Lots of good hikes for July in Breckenridge

Mohawk Lakes

Beautiful hike! We didn't make it too far due to my kiddos. I did get to see one of the falls but would have loved to do all the hike in order to see the lake and views from the top. The water was roaring! This is a hike w/ a ton of old mining equipment and cabins...historical as well as scenic.
Hike: Mohawk Lakes (w/ the family)
Trails Used: Mohawk Lakes
Distance: 1.6 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Moving average: 1.0 mph
Moving Time: 1 hrs, 34 min
Total Ascent: 904 ft.

Foxy Fox!!
I know this isn't about a hike but we had the opportunity to see 4 baby fox and their mother for the entire week right outside our door. Very cool!Baldy Mountain
We hiked partway up to Baldy Mountain behind the house and saw lots of flowers, goats, and great views!

Views of Breckenridge Ski Area

Alpine Forget-Me-Not

Marsh MarigoldPrairie CinquefoilOne Headed DaisyAlpine SunflowerDwarf CloverSandwort

Purple FringeSnowball Saxifrage Sky Pilot

Hike: Baldy Mountain (not quite to the top)
Trails Used: ski hill and up, emmett load and down
Distance: 6.66 miles
Difficulty: Difficult (Steep)
Moving average: 2.2 mph
Moving Time: 3 hrs, 01 min
Total Ascent: 2170 ft.
Iowa Mill, Boreas Pass, Down to Town, Up to House
My next hike was from Boreas Pass down to town, over to Carter Park, and back up to the house. Talk about wildflowers and aspen! I ran across some old mining equipment too!

SnailsIndian Paintbrush

Oregon Grape Holly

Rocky Mountain ColumbineFlaxWild Iris
Broadleaf Arnica
Subalpine ArnicaWild GeraniumRosePotentillaCarter Park flowersLupineRed ColumbineScarlet Gilia

Hike: To Boreas Pass, Down to Town, Up the Bike Trails
Trails Used: see above
Distance: 11.06 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Moving average: 3.1 mph
Moving Time: 3 hrs, 39 min
Total Ascent: 2432 ft. (picture doesn't include from house to Iowa Mill in the beginning)

Meadow Creek
Our next hike was a new one for everyone. We drove into Frisco and hiked from one highway exit to the next. You wouldn't have known during the hike. We were far away. At times we were in 4 ft. of snow, our feet soaking wet, and were rarely on a trail. Our guide, Rusty (a 60 year old local), told us it was the most snow he's seen in July in all of his years hiking here!

Some of the many creeks/rivers we passed, crossed, or saw:
These unique columbine were near the beginning of the hike.A major obstacle to cross w/out falling in or getting wet!The only way to get down w/out falling on your face. It was fun too!These mushrooms were growing right next to the snow in the picture above. Finally, we got past all that snow.
Of course w/ all that water we saw there were wildflowers. But not as many as you might think since the ground was still cold!  Marsh MarigoldAlpine SpringbeautyThe snow was melting in unusual undulations...Three of us climbed to the top of a pass to see the view. It was well worth the effort through all the snow.Even better, we were able to slide down on our butts afterwards!
We took a break and Rusty spotted a hard to find orchid growing all by itself.  A fairy slipperPeek a boo Mr. Elk. If only my hands and camera would work faster. I might have gotten a cool picture! It's a bit like 'Where's Waldo?'.Hike:Meadow Creek
Trails Used: Meadow Creek (that's when we were actually on a trail)
Distance: 11.85 miles
Difficulty: Moderate (except for length of hike)
Moving average: 1.5 mph (oh my god was this slow)
Moving Time: 8 hrs, 09 min
Total Ascent: 3996 ft. (picture doesn't include from house to Iowa Mill in the beginning)
Other Hikes:

House to Iowa Mill, Ski Hill, True Romance, Sally Barber, up, back to House
Distance: 5.79 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Moving average: 2.3 mph
Moving Time: 2 hrs, 33 min
Total Ascent: 1295 ft.
Boreas Pass to Iowa Mill, down to House
Distance: 5.64 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Moving average: 2.8 mph
Moving Time: 2 hrs, 02 min
Total Ascent: 1411 ft. House to Iowa Mill, Ski Hill, True Romance, Sally Barber, heart attack hill, House
Distance: 5.69 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Moving average: 2.7 mph
Moving Time: 2 hrs, 05 min
Total Ascent: 1336 ft.
House to Iowa Mill, Ski Hill, House
Distance: 3.32 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Moving average: 3.5mph
Moving Time: 56 min
Total Ascent: 726 ft.

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.

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.

Horsetooth Mountain Park

Another weekend, another rainy day! Will it ever end? I didn't even bring the camera this week because it was spritzing when I left. Good thing since it spritzed the whole way. I thought it was going to be a dreary hike but it did end up being nice since everything was so green and the flowers that were blooming were vivid! I didn't see any wildlife this week but did hear lots of birds. There were numerous deer prints however.

Red Mountain

Finally, spring is here! As I was just typing this in I was thinking about what a wonderful hike I had and then...I felt something creepy crawly on my arm. Ewww....a tick! That's a first for around here. I'm going to have to go take a shower!

I feel much better and I'm tick free! :) Anyhow...about this 'wonderful' hike I took. I went way out to Red Mountain today. It's closer to Cheyenne than it is to us but is considered part of the Ft. Collins open space. Ewww...I wonder how long this creepy crawly feeling is going to last. I'm feeling imaginary bugs crawling on me (at least I hope that's what they are!)

The drive to Red Mountain is long but fun. You are out in the boonies and spend about the last 7 miles on dirt roads. It is an open range so I saw TONS of cows and baby calves. One was even standing in the middle of the road nursing!
I saw a couple of pronghorn from way off running. On the way home I even got to see a couple of bison. Not bad for 'wildlife.'
I started off on the Bent Rock trail and did a loop. It was only about 2.5 miles long and started off in a pleasant canyon w/ a stream running through it.
The buds were just coming out on a lot of the vegetation.
The wildflowers were starting to come out along the Bent Rock Trail:
I'm thinking it would be a fun place for the kids to go on Memorial Day weekend. A small hike and then grill out at the covered picnic area w/ this cool sign.
Everything is pretty much 'red' at Red Mountain except for a small section on the Bent Rock Trail. There is rock that looks like chalk.
I also saw many cool geological features/formations along the way.

After that I headed to the rising sun trail and headed off to the Cheyenne Rim Trail to end at the Overlook Trail.

I saw lots of wildflowers along the way:
The view at the overlook was really nice. Plains, foothills, and snow capped mountains all rolled into one.
I even found the marker for the top.
I came down the same way and then cut back through the Big Hole Wash Trail. It is most definitely a wash: Lots of gravel and few plants.

Red Mountain
Trails Used:
Distance: 11.2 Miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Moving average: 3.6 mph
Moving Time: 3 hrs, 25 min
Total Ascent: 1899 ft.
Maximum elevation: ft. 7190 ft.
Satellite View of Hike:
Elevation/Time of Hike:

Kind of a stinky, gray day again. It was around 45-50 degrees and looked like it was about to rain the whole time. It was still an enjoyable, butt burning hike. We saw Pasque flowers, some small pink flowers and these white flowers. Of course when I have time I will come back and name them! ;) On the drive back home we saw a whole herd of elk grazing by Loveland on Hwy 34. They were very shaggy looking! If I had a camera that would work for me I would have taken more pictures and definitely some of the elk! Maybe next time.

Hike: Round Mountain
Trails Used: Summit Adventure Trail
Distance: 8.58, but my GPS only recorded 7.7 miles of this, another source says 9.1
Difficulty: Difficult (Butt Burner)
Moving average: 2.4 mph
Moving Time: 4 hrs, 12 min
Total Ascent: 2707 ft.
Maximum elevation: 8499 ft.