Round Mountain

This is actually a hike that I did two weeks ago. The hike up to the top of Round Mountain begins just 5 miles west of the Big Thompson Canyon, right off of Rt 34 that goes from Loveland to Estes Park (home of Rocky Mountain National Park) The hike begins going up the side of a Round Mountain. All and all the hike is about 5 miles each way and climbs probably about 3 thousand feet for a peak around 8,500 feet.

The best views can be seen from about 2.5 miles up with great views of the foothills and the eastern plains. The first picture was taken at about this point. At about mile 3 you run into this cool little section that sort of reminds me of the plumbers crack at Levis Trow back in Wisconsin. As you hike through this unique

section of rock you get a glimpse to look through a cutout of the ages of the rock. The trail is littered with deciduous aspen which show their health by their bright white bark. The trail also has great little informational posts that tell you about the wildlife that you see along the way. I learned a lot about the landscape and had the opportunity to see a tree that continued to grow even after it had been blown down by a storm! (which was cool because the roots were still intact and the tree was growing sideways!)

Eventually I made it to the top of the mountain, but since the peak was still below treeline, the views could have been better as you were basically in the middle of the woods at the high point.

At the top, people who had climbed to the top piled up one of the largest cairns that I had ever seen, it was almost as tall as me! After wandering around at the top for a while I did find a clearing that lead to an decent view.

To get there: From Loveland/ Fort Collins: Take 34 West toward Estes Park. Once you reach the Big Damn store at the mouth of the Big Thompson Canyon follow 34 approximately 5 miles to the trail head (located right off on 34).

Emmaline Lake Trail

Today, I went up to the Emmaline Lake Trail. The goal in the end was to make it over to the Mummy Pass, one of Colorado's famous ranges just north of Rocky Mountain National Park unfortunately as I should have known by the time I made it up to the trail head, there was so much snow that one could not even begin to understand where the trail began. (Especially having not been there before). Having snowshoes doesn't really help when you can't find where the trail begins hehe!

Anyway, luckily by the time that I made it to the entrance to the Mummy's Pass Trail I was 2.5 miles in and there was another trail leading to Emmaline Lake. The trail on the way is slightly depressing, seeing the devistating effects of the Colorado pine beetle on the aspen and pine gives the impression of a post-apocalyptic stage. However, in every sight of despair, there is always a glimmer of hope. If you look at the picture, one can see the older beetle eaten trees falling down dead and degrading. But just below, the new pines and aspens are beginning to grow. And with such the circle of life continues.

Farther up the trail past the dead aspen you get to a place where the pine beetle have not yet reached and the trail turns into a wooded alpine adventure. Eventually the trail became less traveled and snowshoes were a must. Finally about 5 miles in or so I reached Emmaline Lake at the base of the Mummy Range.

The view from was arguably one of the more beautiful places that I have been in the Rockies so far. With the mountains surrounding you, there's almost the feeling that your stuck in a huge cereal bowl, except that the borders are jagged and different. I tried going a little farther after here, but the trails didn't seem to lead anywhere (actually I know that they did, its just that with the huge snow accumulations its hard to decipher where the trail goes.) I'll be sure to visit here again when the snow melts a little so I can show ya the hike up to the Mummy Pass

Happy Trails!

Jon

If you want to get here.

From Fort Collins: Take 287 to M14 (up by Laporte) follow M14 West about 26 miles and make a left over the river at Pengree Park Road. Follow the dirt road over the pass about 16 miles to the Tom Bennet Campground. Follow the campground road past the main building until you get to the trailhead for Emmaline Lake.

An inagural post

One of the New Year's Resolutions that I set for myself was to start a blog about climbing, hiking and the natural beauty of God's creation. John Muir (the great conservationist and advocate for the national parks system) saw the abundance of God's grace and beauty for us in the natural world.

As a follower of Christ and attempting avid adventurer, my wife and I sought to place ourselves in the most beautiful of creations by recently moving to Fort Collins, Colorado, home of the foothills of the Colorado Rocky Mountains.

Most of these posts at least what I see in this blog will be of good hikes around the state of Colorado. However, some will be out of international and out of state. I've set some goals in 2010 to hike a new "14er" (14,000+ peak in Colorado) every other week during the spring, summer and fall of 2010. I am hoping to document these hikes, as well as many others for the dreaming adventurers .

I confess that my photographic abilities are not what they could be, but I will do my best to take some pictures of some of the natural beauty of God's creation in this blog. I also confess that grammar was never my all star subject so I apologize in advance for any English majors who may have pent up anger as a result of this! Happy reading!