Roosevelt National Forest: Mount Olympus

I woke up early this morning and made the drive down to Loveland, Colorado. My plan for the day was two-fold: 1) take some photos of the elk that congregate on the Mariana Butte Golf Course, and (2) hike up Mount Olympus, outside of Estes Park.

I stopped off at the Oxbow Natural Area, adjacent to the golf course to see if I could find some elk. I was not successful in finding elk, though I did see a red-tailed hawk perched in a tree to photograph.

After about 20 minutes of looking for elk, it was time to move on. I made the drive west on US-34 towards Estes Park. Just before reaching town, at the boundary of Roosevelt National Forest is a pullout on the side of the highway. It is marked with a sign stating that the area is closed during parts of the year to protect cliff-nesting birds.

I parked, donned my microspikes, 

and then hit the trail. Almost immediately I found some pretty nice views west into the mountains. 

The nice views just kept coming and though it was a steep ascent, soon enough I found myself at the summit of Mount Olympus. I grabbed my camera to take some photos and realized that I had lost the wrist strap somewhere along the way. I would have to look for it on the way down.

Anyway, I took lots of photos from the summit area. I took wide views of the surrounding mountains.

I switched over to my telephoto lens and took a few photos of individual mountains.

I also took a self-portrait from the summit.

It was incredibly nice weather for December. It was warm with no wind! After about 45 minutes, it was time to make my way down. Luckily, I found my wrist strap on the trail towards the bottom.

Back at the car, I headed back to Loveland for lunch and then a beer at Verboten.

I returned to Oxbow Bend and Marianna Butte, but no luck finding the elk to photograph.

The Grunwald's 2024 Christmas Tree Adventure

This morning Noelle, Sierra, Mom T and I made the drive north through Alliance to cut down the 2024 Grunwald Christmas tree. We got our permit online at Recreation.gov and were prepared with our saw and tie downs for this year's adventure. We stopped off at the Chadron City Ponds for a short walk 

before heading to our spot east of the Pine Ridge Job Corps complex. 

We parked the car in a grassy area off to the side of the road in a small ravine 

and headed up the ridge to have a look around. After about 20 minutes we found her: our latest Christmas tree.

I cut it down and we started to make our way back to the car. Mom was unable to make it up the ridge with us, so we stopped once we met up with her for a family photo.

We got the tree up on the roof of the car,

then headed back to Alliance for lunch at Ken and Dale's and beers at Brewery 719. With full bellies we made the drive home and set up our tree. She's a real beaut!

Bobcat Ridge Natural Area: Ginny and On The Rocks Trails

This morning I made the drive down to Fort Collins. I arrived at Bobcat Ridge Natural Area just as the nearly full moon was beginning to set behind the mountains.

I hit the trail and immediately started to ascend into the foothills. There were wonderful views in all directions.

As I ascended, I passed a few small deciduous trees still clinging to the last of their leaves.

The trail weaved into and out of the natural area and Roosevelt National Forest.

It also passed through an area that burned in last summer's Alexander Mountain Fire. There was charred wood and rocks stained with red fire retardant. 

Views opened up to Palisade Mountain and the higher peaks to the west. Soon enough I made it to the junction with the On the Rocks Trail. It's designed as a very difficult mountain biking trail, marked with black diamonds.

Like the trail's name would suggest, its route was extremely rocky.

I made it up into Mahoney Park and stopped to rest and enjoy the view for a bit.

Then it was a long descent on the Ginny Trail back to the trailhead.

Signature Bluffs Natural Area

After leaving Castle Rock we drove north towards home and decided to make a side trip to Greeley. We went to get some beers at Weld Werks.

We had a picnic lunch at Island Grove Park and then headed over to Signature Bluffs Natural Area for a short walk to enjoy the peak fall colors.

Castle Rock's Rock Park

This morning we checked out of the hotel and made the short drive over to the Rock Park. 

We parked and immediately hit the trail.

The trail climbs steadily and eventually views opened up over the city of Castle Rock.

As we approached the top of the trail, we caught great views of the town's namesake which is a prominent landmark for travelers on I-25.

We walked around the base of the rock,

then we started to make our way back down.

We arrived back at the car for our drive north.