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Geoff Weatherford (geoffw)  > Colorado Trail Hiking > Prong Creek Trail, Elkhead Mtns, CO September 1, 2007
Early in September of 2007, I headed up to the Elkhorn Mountains of Colorado. Please go to my trail blogging site (opens a new window) for a full description of the trip.
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Geoff Weatherford (geoffw) > First week in September gave us our annual 3 day weekend (Labor day? Memorial day? I can never remember : ). Great time to take a little longer than normal trip. So, I decided to take take my camper and myself waaaaaaaaayyy over to western Colorado to a place I'd never been before. Elkhorn Mountains. This area is actually pretty large; covers most of Routt National Forest that lies north of a line drawn between Steamboat Springs, CO and Craig, CO.
Geoff Weatherford (geoffw) > I've actually seen it from a distance while driving to Huston Park Wilderness, Wyo. Always wanted to go back and check it out, and now was a great time. So, on Saturday, Sept 1, 2007 I headed up the highway. Went up through Laramie, Wyo, crossed westward over the Medicine Bow mountains to where CO Hwy 127 intersects with the road that heads up to Riverside/Encampment, Wyo (one of my favorite places; at least outside of wintertime : ). At Riverside/Encampment I took Wyo Hwy 70 headed west to the rather small, ummm, spot in the road called Slater, Wyo (or, maybe it's CO: it's right on the border). This is what I saw when I turned off the highway onto Cty Rd. 1 (which eventually turns into Cty Rd 82) and headed south towards the Elkhorns.
Geoff Weatherford (geoffw) > Note that it had taken me around 4 hours to get to this point. But I figured it was already well worth the trip. Just a "sweet" little valley out in the middle of nowhere. And, this was the usual amount of traffic I encountered on Cty Rd 1 : ) Actually, I saw not much more than this amount of traffic on Hwy 70 that I had just turned off of. This part of Colorado/Wyo is not exactly on the way to anywhere that tourists go to (again, this was on the holiday weekend at that). I was lov'n this. (Note that I've kinda switched some of the photos around to help "show the way". That is, I think I took the photo above when I was headed home, but wanted to show everyone what they should be seeing on the way in (just in case someone wants to visit this area).) Anyway, headed up the road that, in general, followed a valley. Filled with green meadows and ranches. It slowly took me closer and closer into the distant mountains.
Geoff Weatherford (geoffw) > Some words of warning. The road is very well maintained, but there aren't a lot of signs. So, kinda watch where you are headed. Also, there were a few blind curves so keep an eye open for oncoming traffic. I was sight seeing myself (going pretty slow : ), so if you do the same, have some consideration for the people that actually live and work in the area. Pull off to the side when you can to let them pass. They will appreciate it and you can proceed slowly on your way enjoying the scenery.
Geoff Weatherford (geoffw) > Once I had gone 10 miles or so (don't really remember the exact amount), the valley had started to close in on me and I saw another side valley headed up ahead to my right. I knew that somewhere along here I would be turning off onto a Forest Access Road #110, so I started looking for the turnoff.
Geoff Weatherford (geoffw) > Sure nuff, not long after passing under that power line (phone line, whatever), I came to an intersection. So, note that nowhere on the sign (or, near the sign) does it say anything about access road #110. But, looking on my map it seemed to me that heading towards Sawmill Cr. C.G. (campground) was probably the right way to go. I turned right and soon (within a mile or less) saw a sign with #110 on it. Note that there is a nice ranch/resort located right next to the junction of these roads. I almost went in to inquire about a room (for some other time) because it looked really great. Also, you may want to stop and take a photo of an old bridge that you cross immediately after turning. I did not, but was sorely tempted to.
Geoff Weatherford (geoffw) > Well, I did not go much up the road (which started climbing into the hills/mountains right away) before I entered a new woodland environment. Aspens. Lots of aspens. The Elkhorn mountains have mucho aspens. This would be a great place to go for fall colors.
Geoff Weatherford (geoffw) > Another photo less the vehicle.
Geoff Weatherford (geoffw) > By now I'd been 5 plus hours on the road (admittedly, some of that time was spent going slower than necessary) and the shadows were getting pretty long. I started seriously thinking about finding a spot for camping. As it turned out, along with being a national holiday, this weekend was also the beginning of the hunting season. Both birds (grouse I think) and archery hunting (for either deer or elk, maybe both). So, I ended up seeing a lot (well, relatively speaking) of hunters in some of the best camp areas along the side of the road. That said, there were still an abundance of potential camping spots all along the road. This leads me to believe that this whole area must be relatively under used during the majority of the summer. I eventually found a great place to pull off for the night. Here is the view looking out the door on my camper. Nice. And, no insects : )
First week in September gave us our annual 3 day weekend (Labor day? Memorial day? I can never remember : ). Great time to take a little longer than normal trip. So, I decided to take take my camper and myself waaaaaaaaayyy over to western Colorado to a place I'd never been before. Elkhorn Mountains. This area is actually pretty large; covers most of Routt National Forest that lies north of a line drawn between Steamboat Springs, CO and Craig, CO.
> First week in September gave us our annual 3 day weekend (Labor day? Memorial day? I can never remember : ). Great time to take a little longer than normal trip. So, I decided to take take my camper and myself waaaaaaaaayyy over to western Colorado to a place I'd never been before. Elkhorn Mountains. This area is actually pretty large; covers most of Routt National Forest that lies north of a line drawn between Steamboat Springs, CO and Craig, CO.
First week in September gave us our annual 3 day weekend (Labor day? Memorial day? I can never remember : ). Great time to take a little longer than normal trip. So, I decided to take take my camper and myself waaaaaaaaayyy over to western Colorado to a place I'd never been before. Elkhorn Mountains. This area is actually pretty large; covers most of Routt National Forest that lies north of a line drawn between Steamboat Springs, CO and Craig, CO.
Camera: Olympus Corporation (C770uz) |
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Keywords: rocky colorado mountains elkhorn hike trail mountains
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