Pole Hill - clockwise (most visits are counterclockwise), Pierson Park - North, Storm Mountain (some eastern trails )
| To jump to a section of interest 1 Pole Hill 2 Pierson Park - North section 3 Storm Mountain - easterly trails The 4x4 group met in Lyons with a 9:30a departure to visit Pole Hill. We decided to travel Pole Hill, which is generally two circular trails, in the opposite direction - a rare thing. There were others on the trail today but passing was generally of no concern (we didn't have any meet on a narrow section that didn't offer pull-off spots where one group would need to back up). After a nice visit to Pole Hill a couple in the group decided to call it a day and headed home. The remaining four of us drove the short bit to Pierson Park - the north section. This is an easy trail with few nice views. It's goal is to get to see the 2013 landslide area. The group again split up - a couple heading south for more trails and me heading north for more trails. I took a quick drive through downtown Estes Park to see how crowded it was - crowded but not grid-locked. When in the area I'll often make the stop for a snack at the General Store in Glen Haven - today would be much of the same deliciousness. The Storm Mountain trail system is fairly extensive. The most traveled section is to the mountain area itself though today I wish to visit the "eastern" section of trails (of which there is more to visit). Some stats for the day: 8:32 a - Moving 10:22 a - Pole Hill - start 7.2 miles with a few stops for photos 12:52 p - Pole Hill - end 1:14 p - Pierson Park North - start 4.3 miles - a walk to the 2013 slide 2:14 p - Pierson Park North - end 3:04 p - 3:22 - Cinnamon roll at the Glen Haven General Store 3:30 p - Storm Mountain - pull off of the highway time to air down and drive from highway to trailhead through the Storm Mountain community 4:00 p - Storm Mountain - east trails (partial) - start 13.1 miles 6:40 p - Storm Mountain - east trails (partial) - end trailhead, through the community, air up, back at the highway 7:00 p - Storm Mountain - back on the highway with a gas stop in Loveland 8:02 p - Home 136 Miles overall 12 mph - Avg speed 10.3 Gallons of fuel (to fill the 12 gallon tank) |
| At the meet spot in Lyons this old truck
caught my eye |
| US-36 towards Estes - a busy road today |
|
Pole Hill We'll head in for the yellow highlighted trails and then transition to the red trails - clockwise travel for both loops. |
| Looking down at Lake Estes / Estes Park |
| Photos at "The Notch" on Pole Hill Shane |
| Trent |
| Jackie |
| Keith |
| Jake... |
| ...with his perfect paint F150 |
| Rocky Mountain National Park with some white
tipped peaks |
| The Notch |
| At the nice viewing stop |
| Panorama (Click for a much larger size) |
| Nice green at Pole Hill |
| `bit of a windshield shot |
| Sitting at an intersection for the red highlighted trails (we'll take the
left route) awaiting the group to bunch up. |
| Jackie |
| Keith |
| Jake |
| Driving US-36 towards Pierson Park North - the
Estes Park photo snap wayside |
| A harvested area |
| Nearing the slide area - descending into the
valley |
| The slide area on the mountainside |
| Where the north jeep trail ends we then walk
about 300 yards out to the slide |
| Back in the jeep and nearing the trailhead for
some photos to the west. |
| Taking a ride through Estes Park on a busy
Saturday |
| The typical fare for when I pass through Glen
Haven The best cinnamon roll in the area! (sorry Johnson's Corner - though you're in the running) |
| Storm Mountain trail area - looking at Longs
Peak (right) |
| Looking easterly over the plains with the
afternoon sun at our backs |
| Looking at the fuel gauge, trip odometer (fuel
gauge isn't calibrated - about 1/4 remaining really is about empty - on
my ToDo list to calibrate it), amount of trail still available - I'm
nearing a spot to turn back.... but then what's over the next rise /
around the next corner - there's enough gas - let's see what we can see. Panorama (Click for a much larger size) |
| The next two pix are close to the same - one taken with the digital camera and one with the phone Panorama (Click for a much larger size) |
| Panorama (Click for a much larger size) |
| Peeking over the ridges is Loveland Colorado |
| The photo after this photo is zoomed in to the
ridge above the steering wheel - I see a black plume of smoke - a fire? While the area looks remote, we're only several miles west of town (Fort Collins) and thus have cell phone coverage. I'm on the phone with family while eating a late lunch. |
| Looking
at the back side of Horsetooth Mountain (right), a landmark when in
Fort Collins - specifically when heading west on Horsetooth Road (able
to look through the gaps in the "teeth"). The singular plume of black smoke is the reason for the pic - lightning strike for the start of a fire? |
| A large four engine plane headed to Denver |
| Turned around and heading back to the
trailhead - wrapping up trails for the day Panorama (Click for a much larger size) |
| Much of this trail would be rated as easy |
| A reasonable bit or water was present on the
trail - with top and doors off I'll drive slowly to not have muddy
water flung upon me |
