For this week's days off, I headed up Poudre Canyon with a friend from work for a couple days of hiking in Roosevelt National Forest. Last night we camped at the Sleeping Elephant Campground. This morning it was a short drive a little further up the canyon to the trailhead for the Big South Trail.
Originally, I thought we might hike in the high country. However, a forecast of high winds changed my plans, and we opted to stay down in the trees and canyon where theoretically the wind would be somewhat blocked. We arrived to an empty parking lot and hit the trail.
Flowers bloomed alongside the trail, including lots of columbine.
The trail closely followed the Cache la Poudre River and so besides the visual feast of the blooms, the sound of rushing water was omnipresent.
We continued to make our way further up the trail.
Every now and then fallen trees blocked the trail. However, it was fairly easy to climb over, under or go around them, at least at first. We stopped a few times to take breaks and inspect the campsites along the way.
There were many great views out over the canyon.
At about 3.5 miles up the trail the fallen trees slowed progress to the point where we decided to turn around and head back towards the trailhead. It was early in the day and without a rush to find a campsite, we took our time, stopping often to admire the flowers and views.
Once we returned to the car, we took a drive up to Cameron Pass. We had thought we might eat lunch there, but the wind was pretty strong. Instead we opted to head back towards Pingree Park Road where we would find a dispersed campsite for the night. When we approached the Arrowhead Lodge we realized that the Forest Service Visitor Center there was open and decided to have a look around.
The volunteers stationed there were very kind. Having toured the lodge area, we headed up Pingree Park Road where we found a campsite for the night.
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