Medicine Bow National Forest: Skeleton, Devil's Slide, Cow Loop

 Today, Noelle and I wanted to get out to see some fall colors. We decided a drive to Vedauwoo would be our quickest route to immersing ourselves in the splendor of fall. 

After the drive into Wyoming and up Interstate 80, we headed over to the Blair Picnic area for the start of our hike. As we pulled into the picnic grounds, there was a family having their picture taken with a colorful foliage backdrop. We gathered our packs and I took a photo of Noelle with colorful trees behind her.

Then, we hit the trail.

It seemed about half the trees were still clinging to their leaves, 

while the other half were bare.

Our hike made a nice loop following some upland areas through meadows, past rock formations and through scattered stands of aspens. All the trails we followed are unofficial but heavily used. The scenery and the weather were amazing.

After passing Reynolds Hill, the trail followed the creek back towards the Blair Picnic Area. 

There were lots of beaver ponds, dens, and dams.

We never did see and beavers or moose though. Still, the scenery was quite spectacular!

After our very enjoyable hike, we stopped in Cheyenne for lunch at Spice Zone, delicious Indian food.

Rocky Mountain National Park: Estes Cone via Longs Peak Trailhead

 My friend Ben and I had originally intended to head to the Indian Peaks Wilderness for an ascent of South Arapaho Peak. However, that hike spends quite a bit of time up above treeline and the weather forecast was calling for a pretty good chance of rain. Instead of heading to Kelly Dahl Campground, we decided to call an audible and headed to the Peaceful Valley Campground instead. 

We awoke this morning to a beautiful alpenglow sunrise, 

ate a quick breakfast and then made the drive to the Longs Peak Trailhead at Rocky Mountain National Park. We wouldn't be hiking the iconic 14er today though, instead our destination was Estes Cone. 

We parked at the trailhead and then hit the trail at a pretty brisk pace.

Soon enough we were at the first trail junction 

where we took the trail to the right that led to Eugenia Mine. 

The hike continued on the Storm Pass Trail with a descent ascent.

Soon, we found ourselves at the mine site where we did a little exploring.

After our short break we continued on, passing through Moore Park with its nice views of our destination: Estes Cone.

From Moore Park the trail climbed a bit more steeply. We took a few breaks where there were some nice views out to Longs Peak.

After reaching Storm Pass the trail got quite steep.

The .7 miles from the pass to the summit went pretty slow due to the rugged nature of the trail. Still, the view at the summit out to Longs Peak and the surrounding area, was well worth the climb. 

We probably spent about 30 minutes enjoying the view before starting to make our way back down to the trailhead. 

Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge

 This morning I packed up camp at Chatfield State Park and hit the road before sunrise. I wanted to get to City Park to take some photos of the Denver skyline at sunrise. It took me a little longer to get to City Park than I had anticipated, but I was able to get a decent photograph of the city skyline before the light got too harsh. 

From City Park it was a fairly quick drive over to Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge. I entered the refuge and found a pullout to eat breakfast: a bagel with cream cheese. Then I made my way over to the lakes area to go for a hike and look for wildlife. Just before arriving at the Lakes area, I found part of the refuge bison herd and watched the bison for a little bit, including a calf who seemed to enjoy running around.

From there I found a place to park and headed down to the loop trail that encircles the small Lake Mary. Immediately, I was able to observe a cormorant diving below the surface to look for fish.

From Lake Mary I headed over to Ladora Lake. There's a nice 1.8 mile loop around Ladore Lake and I was able to observe wildlife including a few great blue herons,

cormorants,

and a hairy woodpecker.

After the short hike, I made my way to the Wildlife Drive where I got a nice view of a bison with mountains in the background,

the distant Denver skyline,

and a closeup view of part of the herd.

After the Wildlife Drive I left the refuge and headed northeast to Greeley to pick up some beer at WeldWerks before making my way home.