After emailing my group hike pals for ideas about this week’s hike challenge, Annmarie proposed Lion Gulch — and lucky for me, the gang was available and ready for another group event…2 weeks in a row! Wait, wait, there’s more. My friend Kimberly flew in for the weekend to join us. AND…this was a dog-friendly hike. Ro & Karma reunited. Hooray!
Talk about rapid change in temps. Last weekend we turned back early in blowing snow; this weekend we hiked in short sleeves.
Ideal sunshine start, hiking amongst tall pines. Our trail snaked over beautiful water spills, iced over in the November temps. Short sleeves, sure — but still cold enough to revive my ‘Ro on Ice’ pic series…first standing ice since May. LOVED it!
Lion Gulch soon gave away to a section of the trail aptly named Homestead Meadows.
The Homestead Act of 1862 encouraged western expansion by opening America’s land to agricultural settlement. To qualify, a person had to be a United States citizen (or express the intent to become one), older than 21 years or head of a household and possess less than 160 acres of their own land. To acquire the property title, one had to build a house within 5 years, occupy the land for at least 6 months of the year, make income related to the property and cultivate a portion of the land. After 6 months one could buy the land for $1.25 an acre, or $15 outright after 5 years. Homesteaders could acquire up to 320 acres of land under the Act, a program that ended in 1976.
By far this was the most interesting part of our day hike — settler home & home furnishing remains from late 1800’s thru mid-1950’s.
Upon breaking for lunch, Ro scored his first taste of freedom since late winter. Annmarie convinced me to let Ro go off-leash. Tough letting go but of course Annmarie was coooo-rrect. Ro stayed close by after an initial crazy romp, running circles around us & dog pal Karma. Fun day for little guy; Ro owes Annmarie BIG 🙂
Skies grew overcast and temps dropped — so we layered up & pushed forward in search for an old Sawmill. Anti-climatic gotta say but we did stumble upon 2 additional homesteads and a Boy Scout troop (never know when that can come in handy – HA!).
Group hikes with John & Annmarie always end with dinner. Who doesn’t crave red meat after a 10-mile hike? LOL>
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- group hike – Kimberly, Annmarie & John
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- He’s baaaack – Ro on Ice!
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- got gas?
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- Homestead furnishings
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- WOW pic – LOVE these colours!
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- off-leash FREEDOM
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- lunch break: one for Ro, one for Karma
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- 7 mile morning run – LOVED it!
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- IMAX movie ‘To The Arctic’ – ya’ll know I love snow
Group hike with Annmarie & John – couldn’t think of a better way to bang out hike #45 of 2012 (yes, only 7 to go!).
Annmarie single-handedly selected today’s hike, planned our group meetup, added Amy & Dave to the day’s tally, AND drove one of 2 SUVs needed to track up RMNP. Thanks, thanks, thanks!
And as if I wasn’t excited enough, Annmarie sent out the weekend weather forecast Thursday prior – snow, heavy snow, and snow. FAAAANNNTASTIC! AND – on a fee FREE National Parks day. Hooray! ‘Cause ya’ll know: ‘free is for me!’
Arrived early at the Park but initially felt a bit duped – where was the snow? A light dusting, sure, but no feet of snow. The closer to Glacier Gorge trailhead however, temps dropped, resulting in heavier snow precip. Parked, layered up, posed for group pics – then onward TEAM. (No problem with capacity parking in snowy November :))
And because Ro was hanging back at Camp Bow Wow (no dogs allowed @ RMNP), I was able to use my poles. YES! Last week a headlamp, this week poles – all about the accessories. LOL>
Great conversations, lotta laughs and a heavy snowfall hike – LOVE this place, LOVE this day, LOVE these people! AND we picked up another hiker midway, Henry from the UK (Manchester – Go United!).
The snow slowed our pace but managed a short break at The Loch. The lake was almost completely frozen. Snow coated my eyebrows and Annmarie’s ‘Heidi’ braids. AWESOME day hike!
Folks wanted to head back just before we reached Glass Lake (still managed 8.57 miles roundtrip, so no slouching). Thankfully, John was our voice of reason: ‘We came as a group, we leave as a group’.
This day the ‘journey’ ROCKED, no worries about reaching a target destination.
Ended the day with burgers at Smokin’ Dave’s in Lyons.
Top 10 best hike of 2012! Annmarie & John – ROCKSTAR hiking BFFs!
The Loch/RMNP (heavy snowfall clip)
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- parked, layering up, ready for adventure!
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- trailhead group pic, check
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- new hiking buddies
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- Alberta Falls – AMAZING!
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- …and the snow begins
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- even a Yankees cap couldn’t save Annmarie’s ‘Heidi’ braids
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- The Loch
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- another hiking group joined our water/snack break, sheltered from the elements
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- near white-out conditions – FAAANNNTASTIC!
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- first snow angel of the season (no, you’re never too old)
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- turning back and grabbing burgers at Smokin’ Dave’s
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- AWESOME DAY HIKE!
Spicy Northern Indian food enjoyed with friends on a Friday afternoon made for a ROCKSTAR weekend start. My friend Kimberly flew in from Salt Lake so we kicked off the weekend early with Chicken Makhni at Curry n Kebob in Boulder.
Hike #42 Plan – needed to limit my drive time to hour, hour and half (Saturday night plans) AND make the most of an usually warm October day. Fort Collins is slightly more than an hour north of my home; Horsetooth Rock is only 7,300ft elevation (below treeline so temps remain unaffected by surprise, high altitude weather fronts). Done and done 🙂
Makes you wonder what goes through Ro’s mind. Last weekend we braved blowing snow at Woods Mountain on the Divide; this Saturday we hiked in t-shirts on a trail lined with evergreens near Wyoming. LOVE LOVE LOVE my Colorado life!
Hike was approx 5 miles roundtrip so today was much more about the journey than the end destination. Super pleased to see today’s trail not marred by past summer’s disastrous fire (Greyrock Mountain & much of Poudre River Canyon were not so lucky).
Enjoyed lunch amongst massive granite boulders peppered with quartz & mica – canvassed against snow-capped Longs Peak. WOW, WOW, WOW! Begging chipmunks kept Ro at ‘full alert’. My pup’s downed 2 birds and 2 rabbits thus far; however this day, Chip n Dale lucked out and escaped Ro’s trophy ‘kill’ tally.
All smiles from trailhead to summit – FAAAANNNNTASTIC day!
