Glendo State Park: Two Moon, Broken Bow & Buffalo Run Loop

It was time for a family hiking day. With nice weather forecast, we decided to head west into Wyoming to check out Glendo State Park. After a search of AllTrails , I opted for the Two Moon, Broken Bow and Buffalo Run Loop. The distance, about 6 miles, seemed about right. 

After an uneventful drive we parked the car in a gravel lot near the trailhead and started out on the Whiskey Trail.

Soon, views opened up over the Glendo Reservoir.

For much of the first third of the hike, we would be traveling along the top of a cliff overlooking the reservoir below. There were lots of great views out to the water, 

and even a few views of Laramie Peak.

Eventually, we passed an overlook of the dam,

and shortly after crossed a road and headed into an area of sagebrush 

with views of the flowing North Platte River. 

After moving away from the river, the terrain became less interesting. At least there were scattered views of Laramie Peak as we hiked. 

We headed to the Two Moons Campground and then rejoined the original, Whiskey Trail, which we followed back to the start of our hike. It wasn't a terrible hike, though I think the scenery and CCC history of Guernsey State Park are more interesting. 

Nebraska National Forest: Pine Ridge Trail: Chadron State Park through Chadron Creek WMA

 I decided to use some Annual Leave before things get busy at work over the next few months. Since I've been itching to go for a longer hike lately, I decided to head up to the Chadron area to go for a hike on the Pine Ridge Trail.

Rosie and I made the drive north. Passed through Chadron State Park and parked in a grassy area at the edge of the park and forest near a sign for the Pine Ridge Trail. I haven't been able to find a lot of information online about the section of the Pine Ridge Trail between the state park and Dead Horse Road, so the hike would be a complete surprise. We hit the trail on a cold, the clear morning.

The first section of trail follows an administrative road. There were nice views off the road to the surrounding forest. The forest here shows signs of having been burned.

Once we reached the Nebraska National Forest boundary, I let Rosie off leash. She really seemed to enjoy her freedom, running like a crazy dog in a state of what can only be described as "pure joy!"

The trail descended into a small canyon where it made an abrupt turn to avoid a section of private property.

The canyon was shady and cool. The muddy ground frozen solid.

After a short while in the canyon, we started to climb out to the prairie above.

We soon made our way past a windmill, 

then continued along the prairie, occasionally dropping into and out of small canyons. We went through a gate and into the Chadron Creek Wildlife Managment Area.

Inside the WMA, the trail closely paralleled a fence. We dropped into one more small canyon, 

then hit another gate. At this point we had hiked about 4 miles. A sign at the gate stated that Dead Horse Road would be another 2.5 miles. 

I decided against continuing any further, as I didn't want to wear Rosie (or her paws) out too much. We stopped for a break at the gate and then retraced our steps to the car. With clouds building in the sky, the scenery was a bit better on the way back.

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.