Bobcat Ridge Natural Area: D.R. and Powerline Trails Loop

 After last week's short hike at Bobcat Ridge, I wanted to get back and explore a little bit more. I made the drive back to Fort Collins as the sun rose,

and over to Bobcat Ridge. I hit the trail, immediately following a section of the Valley Loop that I had missed during my previous visit. The views were quite nice. 

There are still a few flowers blooming at this late point in the season. Some rabbitbrush and asters.

Soon enough, I found myself at the junction with the D.R. Trail. 

I turned left onto the trail and started the ascent up to Mahoney Park.

Parts of the trail left Bobcat Ridge and entered Roosevelt National Forest.

Just beyond the forest boundary I encountered a solitary bull elk.

He didn't seem fazed by my presence. Since much of Bobcat Ridge burned in the Cameron Peak Fire, there were plenty of open views.

Soon enough I was up to Mahoney Park, a grassy meadow.

I opted to hike a utility road up to a ridge so that I could get a view to the west. 

What a view it was!

There were also views to the east and Horsetooth Rock.

After admiring the views from the ridge, I hiked the Powerline Trail back down to the Valley Loop Trail. It was a very steep descent.

 

Wildcat Hills State Recreation Area: New Trail and Old Stage Hill Road Loop

 A beautiful day and we wanted to get out and enjoy some hiking close to home. We opted to head over to Wildcat Hills State Recreation Area to check out the new trail they built out there. We made the short drive and parked at the trailhead near the old entrance to the Recreation Area. We hit the trail, hiking steadily downhill at the start.

At one point we passed behind the shooting range. 

The trail is behind a pretty high ridge though, so there's no chance of getting accidentally shot. We continued to descend, sometimes through woods, at other times in the open prairie. 

We were never too far away from Highway 71. The trail ended at an access road for what I think is a maintenance facility for the park. Obviously, the trail isn't a loop like I had hoped. Still, we were able to hike the old road, a closed section of Stage Hill Road, the original highway across the Wildcat Hills. There were some interesting views from the road.

You just have to get past the bottom section of the road, as that's where they dump all the junk from the park. 

We found everything from old pit toilet buildings to playground equipment alongside the road. The other minor inconvenience with walking the road is that there is a fence across it towards the top. We were able to get Rosie to crawl under it, but we had to climb it.

Once on the other side, the road is still active. It was a short walk back into the recreation area and our parked car.

Bobcat Ridge Natural Area: Valley Loop Trail

 Yesterday, Noelle, Sierra, Mom T and I headed down to Fort Collins for a couple of days of exploration and relaxation. Yesterday we checked out the CSU Annual Flower Trial Gardens and Old Town. Today, we headed out to Bobcat Ridge to check out this special natural area southwest of town. We arrived at the parking area and found some old, historic structures to check out. First up were the stables.

Inside one section of the stables was an area of brands on the wooden walls. 

From the stables, we headed over to the old Chicken House and barn. 

It is though that the Chicken House may have been the original farmhouse, as it has a stone floor, a bit fancy for a simple chicken coop.  

After walking around the historic buildings, it was time to hit the trail. 

We opted to hike the Valley Loop Trail. The beginning portion as ha level, smooth gravel surface appropriate for wheelchair use.

It was a quick, easy walk to the old farm cabin.

We checked out the inside of the cabin,

then headed back outside

where we ate a snack at a picnic table in the shade and checked out some old farm implements.

When we were ready to move on, we left the smooth gravel path behind and hiked a more rugged path, 

ascending to the top of a low ridge. 

There was plenty of rubber rabbitbrush in bloom along the path. 

There were great views from the ridge, 

including out to Horsetooth Rock which we had hiked up a few weeks ago.

Because Sierra was tired and Mom was feeling a bit under the weather, we opted to take the Powerline Trail back down to the lower portion of the Valley Loop. Along the way we passed a nice tipi ring.

We finished the hike on the nice, gravel 

and before we knew it we were back to the car. We opted to drive into Old Town 

to get some ice cream and a beer at New Belgium.

Toadstool Geological Park

 Mom T is in town for Sierra's birthday, and we wanted to take her out for a new adventure. We decided to take her to the small area of badlands at Toadstool Park to explore for a bit. We made the drive, paid the day use fee and had a picnic lunch at one of the campsites. Then we hit the trail, following a portion of the interpretive loop trail.

We had some fun exploring the first section of collapsed toadstools,

before moving further along the trail.

Rabbitbrush bloomed profusely along the trail,

and pieces of fossilized bone could be found here and there. 

We left the loop trail and followed the trail to Hudson-Meng for a bit, until we found an interesting looking side canyon to explore.

As we moved further up, the canyon got more and more narrow.

We climbed around and explored this area a bit.

We even found a fragile little natural arch.

After we were satisfied with our exploration, we decided to return to the main trail to make our way back to the trailhead. 

The last part of the official loop trail offered some of the most interesting scenery on the loop.

Our hike complete, we drove into Crawford for some ice cream at Staabs.