Arthur's Rock

Lory State Park was a fantastic place to get outside this weekend.  The hike up to Arthur's Rock was scenic and entertaining for all ages. I hope we keep having these 50 degree days.

 At the top of Arthur's Rock.

 This hike has tons of great rocks to climb.

 The girl with the yellow hat.

 One of the few 'good' pics I have of this kid when he's not smirking or covering his face.

 Really, I wasn't upset...it was a beautiful and enjoyable day.

 Nothing tastes better than a cold one after a long hike!

Hike: Arthur's Rock (Lory State Park)

Trails Used:  Arthur's Rock Trail to Howard Trail to Mill Creek Link

Distance: 5.17 miles

Difficulty: Easy to moderate
Overall average: 1.4 mph
Overall Time: 3 hrs, 35 mins
Total Ascent: 1685 ft.

 

Loooooooooooooonng Hike @ Lory State Park

Well, it was a long one today. I started @ 6:20 a.m. and finished at 11:20 a.m. By the time I ended it was 89 degrees. I don't like heat! It's a good thing I did all the open areas first so the end of the hike was mainly through the trees. I was beat by the time I finished and didn't want to go up another hill if I could help it for the last 3 miles or so. I parked at the Soderberg Trailhead today so that I could do some different trails w/out doing too much mileage. Well, part of that concept worked! It WAS a different trailhead and I did do different trails!

It was a beautiful day and I saw a couple of bucks early on.

The wildflowers were out in force. I even saw some Beebalm today which I normally don't see. The rest of the flowers were pretty typical for the area.


The views of the front range were gorgeous. The boats/hikers/campers were out in full force at Horsetooth Reservoir.

At the end I saw a doe and her baby. The baby was very scared of me and tried to scamper away but wasn't sure which direction to take. I had fun watching!

Horsetooth Mountain Park to Lory State Park
Trails Used: Swan Johnson to Shoreline to Nomad to South Valley Loop to West Valley to Kimmons to Timber to Howard to Mill Creek Link to Logger's Trail to Tower's Trail to Swan Johnson


Distance: 15.3 Miles (I adjusted since I knew the actual time I hiked, the GPS and I didn't get along very well today)
Difficulty: Difficult due to length otherwise moderate
Moving average: 3.4 mph
Overall average: 3.0 mph
Moving Time: 4 hrs, 26 min (adjusted due to defective GPS)
Stopped Time: 32 min, 04 sec
Total Ascent: 2249 ft.
Maximum elevation: 6737 ft.

Horsetooth Mountain Park/Arthurs Rock

I went to Horsetooth Mountain Park today and hiked all the way to Lory State Park, up to Arthurs Rock and back to Horsetooth. It was loooonnnnngggg (16.75 miles) but it felt good especially after being cooped up in the house for 4 days w/ no exercise. There was a great view from the top of Arthurs Rock of Ft. Collins, Wyoming, and the plains.
There was an abundance of wildlife and wildflowers.
I even had a reminder of the big scary animals that live out here. It was spooky seeing what was left of this mule deer. But, hey, if you're hungry you're hungry! That white stuff in the photo is actually hair from the deer!
I ran across lots of seasonal streams and pools of water.
Hike: Horsetooth Mountain Park to Lory State Park
Trails Used: See Map Below, Horsetooth Falls Trail, Stout Trail, Sawmill Trail, South Valley Loop (Lory), Howard Trail (Lory), Mill Creek Link (Lory), Mill Creek Trail, Westridge Trail, Horsetooth Rock Trail, Service Road
Distance: 16.75 Miles (the GPS cut out on me a couple of times)
Difficulty: Difficult due to length
Moving average: 3.1 mph
Overall average: 2.7 mph
Moving Time: 5 hrs, 16 min
Stopped Time: 55 min, 19 sec
Total Ascent: 3932 ft.
Maximum elevation: 7066 ft.