Rocky Mountain National Park: Twin Sisters Peak Trail

Today was my last day off until next Friday, so I decided I wanted to get out of town and go for a hike. I opted to make the long drive down to Estes Park to hike the Twin Sisters Peaks. The trail is on the east side of the park in a section of the park that is separate from the main portion. As I made the drive south on Colorado Highway 7, I caught my first view of my objective from a viewpoint near the trailhead for Lily Mountain Trail. 

After snapping a few photos of the mountain, I continued on to the trailhead which is located just across the street from the beautiful little Lily Lake. I crossed the highway to use the restroom and then hit the trail, which actually starts out on a closed section of gravel road. 

After walking the road for maybe a quarter mile, I hit the actual Twin Sisters Trail. 

I have to admit, that most of the trail was actually kind of uninspiring. It featured long stretches of straight trail through thick lodgepole pines. 

However, every now and then views opened up through gaps in the trees. When these views opened up they were quite spectacular!

I continued to ascend the trail as it traversed the bottom of some cliffs

and over to a section of trail that had been wiped out by a major rockslide. While the rockslide devastated the forest, it provided an opening that allowed for more views of the iconic Longs Peak.

After crossing the rockslide section, the trail began to ascend a bit more steeply. It made its way into and out of the national park and into the adjoining Roosevelt National Forest.

As I made my way higher, the trees thinned and views of rock outcroppings became more frequent.

Views of the mountains to the west opened up, but no longer were Longs and Meeker the stars of the show. 

I reached treeline and started to make my way through deeper snow.

Soon enough I found myself at the stone shelter just below the summits. 

From this saddle I opted to hike to the tallest of the Twin Sisters peaks, the west peak. It was a bit windy on the exposed summit ridge, but I managed to take a few selfies

and enjoy the view of the amazingly close Longs Peak.

Once I got back down from the summit and out of the wind, I made fast work of the return trip to the car. Luckily, I had brought my microspikes. I wore them for nearly the entire hike. In fact, at one point I had a short snowless stretch and opted to take them off. However, after a few minutes of gingerly walking across a long icy stretch I opted to put them back on. I enjoyed the occasional mountain views on the way down just as much as on the way up.

It was still relatively early when I returned to the car and so I opted to take a walk around Lily Lake. I saw some interesting wildlife during my short stroll including:

willet

Wyoming ground squirrel

Ring necked ducks

I also saw some flowers in bloom along the lake: pasqueflower!

The nice, easy hike around Lily Lake was a fitting end to a great day exploring!

Lory State Park: Well Gulch Loop

This morning Noelle, Sierra, Rosie and I hit the road and headed south down to the Fort Collins area to do a little hiking on a beautiful, almost summer-like, day. After a quick stop in Wellington to pick up some snacks, we headed into the (very busy) park and over to the trailhead parking lot for the Well Gulch Nature Trail. After changing into our boots, we hit the trail.

The trail starts in a shrubby meadow area. 

Wild plum bushes are currently blooming and the grape Kool-Aid like smell permeated the air. 

Then, the trail moved into its namesake gulch.

A very small stream trickled at the bottom of the gulch and Rosie made several trips over to the water to drink and cool her paws.

Besides the blooming plums, there were other signs of spring that we observed as we hiked: Nuttall's violets,

star lilies,

and fresh, green fern fronds!

We continued our ascent of the Well Gulch Trail to the junction with the Timber Trail.

We stopped for a break at the trail junction, then descended back down to finish the eastern half of the nature trail loop.

As we descended views opened up over Horsetooth Reservoir.

We noticed lots of paddlers on the water in the protected coves. At the junction with the Overlook Trail we found a bench and stopped to take another break.

Then, we continued our descent down the trail, 

passing a few pasqueflowers on the way.

Soon enough, we were back near the start of the trail,

and the parking lot. As we left the park we noticed a line of cars waiting to get in. I guess the park had reached capacity.

After leaving we headed to Stodgy Brewing for some beers and lunch from a food truck. 

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.