Wind Cave National Park: Boland Ridge Trail

It's now November and I'm not sure how many nice weather days we have left this year. Noelle and I decided to get out and enjoy the nice weather with a trip up to the Black Hills and Wind Cave National Park. Surprisingly, it's my first time in South Dakota this year.

The drive was uneventful and as we entered the park, we had a wonderful view of a single bison bull and the Black Hills in the distance. 

From there we bypassed the visitor center and headed to the intersection with South Dakota Highway 87. There's a pretty large prairie dog town there and we stopped for a few minutes to observe the animals as they barked, and hid partially in their burrows.

From there we crossed over the Beaver Creek Bridge 

and headed north towards Custer State Park. Instead of entering the state park, we turned onto NPS 5 and made our way east towards NPS 6 and the trailhead for our hike. We passed many bison (and prairie dogs) along the way,

and noticed a fairly large herd of bison along NPS 5 north of the trailhead.

Soon we hit the trail, passing through a bison-free area of prairie towards the distant hills and ridge.

The trail eventually climbs along a steep, rough old section of road and then levels out for a bit, before climbing again. 

There are very few wildflowers still in bloom this late in the year, but the views of the distant Black Hills, including Black Elk Peak, were pretty grand.

For once we actually followed the trail to its official end. 

I feel like after all the times we've hiked this trail, we rarely follow it all the way to the end. Usually, we stop at the edge of the surprisingly deep and narrow canyon along the park boundary. We headed there again on this hike and spend some time eating our sandwiches and snacking for a bit. Eventually, Noelle noticed a canyon wren and spend some time looking for it through her binoculars. 

Finally, it was time to head back towards the trailhead and the car. The scenery on the way back was quite dramatic with more views of the surrounding pine-clad hills and distant higher peaks.

On the way back Noelle noticed a pretty large herd of about 40 to 45 elk off in some distant trees. 

We stopped to observe them for a bit before starting back to the trailhead in earnest. 

The only thing that really slowed us down on the way back was a group of four bison that blocked our trail for a bit. We hunkered down to watch them before they veered off the trail towards the east.

Soon we were on the homestretch back to the car.

Some bison left lick marks on the car in our absence. Perhaps it was the group of 4 we had seen on the trail?

On the way out of the park we saw more bison,

and caught a big herd of pronghorn just before leaving the park.

It was a great day of exploring our favorite trail in one of our favorite national parks. 

Rocky Mountain National Park: Chasm Lake

 Noelle and Sierra spent part of this week staying in Estes Park with friends. They bought a week pass to access Rocky Mountain National Park and had one day left of the pass, today. Noelle encouraged me to use the last day of the pass and so I made the drive into Northern Colorado and to the Longs Peak Trailhead. I had just been here a few weeks ago for the hike up to Estes Cone. Today I would attempt the hike up to Chasm Lake.

After leaving home before 5 am, I arrived to find the trailhead parking lot full. I had to park alongside the road. I made the short walk up the road to the Longs Peak Ranger Station, 

and set off on the trail. 

After reaching the trail to Estes Cone, I continued on my trail passing through the Goblin's Forest.

Soon I reached the snow line and the trees alongside the trail were beautiful, covered with sugary frost and snow.

Soon I passed near a stream and noticed that a fair amount of ice had formed along the edges of rocks in the stream. 

I crossed the snow-covered lightning bridge 

and soon headed up above the trees. 

Above tree line the views really opened up. I caught a glimpse of Estes Cone,

and nearly constant views of Longs Peak.

Here progress slowed a bit, as I could feel the effects of altitude. Still, my recent running kick had me feeling stronger on this hike than I've felt in a pretty long time. 

I continued to ascend with views of the peak.

After reaching Chasm Junction the trail levelled off a bit. The views were even more impressive. 

I caught views of Peacock Pool and Columbine Falls.

Then I passed through a meadow and started an icy climb up to Chasm Lake.

I relaxed on a rock near the shore of the lake for a bit before turning around to make my way back to the trailhead. The views on the return were every bit as impressive as they had been on the way in.

While I didn't see a whole lot of wildlife on the hike (probably due to all the people I was sharing the trail with) I did catch a nice view of a raven.

Soon I was back down into the trees and the warm temperatures. With clear skies and temperatures in the 60s, Estes Park was extremely busy. I opted to skip lunch in Estes and headed to Greeley and WeldWerks on the way home for a well earned beer.

Roosevelt National Forest: Granite Ridge East and Box Hollow Trails

 Today I wanted to get out for a hike and see if any fall color remained. I opted to take Rosie out to Red Feather Lakes to hike the longer portions of the Granite Ridge Trail system that I haven't yet hiked. We drove to the Lady Moon Trailhead and set off on our hike.

The hike started with a section of trail that Noelle and I had recently hiked. We passed through a large meadow and then curved through a section of aspens that still held colorful leaves.

Most of the trees we would see were bare though.

We followed the Lady Moon Trail to its junction with the Granite Ridge Trail and turned left. 

We had followed a short portion of this trail before, during a winter hike to Disappointment Falls. However, this time Rosie and I would hike Granite Ridge to its eastern terminus. Along the way we  hiked past interesting rock formations,

and caught some nice views of distant mountains.

They must be getting ready for some prescribed burns, because we hiked past a few hose connections and coiled sections of fire hose.

The scenery to the eastern end of the trail featured lots of rock formations and interesting views.

Land across the eastern boundary featured a disc golf course. We saw a few people walking there as we took our break. Then, we started to retrace our steps to an unsigned trail junction where we turned onto the Box Hollow Trail. 

This trail descended into a valley rimmed with rock formations. 

Here we spied some of the last blooming wildflowers of the season.

We turned around at the forest boundary and started our hike back to the trailhead.

As we approached a section of trail with a dry lakebed, we scared a grouse off the ground an into a tree.