Last Hike of the Season?

On Saturday we tried out another new trail in the Roosevelt National Forest near the Red Feather Lakes in northern Colorado. We had researched it on the Just trails website at http://www.justtrails.com/trails/mount-margaret/ and thought it looked promising. That website has been so helpful and is written by a young couple from Laramie. It has photos of what the trail heads look like and comments about how difficult the trail is and what to expect. Obviously it is only applicable to our particular region of the country but it is a great resource. You locate the vicinity you might like to hike and then click on the “pins” to get more information on the particular trails.

We located the Mount Margaret trail head and intended to just go a little ways to see how we liked the trail. We arrived after lunch and most people both hikers and horseback riders were on their way back having started out earlier. The parking lot was mostly full of cars as was a separate area for horse trailers.

We ended up going a couple miles in and back. We connected to a trail over to Lake Dowdy because we  wanted to see the lake. It would have taken another mile and a half to get to Mount Margaret and it was clouding up and starting to rain.

The trail was very easy but did go up and down following the terrain. There weren’t any rocks or boulders to climb over so it would even work with a jogging or big wheeled stroller.

We wondered if any of the aspens still had leaves and did see several groves of the golden leaves in more sheltered spots. Many leaves have already fallen and the wind and cold predicted for the next few days will probably strip the rest off.

After seeing the shore of Lake Dowdy we hurried our way back to the car and I did have to put on my rain jacket and S. put on his emergency poncho due to some light rain showers. The trail is nicely maintained and marked. The outhouse is new and clean and doesn’t smell. Yay!

We crossed one little bridge over a stream but otherwise the trail just meanders through the quiet still forest. There was only one other car left at the trail head when we got back in the late afternoon. Another enjoyable hike but maybe the last one as the season is changing. Our weather forecast is for highs in the 40's and lows in the 20's for the next few days.

This trail is not close to the High Park burn area from the fire this summer but on the drive up there you can see the northernmost part of the burn area off in the distance to the south. It will be an ugly scar for years.