Young's Gulch

We didn't make it backpacking this weekend, because we just had too much stuff during the week to get ready in time. However, we did have a chance to get some cool new gear, and take a nice little hike up Young's Gulch.

Young's Gulch lies just across the road from the upper Ansel Watrous Campground - Ansel Watrous is divided into 2 separate sites, with a smaller one downstream a little ways from the main one. The trailhead and parking lot lies right off the road, but it is mainly dirt and poorly maintained asphalt.

Young's Gulch is an easy trail, although there are a few steep spots, it is fairly long, and there are a TON of water crossings, especially after our particularly rainy season. Considering those, it might be considered moderate, depending on how much time you leave to get it done, and what time of year you go. You have to go about 1.5 miles before you get to campable territory, so keep that in mind if you plan on packing this one. There are some really beautiful little places where the river flows over some rocks, and we also noticed tons of beautiful little wildflowers along the trail, including columbines here and there.

Kim and I got a late start after getting tied up at JAX in Fort Collins. So much stuff, so little time. We probably hit the trail at about 4:15, which turned out to be less than optimal. The earlier part of the hike was pretty gentle and easy, and seemed pretty busy. There were some guys walking up right behind us with a few guns, probably planning on getting off a ways into the woods and shooting. This trail was probably not a very good choice for that due to the numerous water crossings, and the large amount of people hiking (especially on a Saturday!) Unfortunately for them, it looked like they dropped their ammo in the creek right at the first water crossing. Better luck next time, guys.


Anyways, we hiked for about an hour and a half, and noticed some ominous-looking clouds rolling in overhead, accompanied by some angry thundering. We decided that we would turn back at 6 if it didn't clear up or we didn't hit the top. We started jogging here and there, spurred by increasingly loud thunder. We hoped to get down without getting soaked, but then rain started coming, slowly at first, and then pretty quickly. Kim had a mishap in one of the crossings and got her shoes and socks soaked, and so we didn't want to run and risk her getting nasty blisters. It started to come down pretty bad, and of course we hadn't brought any rain gear since we weren't planning on staying overnight.

While the rain was uncomfortable, the scenery was beautiful with the water running off the leaves and everything. Kim got some really pretty shots, but we didn't want to have the camera out for too long because of the threat of water damage. However, the rain died down after about 30 minutes, and we managed to get some nice pictures of the trail looking fresh and clean after the shower.

Next week for our trip we might do Young's Gulch, Gray Rock, or we might try something new entirely. Pictures will be posted shortly.

Grey Rock - 06

We hiked Grey Rock Trail our first time in June of '06. It's an easy trail, with some parts closer to moderate. One of the nicest things about Grey Rock is the easy access from Fort Collins - the trailhead lies only a short drive out of town on Hwy 14. That makes it perfect for a dayhike or a short and laid back overnight trip, especially if you live in the area.

Grey Rock is a short trail of about 3 miles in length, following a loop with Grey Rock Mountain at the peak of the loop. We headed out midday on Saturday, and decided to take the East side of the trail, traveling counterclockwise around the loop. The trail was moderately steep in some places, but we were able to keep up a comfortable pace. We stopped for lunch halfway to the meadow and checked out our location on the map. There was one weird, unmarked trail veering away to the left that had me puzzled for a bit, but we decided to head to the right, and that ended up being the correct one.

We stopped for a bit to take some pictures in a beautiful little meadow that had abundant wildflowers and butterflies to match. Some of them were pretty cooperative and the breeze was calm, so we both had fun taking some good closeups.

We reached the meadow just before sundown and set up camp, in a flat spot a little bit off the trail in a pine grove, sheltered by a small hill on one side. At an alternate site around the same area there was a recently used firepit. It wouldn't surprise me if the area is used frequently by CSU attendees, but we didn't run into any more leftovers while we were up there.

After camp was established, we still had just enough time to head up the peak and see the sunset. The hike up Grey Rock Mountain is more hazardous than the other parts of the trail, and we were glad for having dropped our packs earlier. Bridget surprised us with her mountain-goat agility on the rocks - she didn't hesitate to head up pretty steep rock faces. However, even Bridget with her usually good trail-picking abilities got a little bit lost on the hike, because the latter part is largely unmarked, with only the occasional rock cairn to point you in the right direction. Still, we managed to get to the top in a timely manner, and it was a worthwhile view. Heading down, it was starting to get dark, and we hadn't brought a flashlight up, so we went pretty quickly.

We had a dinner mostly consisting of mashed potatoes - cheap, easy, and filling, but maybe not the most flavorful. Kim particularly filled up fast because she said the potato got overwhelmingly bland pretty quick. I liked the taters for the most part, but after a few more meals I was hankering for some variety myself.

We slept in a little bit, and enjoyed a nice, quiet mountain morning. The previous night, we had tried to pick a relatively flat spot to pitch the tent, but it ended up that it was slanted towards our feet and Kim slid down the tent all night.
Lesson learned.

The hike back wasn't too bad, but it seemed like we had picked the less popular direction to hike the loop, because of the number of hikers we passed. Of course, unless we were hiking really fast or slow, I wouldn't expect to see many people traveling in our same direction. There was a little bit of that hike down that was noticeably absent of trees, and I got a little bit of a sun burn. Bridget was cooking in her black fur, and she would run up ahead to a tree and then lay in the shade until we were a little bit past, and then repeat the process.

We got the rest of the way down the trail uneventfully, but decided we had to stop at Ted's Place (real name of the town) and procure some beverages, so we got big ol' drinks from the convenience store and enjoyed the ride home.