I've been wanting to catch a view of aspen trees in golden fall splendor, and so I decided a trip out to the mountain of Colorado was in order. I made the drive down to Loveland and then headed up the Big Thompson Canyon and Devil's Gulch Road, then turned off onto Storm Mountain Drive to the "trailhead" of the unofficial trail up to the summit on Snow Top Road. Here, a gate blocks an old forest road and marks the start of the hike.
Right away, there are great views of the western side of Palisade Mountain.
Views to off to the sides of the trail look both east, towards Loveland, and west towards the high peaks of Rocky Mountain National Park.
The trail, though unofficial, was very well defined on the lower slopes of the mountain.
I made my way through grassy areas with scattered pines.
The views continued to impress as I made my way higher. To the north were some open foothills. I suppose they were probably timbered at one point, but today there are few trees.
Being late in the season (early October), I was surprised by how many blooming flowers I spotted along the trail. There were yarrow,
paintbrush,
and other species that I didn't photograph including harebells, goldenrod and asters.
The trail got a bit rocky towards the summit, but I never had any difficulty in following it. Before I knew it, I was standing on the summit with great views of the Mummy Range and Longs Peak.
I spent a bit of time up there relaxing and enjoying the view, then I started to make my way down. The views on the descent were even better than they had been on the way up.
While I had intended to search for golden aspens, I didn't find many along the trail. Just one small cluster about 1/8 mile from the trailhead.
Soon, I was back at the car. It was only 10:30 and so I decided another hike was in the cards. I headed over to Bobcat Ridge to hike the Eden Vally Spur Trail.
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