Snowshoeing: The Big South Trail

Even though it was 60 degrees in Fort Collins today I decided to head in to the mountains to do some snowshoeing. This was only my second time on snowshoes and I have been looking forward to snowshoeing again. I headed toward the Cameron Pass area off highway 14.

Having left Fort Collins later then I wanted to, I decided to snowshoe The Big South Trail, named for the Big South Fork of the Cache la Poudre River. It’s the first trail with significant snow accumulation along highway 14, located about 47 Miles from the junction of highways 287 and 14.



Parked along highway 14

I was surprised that there was no snow what so ever on the road all the way up to the trail head, not even at the higher elevations. I arrived at the Big South Trailhead and parked the car along highway 14 and since I wanted to park the car as far away from the road as possible, I ended up getting stuck in the deep snow along the shoulder. Like really stuck! The more I tried to steer away from the deep snow and ice, the more my car got pulled in to it. I really need to start carrying a snow shovel. About 15-20 minutes later I was finally unstuck. I parked the car again, this time away from the snow, grabbed all my gear and headed to the trail head.



The Big South Trailhead

You’d think it would be way colder up here in the mountains, but it felt like it was about 50 degrees. The Big South Trailhead sits at about 8,440 feet in elevation.



In 10 miles this trail reaches Rocky Mountain National Park

I got my snowshoes strapped on and got going. The snow on the trail was very well packed and honestly, I didn’t even need the snowshoes. I was a bit warm starting out on the trail, the sun was beating down on me. I definitely brought the wrong gear today. I should have brought a fleece jacket instead of my Gor-tex Northface shell.



At the beginning of the trail

All I had on was a turtle neck and the Northface shell and I was a bit warm. But about half an hour later as I continued on the trail and continued deeper in to the canyon, there wasn’t much sun hitting the trail and the temperature became pleasant.









Poudre River covered by snow











Taking a break before turning around



Small hills along the trail

This trail was very narrow at times and some portions of the trail were very close to the edge.
The trail climbed gently, at times the Poudre River was right next to the trail, and at other times the trail was way above the river. Most of the time you couldn’t even see the Poudre River, it was covered by a blanket of snow, only revealing flowing water in a few spots.



The trail close to the edge

I read that this is a very popular trail but I only saw a hand full of people on the trail today, most of them I saw as I was heading back to the car in the early afternoon as they were heading away from the trailhead.





Poudre River to the right of the trail, covered by snow



On the way back Poudre River to the left of the trail, covered by snow



I didn’t get very far today, maybe two or so miles in to the trail before I turned around. This trail is fairly long and enters the Rocky Mountain National Park 10 miles from the trailhead and climbs some 1,110 feet in elevation. I think this would be a great trail to do in the summer time when the river is flowing.

Some sections of the trail ended up not having enough snow for snowshoes, so I took my snowshoes off and experimented with strapping them to my backpack. So technically, I think I only snowshoed about 2 miles, and hiked the rest.

A lovely ride around Loveland, CO

The warm weather continues. It was in the mid 60’s today. Finally, my street bike and I got out for a ride. I had no idea my last ride on the Honda was two months ago. My first stop was going to be a gas station. I needed to put air in my back tire, it had about half the pressure it needed. My air compressor for some reason stopped working so I rode down the street looking for an air hose. First gas station had no air, the second gas station - the air hose was out of service.

At this rate by the time I found some air my tires would be warm. I didn’t know of any more gas stations in the area so I turned around and headed toward the house, there were a few gas station in the other direction.

Then I passed by this coffee house that I’ve passed by so many times. There were bikes parked in front of it, as there usually are, so I decided to stop on in and see if anyone knew where I can find an air hose.



Full Throttle Coffee House in Fort Collins

Since I was at a coffee house, I had to check out their latte. I came in for coffee but also found air - the oil change place next door was going to let me use their air hose.

After a really good latte and some chit chatting with some local riders I rode my bike next door to get some air for my back tire. Then, I did the stupidest thing. The guy at the oil change place was saying something to me and I couldn’t hear him over my engine noise. So I put the kickstand down which shut the engine off. Then I got off the bike and totally forgot that the ignition key was still turned and the headlight was still on.

Since the bike hadn’t run in two months a few minutes is all it took to kill my battery. By the time I realized the headlight was on and turned the ignition key to the “off” position it was already too late. I had air my back tire now but I couldn’t go anywhere with a dead battery.

All I can say is - this was probably the best place to have a dead motorcycle battery because even though all the bikes that were at the coffee house had already left, a few minutes later three more bikes pulled up.

Two of the guys push-started my bike. The battery must have not been very dead because the bike started on the second try. Finally with no further delay I took off for my ride.



Lake Loveland and the Rocky Mountains



Parked in front of the frozen Lake Loveland



A park by Lake Loveland



I headed south to Loveland. Loveland has a lovely lake, I pass by this lake on the way to Rocky Mountain National Park. Today I wanted to stop and check it out. As I headed west on 34 I took a turn on 56 toward Masonville. I remembered another road off of Stove Prairie that I have wanted to check out. This road was 25E, also called Glade Road. Heading back to Loveland now, I passed in the back of the Devils’ Backbone Recreational Area. Then back on 34 I turned on to a random road that had a twisty sign posted and followed that to another road, arriving at a road which went to “Carter Lake”. I’ve never been to Carter Lake but in my internet searches for twisty roads I often come up on a blog post about Carter Lake. Apparently road bicyclists like riding out to Carter Lake and the only reason I could think off why they would like the area is that possibly the road is twisty or steep.



31 going to Carter Lake



Unlike the twisty roads west of Fort Collins, there was no sand on these roads



Loveland, CO - a frozen Carter Lake in the distance



31 continues in to the hills

By the time I got to Carter Lake via 31 it was already getting late. The road was nice, gentle hills and curves. The road continued further but I decided to turn around and head home at this point arriving home just as it was getting dark. I rode 70 miles today and even though I brought my Gerbing electric jacket liner with me, it stayed in the tank bag the whole ride.



My route around Loveland

Bobcat Ridge Natural Area: DR Trail

It seems like it’s been forever since I’ve been out on a hike. And it’s not like I’ve been doing other stuff instead of hiking. I haven’t done a thing since my ride on Jan 8th. Not sure what actually happened, but I had to move some heavy things in the garage to get my bike out and I guess I must have pulled something in my back because by the time I got back from the ride my back was and by night time it was hard to move around. Then I realized I also had a fever. Maybe I didn’t pull my back at all, maybe I was coming down with a bad cold.

The next two days I spent in bed. My back was feeling a lot better by the end of the weekend but one of my shoulders started to hurt really bad. Really weird since I’ve never have any problems like that before. The neck and shoulder muscles were very hard and sore. My shoulder pain was actually more painful then my back pain a few days ago. Since it was my right shoulder that was hurting I couldn’t even work my computer mouse.



The gate to Bobcat Ridge Natural Area - there is no fee to enter



A caterpillar in January? Only in Colorado

So today, my shoulder still hurting a bit I decided to get outside for a bit finally. It was going to be a beautiful day in the mid 50’s. I decided to stay close to home. Bobcat Ridge Natural Area is located just west of Fort Collins and it took me less then 30 minutes to get there.



The flat accessible-grade trail heading toward the cabin

I just wanted to do a short hike but when I looked at the trail map posted in the park I decided to attempt the DR trail. The DR trail is 3.2 miles long and climbs 1,100 feet to Mahoney Park. This trail is only designated for hikers and equestrians - no mountain bikes allowed.



Trail closed - eagles nesting ahead



From the parking lot I headed down the accessible-grade trail toward the cabin. His trail is very flat. The sign near the trailhead said that the DR trail was 1.9 miles way. The trail to the cabin was closed off at Powerline Road because if eagles nesting. I continued up the steep hill on the Powerline Road, or is it the Power Line Trail according to the map? Then I turned right on Valley Loop Trail and I guess 1.9 later I was at the start of DR trail.



The steep Powerline Road



At Powerline Road and Valley Loop Trail



Great views from Valley Loop Trail



Snow on Valley Loop Trail



More awesome views From Valley Loop Trail

The sun was already hovering directly above the ridge and in a couple of hours the trail would be in the shadows, and an hour or so later the sun was going to set. I wanted t make it all the way to the top of the ridge but I was not hiking fast enough today to get up there. My shoulder was hurting me with each step, especially now under the weight of my backpack. And I ended wearing the wrong socks today since I wasn’t really planning on doing a long hike. I was already getting blisters from the thin socks I was wearing. Thank goodness I always carry Band-Aids, but the damage was already done and my feet were now hurting me also.



The beginning of DR Trail



DR Trail



Getting up there on the DR Trail





Snow on the DR Trail



DR Trail entering the Roosevelt National Forest

The DR trail was great and there was no one on it except for me. I hiked up just about ¼ mile past the Roosevelt National Forest sign. I must have been very close to the ½ way point o the trail and I saw the ridge, it wasn’t very far now but I decided to turn around and save the ridge and beyond for another day.



Coming back down the Powerline Road

By the time I started to head back down the DR trail I was in the shadows and by the time I got to the Powerline Road the sun was already setting. To hike the last 1.9 miles of accessible-grade trail I had to put on all my layers. The warmth faded quickly with the sunlight and I arrived at my car just as it was getting dark.



Back down on the accessible-grade trail heading back to the parking lot

Even though I only wanted to do a short hike today, I ended up hiking 5.5 miles and I‘m so glad I did. I really enjoyed the DR trail and Bobcat Ridge. I will have to come back here soon and hike some of the other trails.



I hiked the high-lighted part, 5.5 miles round trip: accessible-grade trail to Powerline Road to Valley Loop Trail to DR Trail and back

Ride Repeat: Redstone Canyon

Yesterday was a heck of a day here on the Front Range. We had a bad case of the Chinook. A Chinook is a very dry and strong wind that comes off the mountains. Chinook means “snow eater”. These Chinook winds are warm and dry and can melt lots of snow in just a few hours.

I’ve never seen anything like this before. The wind in Boulder county was clocked at 107mph. Here in Larimer county and Fort Collins the winds only got up to 75mph.

And yesterday was a warm day for January - 60 degrees. But with winds that strong I didn’t even go outside. Today I woke up and found out it was going to be even warmer - 65 degrees and no wind.

I haven’t ridden a motorcycle since end of November. Not because it was so cold all of December, there were some nicer days here and there, but mostly because we were just returning from Chicago in early December and then heading to Arizona at the end of December - and in between recovering and unpacking from the first trip and catching up with stuff at home, then planning the next trip and packing again.

So finally today the XT225 and I were going for a spin. The XT roared to life and a few minutes later I was off heading toward the foothills. I was actually warm. I wore my thick Marsee jacket and probably a few too many layers.



Neat looking clouds on 25E



This photo was taken in the same place as the above picture but looking the other direction - this is the highest part of the road



You can get a clear view of Horsetooth Mountain from 25E, the top of it looks like giant horse teeth, hence the name

To finish some unfinished business, I headed back to the same road I was on the last time I was on my motorcycle. On November 22nd I rode 25E, which runs along the Redstone Canyon but I got there too late in the day and couldn’t ride all the way to the end since it was getting dark and cold.



Redstone Canyon follows 25E from the beginning to the end of the road



The gray Horsetooth Mountain and the red rocks of Redstone Canyon - this road is nothing special, just a wide gravel road but I really love the scenery here

Well, today I got to the end of 25E. The road kind of dead ends at someone’s driveway. I was going to actually stop there at the end and take a picture but when I stopped the bike immediately from behind the house I first heard - then I saw; two dogs running toward me and they meant business. There was no fence to hold them back and I wasn’t going to wait and see if they were going to stop at the gate.




I hiked up this steep rocky hill to get this picture - I kind of had a hard time getting back down so - my BMW Santiago dual-sport boots are not the best for hiking and especially climbing on rocks




Nice looking boulder on 25E - Redstone Canyon in the background

I’m glad I didn’t wait because they didn’t stop at the gate. They chased me down the road until I accelerated and left them in the dust. It’s a well proven fact that dogs do not like motorcycles and chase them whenever they can. That always freaks me out since I wonder if they would bite me if the could catch me. I don’t plan on testing that theory.

On the way back I saw a side road called Christ Mountain Road. I turned on this road but within a mile or so I reached a gate. It looked like private property beyond that point.




Christ Mountain Road

So with no other roads to ride I rode 25E back until I reached Stove Prairie Road. It was still early so I decided to head further west and check out a recreational area that I’ve been reading about. I turned south on 56 and then on 32C. The road to Bobcat Ridge was dirt, how appropriate.



The view from Bobcat Ridge included awesome looking rocks and an almost full moon

I pulled in to the parking lot, parked the bike and grabbed my lunch. Just past the trailhead there was a picnic area. It was nice to sit outside in the warm sunshine. For a split second I looked around thinking if I was back in Arizona. Nope, this was Colorado.



Today's route was an even 50 miles

So I did all of 25E now. It‘s a nice and easy dirt road with very nice scenery and mean guard dogs at the end. I arrived home after my 50 miles of fun in the sun.

An early arrival in Fort Collins

We left Sedona, AZ before 11AM. We stopped by the Meteor Crater and the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona before continuing home. We ate out dinner while driving to make up some time. By our calculations we were going to be arriving home between 1:30 and 2:30AM.

Mike drove, then I drove - we were making awesome time. The roads were clear and clean.



Saturday continued cold and cloudy through Arizona and New Mexico, windy too - check out this dirt devil

Then near the Colorado border Mike got in the drivers seat for the last leg of the trip. Then the snow started. The roads got really bad really quick and it looked like our arrival was now going to be delayed by a few hours or more. We finally made it home in the early morning, tired and ready to get some sleep. By the time we unloaded a few things out of the car and got to bed, the sun was already coming up.



Snow falling from the sky around the New Mexico and Colorado border



Snow on I-25 in Colorado

Over all it was a great trip. We drove 2,466 miles and saw many great things. Arizona is amazing, but I was glad to be home in Colorado.