Rocky Mountain National Park - Colorado River Trail

Hi Blog!

We are really enjoying ourselves on the West side of Rocky Mountain National Park. When we first visited the park back in 2015, we were disappointed we couldn't spend more time on this side. One hike that intrigued us the most was the chance to trek up to the Continental Divide and find the Headwaters of the Colorado River, once called The Grand River. This 16 mile hike requires at least 8 hours of good weather. Everyday so far, we've encountered thunderstorms around 1:00 p.m. We kept our fingers crossed and kept hoping for a change in the forecast. On Tuesday, September 12, 2017, it looked like we'd finally have enough time for the hike. Now the real question:  could our bodies withstand a 16 mile trek up to 10,000 feet of elevation. Here's proof we made it the first 8 miles.

It all started with an alarm clock warning at 5:30 a.m. We were out the door by 6:20 and on the trail by 6:50. To our surprise, we were not alone. Another set of hikers was taking off on their hike to Lake of the Clouds. About a half mile up the trail, our paths diverged with theirs. We started our hike by following the Colorado River Trail up the Kawuneeche Valley. Sometime the trail took us a little too close to the Colorado River.

The Kawuneeche Valley is ringed on three sides by the mountains of the Continental Divide. During the last Ice Age, these high mountains accumulated huge amounts of snow, forming glaciers more than 2,000 feet thick. The Kawuneeche Valley is a great glacial valley, where masses of moving ice flowed down the valley flattening the valley floor.  There are loads of small ponds and pans the elk and moose love to meander through.

We encountered several deer in the wee hours of the morning, but the camera must have been too cold to focus properly. When we started our hike it was 36 degrees. However, it wasn't long before the sun reached us and warmed us up. We also saw elk and moose, but they didn't stand still long enough to have their photos taken. You'll just have to be satisfied with some pretty meadows, mountains and trees.

After a few hours, we left the banks of the Colorado River and followed the Little Yellowstone Trail. Formed from stark gray volcanic rock, Little Yellowstone is a miniature version of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

We encountered our first set of hikers since the trailhead. They were stopped at a scenic overlook admiring the rocky outcrops protruding from the volcanic tuff. They had hiked down from La Poudre Pass. They were on their way to Lulu City, an abandoned mining down on the banks of the Colorado. We wished them well and told them we would probably see them again on their return trip. No sooner did we say goodbye than we ran into a second set of hikers also heading to Lulu City. Yep, well probably see them again, too.

As we approached the head of the valley, we hiked up and onto The Grand Ditch. The Grand Ditch is a water diversion project in the Never Summer Mountains. It is 14.3 miles long, 20 feet wide, and 3 feet deep on average. Streams and creeks that flow from the highest peaks of the Never Summer Mountains are diverted into the ditch, which flows over the Continental Divide at La Poudre Pass at 10,175 feet, delivering the water into the Cache La Poudre River for eastern plains farmers. The ditch was started in 1890 and wasn't completed until 1936. It is still privately owned and fully operational.

We followed The Grand Ditch for about a mile before turning right at a little white pump house. On our right was a marshy meadow.

There was the spot we were looking for:  the headwaters of the Colorado River!

The Colorado River is one of the principal rivers of the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The 1,450-mile-long river drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U.S. and two Mexican states. Starting right here, the river flows generally southwest across the Colorado Plateau and through the Grand Canyon before reaching Lake Mead on the Arizona–Nevada border, where it turns south toward the international border. After entering Mexico, the Colorado approaches the mostly dry Colorado River Delta at the tip of the Gulf of California between Baja California and Sonora.

We decided to stay awhile and just contemplate the epic journey the water takes on its way to the Gulf of California. Our RV adventures have taken us to many scenic places along the Colorado, but this has to be the most special. We had lunch by this burbling brook. Only later we learned, this too was also a ditch. The Specimen Ditch was begun in 1898 and first delivered water in 1900.  Its dirty little secret is that it steals water from the Colorado River.

The water in Specimen Ditch flows down from snowy peaks of Specimen Mountain and joins The Grand Ditch just before the pump house. Kathy tested the water temperature and she can attest it was mind-numbingly cold.

Just across the ditch is the La Poudre Pass Ranger Cabin. This cabin is no longer staffed full-time. It's used more for park rangers as a perk. Nice place to take a day off, wouldn't you say?

We thought that, when we reached the Continental Divide, we would be high up on some alpine ridge. We didn't expect this beautiful meadow just below La Poudre Pass.

After lunch, we hiked our way back to the headwall of the Kawuneeche Valley. Our trailhead is down there somewhere -- only 7-1/2 miles to go.

Here's the meadow we were just looking down on in the photo above:

It wasn't long before we ran into the two couples from this morning. They had completed their exploration of the old mining town and were heading back up to their cars parked at the pass. We were certainly glad to be going down instead of up!

On our return trip, we decided not to hike down to Lulu City, since it would only mean hiking back up and we were already going to be hiking 16 miles today. From our vantage point, high up Shipler Mountain, we did get to see some homestead cabins and the tailings from the North Star Mine.

September in the Rocky Mountains is prime time leaf peeping. The aspens are changing color right before our eyes.

Across the valley, one particular stand of aspens stands out from the rest. The top part of the stand is orange and the bottom part is gold. Each individual tree can live for 40–150 years above ground, but the root system of the colony is long-lived. In some cases, stands live for thousands of years, sending up new trunks as the older trunks die off above ground.  They are able to survive forest fires, because the roots are below the heat of the fire, and new sprouts appear after the fire burns out. While both aspen, the orange colored trees are genetically different from the yellow colored ones. Who knew?  What are the chances that two different genetic strains of aspen would grow alongside each other in such a neat pattern?

This will probably be our last blog from Rocky Mountain National Park. We have one more day but expect to be pretty tired after 16 miles. We look forward to our next adventures in Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, as well as Bears Ears National Monument, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, and Canyon de Chelly National Monument.