Enough of the snow it was time to hike. Feet on dirt. Weatherman calling for 80 degrees. With all the snow in the mountain it was great to just hike. It will be sometime before we hike in RMNP due to all the snow.
I found this 11 mile loop near Loveland. There are 3 to 4 trails that make up this 11 mile loop. 11 miles out of the gate was optimistic for our first hike but there was a way to make it shorter if needed.
I read a little about this trail but did not find alot of information on it. Now I know why. We arrived about 7:00 am at the trail head. We were the first on the trail (as usual) These trails are used by bikes and horses as well. Some of the trails are limited to who can go where. Hikers can use all four trails. The Ginny trail is used for hikers and bikes only. The beginning of the hike was cool but not too bad. But that changed quickly as we went uphill. The area was burned by a wild fire in 2000. It burned 16,000 acres.
The Ginny trail is a gradual climb, but very rocky. We had two mountain bikers pass us new the bottom of the trail, it is a very technical trail for Mountain bikes. The area was so desecrated by the fire and we were surprised by the lack of new growth. the charred out trees and very limited undergrowth made for a very somber setting. We saw several deer going up but no other wildlife. However it did have a very nice view of the plains. We could see many farmers burning their fields in the distance.(more of that later). Once we got to the ridge we could see the how large this wild fire was. It was very sad. Had a great view of my favorite hike, Flattop in RMNP in the distance. You can see some of Long's Peak and Twin Sister peaks.
We continued on Ginny trail heading north. Not much to see but great views to the east and down into the valley below. We came up to an area called Mahoney Park, why this is called a park I don't know. It is surrounded by rocks and a small green belt in the middle. The reviews mention all the types of animals you might see. Yeah right! They also warn you about rattlesnakes which I can see with all the rocks. I would not want to do be in this area in the hot months
Just north of the park is the Powerline road or trail. It is a shortcut back to the valley loop below, but we decided to continue on the DR trail and do the 11 mile loop. DR trail is the northern section of this loop where the fire did not touch, still very plain. Nice views down into the valley. The trail was much nicer, not so rocky. Dropping down into the valley and back to the trail head the wind really started to pick up. Once we got down into the valley and headed south the wind had to be blowing about 40 mph. Beautiful day even with the wind. overall this trail is what I call "one and done". Never again. Too boring! They really need to reseed this area. I thought it would have been a busier trail, we only ran into 3 people on the upper trail. most people just say below and do the valley loop. The amazing part of the day was later that evening a wildfire about 5 miles north called the Redstone fire started. It burned about 4000 acres and about 15 homes. A cold front came in Sunday and brought in rain and snow to help the efforts but dried out fast and the winds came back. A very windy spring so far.
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