Colorado: Mount McConnel Trail

 

We hiked about 0.5 miles from our campsite through the rest of the campground and down the campground road leading to the picnic area, where the trailhead is located.  The limited parking area fills up during the day, but there were no cars or hikers in the early morning when we started our hike.

This was a 4.2 mile double loop hike with about 1400' of elevation gain, topping out at just over 8000 feet.  Parts of the trail were marked by fire and beetle kill.  Unlike Dadd's Gulch, where the soil was literally still scorched, there were optimistic signs of new growth on this mountain.

isis

 

The first part of the double loop is the "Kreutzer Nature Trail, which climbed sharply up switchbacks.  Most nature trails in Wisconsin are wheelchair accessible or at least very mild and flat for the mobility impaired or seniors.  This was not that kind of nature trail.

We hiked clockwise, as recommended.  The second loop climbed even more steeply than the first, but then suddenly flattened.  We walked through a stark landscape that evidenced both the fire damage and the renewal of life.  

 

 

Some peaks don't pay off with a big view at the end.  This one did.  So we hiked it again the next day.

Colorado: Mountain Park Campground

Each day at Dutch George campground became progressively hotter. On our last day, after picking up a few supplies at unincorporated Rustic, we drove through Mountain Park Campground, another forest service campground at slightly higher elevation and more shade. To our surprise, there was a non-reservation loop in the back. It was still mid-week and early enough in the day that there were a couple of vacant campsites.

When we returned with the Scamp, we snagged the nicest one.

We were able to spread out and had no immediate neighbors.  The structure on the left of the photo was the campground well house.    Yes, we had flush toilets and access to hot showers in the reservation-only electric loop.

We were happy with our non-electric site.  You can see some sunlight in the photo.  I was able to keep our battery relatively healthy by moving my portable 100 watt suitcase panel around to catch the sun.

We did not have a riverfront campsite, but there were trails along the river which were a minute away.  Again, in the heat of the day, we found ourselves soaking our feet in the cold water.

Mountain Park campground also had a great mountain peak trail that we could walk to from our campsite.  We liked it so much that we hiked it twice.  But that will have to wait until the next post.

Colorado: Feel the Burn at Dadd's Gulch

As I mentioned in a previous post, the further up  Poudre Canyon that we explored, the more we saw the impact of past years of fire. This is something that neither of us had ever seen before close-up, and it made a lasting impact.

On June 15th, 2021, we set off for a hike at Lower Dadd Gulch.  This is a 7 mile in/out trail with an elevation gain of 1482 feet.  Where the trail ended, we continued a mile or so on FDR 259A.

In the beginning, the trail followed the creek.  The landscape was lush and spring-like.

Things began to change during the ascent.

 

Eventually, the earth was scorched all around us, and the smell of char was heavy in the air.  This was not a recent fire, and it appeared that the land would take a very long time to heal.  No small seedlings, no wildflowers, no blades of grass.

 

 

Colorado: Whitewater Rafting

Water sports ain't my thang.  

I never learned to enjoy putting my head underwater.  In high school, I negotiated with the gym teacher to pass the swimming test in advance, avoiding the three week swimming segments in exchange for running laps around the track while the rest of the class swam.  

On the other hand, Julia loves to swim and still swims 2000 yards twice per week at the high school.  So when Julia expressed an interest in going whitewater rafting on the Poudre, I voiced total support--in driving her to and from the pickup spot.  

 

 

 

I'm not sure why Julia rated the red helmet.  I guess maybe she is special.  

Colorado: Cache La Poudre River

I want to finish last spring's trip to Colorado before its one year anniversary, so back to documenting that trip.

After a day of supply, laundry, and dumping at Boyd Lake State Park, we drove up Highway 14 towards Red Feather Lakes in search of first come, first serve campgrounds.  The date was June 14, 2021.

As we headed up the canyon, the signs of past fires became evident. 

We would see much greater damage later in the week, as we continued up the canyon.

In our research, we knew that many of the campgrounds had changed to reservation only, and reservations were not available when we decided on this trip.

A few small national forest campgrounds still held back some sites as non-reservable.  We gambled that we could find a site mid-week.

The first couple of these campgrounds were completely full, which was discouraging.  However, when we drove up to Dutch George Campground, we were rewarded with an open site looking over the water. 

We were happy to find a spot.  The amenities were very basic:  pit toilets, garbage dumpster, and lots of sun for the solar panels to recharge our battery.    No electric meant no air conditioning, and it was warm inside the Scamp even at 6400' elevation.

 

We spent as much time as we could in the shade when given to us or in the natural air conditioning of the river.

Dutch George campground was our home base for several days while exploring the area.  I don't recall what we paid per night, but it was less than the $25/night being charged for the upcoming season.  That's a lot for dry camping, but it seems to be the way of the future, especially in the popular parts of Colorado.

 

Steenbock Preserve

 

This isn't the prettiest time of year to hike the Steenbock Preserve (also known as the Slacks segment) on the Ice Age Trail.

The trail is muddy.  The landscape is gray. Today was very windy. Yesterday was so windy that the Merrimac free ferry was closed.

 

This tree blew over yesterday and blocked the trail today.

There are several types of benches on this segment of trail.  Some of them do better in the wind than others.

Easily fixed

The most beautiful spot on the trail this morning was the dispersed camping location, which is designated for thru-hikers only.  Dispersed camping isn't common on the Ice Age Trail.  The Lodi area is fortunate to have two spots within a day's hike.  Both are tent sites and very different from the Appalachian Trail's mostly three-sided wood shelters.