Table Mountain Wildlife Management Area

I happened to see a new story that showed up in the feed on my phone about Sandhill cranes in Wyoming. One of the locations that the story mentioned was Table Mountain Wildlife Management Area. I had heard of the place before and I knew it isn't that far from where we live. I convinced Noelle to take a drive with me just over the Wyoming border near the small town of Huntley.

As we approached the area we could see clouds of cranes flying through the air. As we arrived at the parking area, we excitedly got out of the car and walked over to the edge of a field to have a closer look. We saw thousands of cranes both flying, and wading in shallow ponds.

We hunkered down in a somewhat hidden location and observed.

Then, we walked around the property to see what else we could see. That included a juvenile bald eagle,

and an injured snow goose.

It was a great trip to an area we haven't really heard much talk about. 

Guernsey State Park: Peak View Trail

I've been wanting to hike a new trail for a while now and today is forecast to be the last nice weather day for a while. I decided to take advantage by heading over to Guernsey State Park to hike the one trail there that I've never hiked before: the Peak View Trail. 

I arrived at the trailhead at the junction of the roads that lead to the Sand Beach and Brimmer Point. I crossed the road and started the hike at the sign for the Foot Trail.

From here the trail meandered over towards the deep railroad cut. There were plenty of great views out to Laramie Peak.

There were also a few views out to the reservoir.

I made my way through scattered ponderosa pines,

to the junction with a trail I had previously hiked with Noelle and Sierra. From here I headed back to the car. It was a short hike at less than 3 miles roundtrip. As I approached the car, I opted to head over to the railroad cut to see if I could photograph any trains making their way through the deep, manmade trench. Sure enough, I spotted a train on a siding, and figured it must be waiting for a train coming through the tunnel to the east. My intuition proved to be correct and I spotted two trains. The first one was headed west through the cut.

The second headed east.

I finished my visit with a short side trip to the Castle,

then made the drive back home. 

Lory State Park: Arthur's Rock via Arthur's Rock/Overlook/Fire Line/Howard/Mill Creek Loop

This morning Noelle and I made the drive down to Fort Collins, specifically to Lory State Park. We bought our entrance sticker and made our way to the Arthur's Rock parking lot where we hit the trail amongst the throngs of people. There were a few icy sections of trail in the shady areas, but since the ice was covered with a layer of dirt, it wasn't too slippery. As we ascended, views opened up out over Horsetooth Reservoir. 

At the first trail junction we reached, we turned onto the Overlook Trail and left most of the other people behind. The Overlook Trail climbed pretty steadily, 

offering more views to east.

After a short distance we found ourselves at the junction with the Fire Line Trail.

Here we started a steeper climb up to the point where we rejoined the Arthur's Rock Trail.

We took the short spur trail to the summit of Arthur's Rock and relaxed and enjoyed the view for a bit.

Then we made our way over to the Howard Trail, which we would follow back down to the car. From the Howard Trail there were lots of great views out to Horsetooth Reservoir and also some nice views back to Arthur's Rock.

It was a great hike to the iconic Arthur's Rock and a great, less crowded alternative to the Arthur's Rock Trail. We especially enjoyed the views from the Howard Trail on the descent. 

After our hike we stopped at Elevated Sandwiches for lunch, and then Funkwerks for beers.