Tag: Trails

Trail Ridge Road

Adventures into the wild take us to the most extraordinary places. You will find narrative and photo records of our adventures on our blog. We look forward to your input on the blog articles as we are constantly tracking wildlife sightings across North America.

Our first family trip into the wilderness was in 2012.  We visited Rocky Mountain National Park, Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Mount Rushmore, and the Badlands.  In all, the trip was amazing!

The photo gallery here is the first photo gallery ever put together for this website.  It consists of our adventures across trail ridge road in Rocky Mountain National Park.  The road, constructed in 1921, passes across the northern portion of the Park’s high country.  The adventure spends almost twenty miles above the tree line reaching altitudes over 12,000 feet.

Prior to the road construction, Trail Ridge had been used by Native Americans to cross the mountains between their home lands in the west and hunting areas on the east side. Arapahoe Indians called the trail located on the ridge as “taienbaa” (“Where the Children Walked”) because it was so steep that children could not be carried, but had to walk. The Ute tribe crossing the mountains at Forest Canyon Pass marked their route with stone cairns. The present park Ute Trail follows partially that ancient route.

On the west side, about 1880, a wagon road was constructed along the Kawuneeche Valley from the town of Grand Lake to the mining camps of Lulu City and Gaskill. The camps were abandoned after a few years when short-lived mining boom ended and later the road was used only occasionally by hunters and tourists.

The pictures here were taken on our adventure, the last week of June, 2012.  We hope you enjoy them, and plan on making your own trip to this amazing natural wonder in the middle of our great country.

Colorado Moose

State Forest State Park near Walden, Colorado, is one of the most amazing creations of natural beauty in North America.

In the ultimate rugged Colorado, State Forest State Park offers visitors 71,000 acres of forest, jagged peaks, alpine lakes, wildlife and miles of trails. The park stretches along the west side of the Medicine Bow Mountains and into the north end of the Never Summer Range.  In all this vast space, the park offers barely over 150 campsites, which means that you will see much more of nature, and much less of humanity, during your stay.  We have hiked several of the trails there now, and visited many of the beautiful Alpine Lakes in the park.  More than anything, we have seen wildlife barely to be found elsewhere in North America.

The wildlife common to the park includes bear, mountain lion, coyotes, and thousands of other species.  But Moose is their claim to fame. North Park is considered the moose viewing capital of Colorado, with over 600 moose to be observed year-round.

The last two summers we have ventured there and have begun to collect some amazing moments.  We have created a new gallery including some of our precious collection.  Enjoy!

Lake Agnes

Rose and I attended State Forest State Park near Walden, Colorado, for the first time in 2016.  What we found was an amazing treasure of untouched wilderness, mountain lakes, rocky peaks, and wildlife beyond our imagination.

Lake Agnes stands as the first mountain lake we have visited.  Lake Agnes is an alpine lake in the Colorado State Forest State Park occurring within the Never Summer Mountain Range. The lake lies within glacial tarn surrounded by a cirque consisting of Nokhu Crags, Static Peak, Mount Richthofen, Mount Mahler, and Braddock Peak. It is the deepest lake in the Colorado State Forest State Park. Lake Agnes is named after Agnes Zimmerman, the daughter of John Zimmerman, a homesteader in the area and the proprietor of the Keystone Hotel in Home, Colorado.

Lake Agnes Trail is a 2.1 mile trail located near Walden, Colorado that features beautiful wild flowers.   The trial has a long series of switch backs to handle a 429 foot elevation gain. The trail is best used from March until September.

Here are some pictures from our visit there in late June.

Iowa Deer

Hiking season kicked in full gear with temperatures warming in Iowa. Rose and I ventured down to Palisades-Kepler State Park near Mount Vernon, Iowa. To say that the wildlife was active would be an understatement.

Park Background: Palisades Kepler State Park

In the late 1890s, James Sherman Minott acquired 160 acres of timberland on the Cedar River and built a spacious inn for the accommodation of visitors. He also established a boat rental and sold lots for the building of summer cottages. Many people took advantage of this and soon the population of the area numbered over 200. Afternoon outings on the Cedar River, capped by a quiet dinner at the combined log cabin restaurant, general store, and hotel, were common in the early 1900s. Noted American poet Carl Sandburg was a yearly visitor to the “Palisades” during the 1920s and 1930s.

In 1922, Palisades-Kepler State Park was established. Much of Minot’s original land had been acquired and the State Board of Conservation had taken special notice of the unique bold cliffs and proclaimed that “these palisades lining the Cedar River are quite special.” In September of 1928, the Board of Conservation accepted the gift of property from the estate of Louis H. Kepler, essentially doubling the size of the park. The Board added his name to the park name. Since that time, almost 700 acres have been added to Palisades-Kepler.

In July 1934, a Civilian Conservation Corps company was established at Palisades-Kepler. Three barracks and a mess hall were built; then, work started on the building of many park facilities. The roads, hiking trails, entry portals, lodge and other timber and stone structures remain to give the park much of its rustic character. The C.C.C. camp of 200 young men closed in 1941.

Mount Vernon, home of Cornell College, is located 4 miles east of the park. Cedar Rapids and Marion are located 12 miles west of the park. These cities provide a variety of shopping, recreation and church opportunities.

Today’s Hike

This morning, in addition to 13 bald eagles, there were dozens of large turkey vultures, a handful of yellow breasted woodpeckers, a couple dozen geese, and several deer enjoying the good weather.

One of the adults from this family pulled a stunt I had not seen before – they stood in the path, less than 50 feet from where we were walking, and blocked our path.  This was a clear effort to give the family time to get down the hill.  We just stood there quietly for five minutes or so, and they all went on with their day.  The animals were very active, and it was difficult to get very many quality photographs, but I did take a picture during our brief stand off with this deer.

Here are a few of the great shots I’ve gotten over the years at Palisades