Gateway Natural Area: Black Powder Trail and Seaman Reservoir

 With a forecast of beautiful, warm weather we decided to head out of town today and made our way down to Fort Collins, Colorado. Our first stop, the fun Sugar Beet Park 

just outside of Old Town. Sierra enjoyed this park with its train car, moveable benches 

and lots of play elements to climb on. 

After playing at the playground for about an hour or so, we headed over to O'Dell Brewing for a couple of beers 

and lunch from a food truck. Today's food truck was Mac 'n, and we all enjoyed their mac and cheese.

After lunch we headed into the mountains. We didn't head too far up the Poudre Canyon though. Today we visited Gateway Natural Area to do a little hiking. We started with a hike up the Black Powder Trail. It is short, at about .8 mile, but pretty steep. The hike starts with a crossing of the two forks of the Cache la Poudre River.

Then, you follow a dirt road for a short distance, 

before heading out on a narrow footpath that steeply ascends the mountain immediately.

With recent snow and warm temperatures, the trail was a bit slick with both snow and mud. The views of the surrounding mountains and the Seaman Reservoir were excellent.

We continued climbing, 

with views out over the Poudre River, Highway 14 and the surrounding mountains. We stopped a few times to admire the views from various unofficial overlooks and even Rosie seemed to enjoy the view.

On our descent, we hiked a short spur trail to an overlook. To be honest, the views were better on the main trail.

After a short stop at the overlook, we made our way back to the dirt road. We followed the dirt road to the Seaman Reservoir, admire the view (and the graffiti left by Rosie) 

and then headed back to the car. 

It was a great way to spend a warm, late-winter day in the mountains!