Roosevelt National Forest: Lady Moon Trail to Disappointment Falls

I've been itching to get out of the house and go on a real adventure. Today, we made the drive down into Colorado and over to Red Feather Lakes for a hike in the snow. Our journey would take us along the Lady Moon Trail and then over to Disappointment Falls. 

We arrived at the trailhead, ate some snacks and donned our gear, 

and then hit the trail.

The trail started out fairly easy, heading into a meadow almost immediately.

We followed the snow-packed trail through a mix of intermittent wooded areas and open fields.

Eventually, our route left a wide, old logging road and headed into the woods on a narrow single track path.

As we made our way out of the woods, views opened up to the high mountains to the west.

We continued to follow the narrow trail, gradually descending further and further down into a valley.

At the junction with the Disappointment Falls spur, we made a right turn and soon found ourselves following a creek, currently it is largely frozen. Interesting rock formations lined the valley.

Soon enough we were at the frozen falls. Honestly, at this time of the year, the falls were a bit of a disappointment. 

Luckily the beautiful winter scenery made up for the lack of flowing water. We ate a snack at a snow free area in the trees, and then started to retrace our steps back to the car.

We stopped to admire the ruins of a log barn.

Then, we continued on our way, 

ascending up to the wooded ridge. At one point Sierra's boot was giving her a hot spot, so we took a break and Noelle applied a bandage to prevent a blister.

The walk back seemed to take forever. Luckily, there was still plenty of great scenery to distract us. 

We made it back to the car by 2:45 and drove into Fort Collins for a late lunch/early dinner at Coopersmith's.

Chimney Rock National Historic Site: Hiking Chimney Rock

Noelle, Sierra and I have been to Nebraska's famous Chimney Rock before. It's a famous landmark on the emigrant trails. However, we had never hiked at Chimney Rock before today. The reason we hadn't hiked there before, was the fact that I wasn't sure hiking was allowed. Well last time I stopped in the visitor center, I asked the staff if hiking was allowed and they told me that it is. There's even a Chimney Rock hike on AllTrails, though the hike is not on an official trail. We would be doing a variation of the hike listed on AllTrails.

It was an uneventful drive east towards Chimney Rock. We made the turn off to the visitor center, passed the building and at the T intersection, made a right turn. Surprisingly, there was a lot of traffic on the narrow, dirt road. It turns out there was something happening at the Chimney Rock Pioneer Cemetery on this Sunday morning. We parked along the side of the road and found the trail. It immediately led down into a ravine. With snow covering the ground, it was a slick descent down into the gully.

The shrubs in the ravine showed signs of major browsing, by rabbits I assume.

We climbed out of the ravine and roughly paralleled a fence line for a bit. 

There was a constant view of our objective for the hike. Soon enough we could see the memorial plaque that was set in a concrete base. We stopped and Noelle pointed it out to Sierra.

Before we knew it, we were approaching the base of the spire.

We stopped at the memorial for a photo,

and then decided to circumnavigate the rock. We did so in a clockwise direction.

The north-facing sides of the rock seemed to hold more snow than other sides.

There were a few more ravines to traverse.

We found the lights that are used to illuminate the rock at night. During the holidays, the lights are green and red.

Before we knew it, we had completed the loop back to near the memorial. A few more nice views of the landmark were offered.

Then, it was a short hike back to the car. 

It was a fun hike and interesting to see Chimney Rock from different angles. It appears that there will soon be an official trail that leads from the visitor center to the base of the rock. I wanted to make the hike to Chimney Rock before the trail is built and then return to see how the experience changes once the trail is completed. Judging from the fact that we didn't see any evidence of trail construction, it might be a while before we can hike the new trail.

First Hike 2023

 Happy New Year! Today, Noelle, Sierra, Rosie and I got out for our (nearly) annual First Day Hike. Not wanting to go far after our long drive from Wisconsin, we opted to hike at Scotts Bluff National Monument. We hiked up the closed Summit Road.

    Once at the top, we hiked out to the South Overlook,

before starting the descent down the Saddle Rock Trail.

It was a great start to what I think is going to be a great 2023!

Hawkeye Point: The Highest Natural Point in Iowa

We left Wisconsin today, hoping to beat a possible storm that could make our travel more difficult. As we passed through southwest Minnesota, I opted to take a break at Hawkeye Point, the highest natural point in the state of Iowa. It just a few miles south of the Minnesota border. Noelle and I have been to Hawkeye Point before. 

We visited in April of 2002 on our way to our seasonal park ranger jobs at Wind Cave National Park in the Black Hills. At that time the location was private property. Since then, the site has been bought by Osceola County and made into a park.

We arrived to find the driveway snow-covered. The snow didn't seem too deep though, and so I drove through it to get closer to the highpoint. Upon turning the car around, I got it stuck in a snow drift and I had to use my feet to dig the front wheels out and push while Noelle had the car in reverse. After about 10 minutes we got her out. We found a better place to park and got out to stand at the highpoint and take some photos. 

There is a really cool looking mosaic at the highpoint, but unfortunately it was covered with snow today. Besides the highpoint itself, there is a barn museum,

and an observation stand from which you can view the surrounding, relatively flat, Iowa landscape.

One of the cool things about our last visit was that the owner of the site greeted us and gave us a free keychain. 

I still had that keychain until just a few years ago, when it basically disintegrated. Interestingly, for a $1 donation, you can still get a keychain at the site. 

That's exactly what Noelle and I did before leaving the site for the rest of our drive back to Nebraska. 

A Winter Hike up Sugar Loaf Bluff

We've been in Wisconsin, visiting with family for the holidays. It's been exceptionally cold since we got here, and I've got a bad case of cabin fever. Noelle and I decided to get out and go for a short hike over in Winona, Minnesota at Sugar Loaf Bluff. We've hiked Sugar Loaf before, during MEA Weekend in 2018.

It was a nice drive across the Mississippi River and into Minnesota. It has warmed up substantially since a few days ago and a lot of the snow that had piled up and drifted on the sides of the roads has melted away. Still, I knew we would be hiking in the snow and so at the start of the hike Noelle and I each donned one of the microspikes from my pair. The trail is short, but fairly steep. Soon enough, we were approaching the trail's namesake: Sugar Loaf Bluff.

Near the base of the cliff, there's a nice view looking out over the city of Winona and the Mississippi River. We paused here for a quick break,

and then ascended the last section to the base of the Sugar Loaf.

At the base of the Sugar Loaf, there are trails that lead to views on the north and south sides. We enjoyed the vantage from both,

and then started the descent back down to the car. Along the way, I noticed a small natural window that I had overlooked on the way up.

It was a quick (and slippery) descent back down to the car and our trip to Aldi for a little shopping.