Roosevelt National Forest: Killpecker Trail to Middle Bald Mountain

Last night after work, I packed up the car and Rosie and I made the drive south and then west into the Red Feather Lakes area of Colorado. We camped at West Lake Campground at one of the nice walk-in sites. This morning, I ate breakfast and packed up camp and we headed a little further west to the trailhead for the Killpecker Trail just off of the ominously named Deadman Road. I changed into my boots, and readied my pack and then we hit the trail. 

Most of the beginning 2/3 of the trail follows Killpecker Creek pretty closely.

It's a pretty, little cascading stream. Besides the creek, there were some pretty wildflowers blooming. The last flowers of the year, including a few lupine stragglers 

and some asters.

Being a Wednesday, I let Rosie walk off leash for most of the hike. There were three road crossings of the little trafficked Killpecker Road. 

At each road crossing there are barriers erected to keep ATVs off of the trail.

Motorbikes, however, are permitted and according to reviews I've read, this trail gets a lot of use from motorbikes on weekends. At one point the trail passes alongside, then through, a recently logged area.

We made the third road crossing,

and then climbed pretty steeply through woods mixed with intermittent clearings. 

The breaks in the forest offered views of nearby North Bald Mountain. 

That peak would have to wait for another hike. Soon enough, the trail entered a clearing and the summit of Middle Bald Mountain was visible to the southeast. 

As we walked through the meadow up to the summit, views to the west were spectacular! 

We attained the windy summit and enjoyed the views from a relatively sheltered spot. 

After a bit we made our way down off of the summit. The views in the meadow were still pretty grand. 

Being the completionist I am, we opted to finish the rest of the Killpecker Trail to its southern terminus at a forest road. 

Then, we retraced our steps back to the car. It was fast going on the way back being nearly all downhill. Overall, it was a nice hike. Not the most dramatic scenery, but still quite pleasant. The best part of the hike was letting Rosie walk off leash. She really seemed to enjoy the freedom, but never strayed too far.