photos/090605_BobcatRidgeHike/:

By Alan Silverstein, ajs@frii.com (page updated Mon Jun 8 15:55:12 MDT 2009)

Parent directory/folder = photos/

Tired of days of crummy weather, despite warnings of isolated T-storms that fortunately did not materialize, I went for a "little" 11.4-mile, 6:15 round trip hike with 1500' of gain, in the Bobcat Ridge Natural Area. This 2600-acre park is owned by the City of Fort Collins, and under 11 miles direct from home, but it was a 30-minute drive, south and west of Masonville.

I did the clockwise loop on the Ginny, DR, and Cabin trails, all of which were excellent. It was overcast and hazy, but very quiet, and incredibly gorgeous with purple and pink penstemmons in bloom, plus many other varieties of flowers. I saw nearly as many deer (3) as people over most of the route.

Image files (Kb): (click on any image for next)

1. A_BobcatRidgeMap.JPG (49)
2. B1_NEtoHorsetoothMtn.JPG (294)
3. B2_EastToMilnerMtn.JPG (293)
4. C_UpTrailIntoBurnedForest.JPG (288)
5. D_FireSign.JPG (290)
6. F_FlowersAndMilnerMtn.JPG (293)
7. G1_FlowersAlongTrail.JPG (275)
8. G2_FlowersAlongTrail.JPG (291)
9. G3_FlowersAndRocks.JPG (285)
10. H_Southeast.JPG (290)
11. I_PegmatiteVein.JPG (270)
12. J_SoutheastToLakes.JPG (301)
13. K_PinkStripeEastToMilnerMtn.JPG (292)
14. L_WeirdDeadTree.JPG (298)
15. M1_SWtoBigThompsonCanyon.JPG (296)
16. M2_SouthwestAlongTrail.JPG (293)
17. N_DownBackValley.JPG (287)
18. O_DownIntoMahoneyPark.JPG (284)
19. P_YellowFlowers.JPG (289)
20. Q1_MahoneyParkSign.JPG (293)
21. Q2_BlueFlowers.JPG (286)
22. Q3_NortheastToHorsetooth.JPG (281)
23. R_OtherMahoneyParkSign.JPG (296)
24. S1_EastToMilnerMtn.JPG (294)
25. S2_SouthAcrossMahoneyPark.JPG (292)
26. S3_SEtoTrailheadZoom.JPG (298)
27. U_UphillThroughTrees.JPG (267)
28. V1_WindingPathHome.JPG (296)
29. V2_SouthwestToRidge.JPG (300)
30. V3_MoreMeanders.JPG (293)
31. W1_TrailheadInSight.JPG (292)
32. W2_BackAtKiosk.JPG (295)