Monday, June 13, 2011

Biking along the voluminous Poudre River

Well, I tried to anyhow! Many of the underpasses were blocked due to the cresting Poudre River. This resulted in a more industrial and less picturesque ride than I had anticipated! It was still nice to be outside enjoying the warm weather though.
My favorite part of this trail is where the bridge goes over the water for awhile.
This is where the kayaker's and firefighter's practice. It is closed until further notice. They did say that the water crested last week so maybe this is as full as it will get!
On the way back home I went through CSU's campus and enjoyed the lovely oval. It's one of the few picturesque parts of the campus.
Bike: Poudre Trail
Trails Used: Power Line Trail, Poudre Trail, Old Town, CSU Campus, Mason Trail to Fossil Creek Park
Distance: 27.22 miles
Difficulty: Easy
Moving average: 12.4 mph
Moving Time: 2 hrs, 11 min
Total Ascent: 215 ft.

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Rattlesnake Fever!!

This was the 2nd one of the afternoon! You can bet we were moving fast!

I don't know if I've seen the park so green before. After all the rain we've had it's almost as lush as a jungle. (I suppose that is all relative since we live in the high prairie!) But I'm telling you....it's vivid! This is the view from the beginning of the Spring Creek Trail going towards Stout trail. You can vaguely see the path we took from the parking lot to the falls down below.
There are really nice views of Horsetooth Reservoir from the Stout Trail. This is a view of Dixon Cove looking east. A little bit after this was our first run in with a rattlesnake. We never saw it but we did hear the rattle. I've never run so fast in my life! Instinct must have taken over since I've never seen or heard one prior to this but at the first noise I was hot footing it out of there!
This old cabin (w/ rusty mattress springs outside) was on Logger's trail I believe.
There were some nice views of Horsetooth rock off Sawmill and the Herrington Trail. Next time I will do the hike early in the morning for better pictures.
Again, look at how green it is!
We were along the Spring Creek trail heading back when we saw the 2nd rattlesnake (Prairie Rattlesnake). This time I got some decent but not great pictures! My mom almost stepped on it this time. For some reason it didn't rattle and let us know it was there. Snakes sure are wicked looking!

Hike: Horsetooth Mountain Park
Trails Used: Horsetooth Falls to Spring Creek to Stout, to Sawmill, to Loggers, to Herrington, to Spring Creek to Horsetooth Falls
Distance: ? miles (forgot to bring the GPS, duh!)
Difficulty: Moderate
Moving average: ? mph
Moving Time: ~3 hrs, 0 min
Total Ascent: ? ft.
Maximum Elevation: ? ft.