers and rafters were taking advantage of the conditions.

Eagle's Nest Open Space

 I've been itching to get out with the family for a hike! With nice (but somewhat windy) weather forecast for the day, we decided to make the drive down to the Fort Collins area to hike at Eagle's Nest Open Space. There are two trails there, the 3 Bar Trail and the OT Trail, that together make a 5 mile long figure-8 hike.

The drive was long, but uneventful. It was a bit windy on I-25 in Wyoming as we made our way to the trailhead. Luckily, it was not as windy at the starting point for our hike, just outside the small community of Livermore, Colorado. We hit the trail in a lovely, green valley surrounded by the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. 

Immediately, we could see the area's namesake, Eagle's Nest Rock, in the distance. We followed the trail, which alternately climbed and descended closer and closer to the rock. 

Along the way we saw some wildflowers in bloom, including bluebells. 

Soon, the trail started a descent down towards the North Fork of the Poudre River.

Sierra took a rock climbing break, 

and then we continued our descent.

We saw more flowers blooming on this stretch of trail, including lots of star lily.

At the river, we stopped to take a break on some benches. Sierra took a "nap".

We all ate a quick snack and drank some water.

Rosie took a quick dip in the river, 

then we crossed the river on a footbridge before starting an ascent.

The next section of trail featured lots of great views of Eagle's Nest Rock.

We climbed to a ridge, passed a lone ponderosa pine,

and then started to make our way back to the car.

When we had made it back to the river crossing, we arrived to see a pair of rafters floating downstream.

The last section of trail followed an old road through a herd of cattle. Rosie was very curious about the bovines.

Paddling Lake Minatare (Again)

 With nice warm weather and low winds forecast for the day, Noelle, Sierra and I decided to get the canoe out for her maiden voyage of 2021. We made the short drive up to Lake Minatare State Recreation Area and drove onto the beach to eat lunch at the car.

After filling our bellies, we put the canoe in the water and started paddling east along the northern shoreline.

Ax we paddled, we noticed something white along the shoreline and approached it to have a closer look.

The white object turned out to be a pelican!

As we paddled further along, we saw some other birds including what we believe were Semipalmated Plovers and black necked stilts. As we paddled further still, we found a bald eagle perched in a tree. A closer inspection proved that there was actually a pair of eagles near a nest!

We paddled a little further east of the nest where we tried to land the canoe on the shoreline. It turned out to be quite muddy though, and so we abandoned that plan and then turned around to head back to our put-in. By this point Sierra was tired of being in the canoe and rested for a bit as we made our way back to the car.