National Forest Archives - Isaac Church // isaactchurch.com

Day 6 – Lovell Gulch Trail, Woodland Park, Garden of the Gods // Colorado 2022

Isaac Church — Mon, 04 Jul 2022 02:00:17 +0000

Pike National Forest

First thing in the morning, Faith and I drove to the north side of Pike’s Peak to the town of Woodland Park. Since this was our final full day, we wanted to do one more fairly challenging hike. We’d done some research the night before, and settled on the Lovell Gulch Trail in Pike National Forest, a ~5.5mi “lollipop” loop trail that climbs around 1,000′. Pike-San Isabel National Forest is a sprawling 2.2M acres, but is mostly wilderness area, and has very few hiking trails for its size.

According to multiple posted signs, a slightly disgruntled moose cow and calf had been frequenting the area. However, we saw no sign of them, and a local man we met told us the moose duo had moved on to greener pastures. While I have no desire to be charged by a temperamental ungulate, we were both secretly disappointed that we wouldn’t have a chance to see it.

Faith and I were both pleasantly surprised by the hike. It starts extremely close to a school and fire department, and initially passes several houses and farm, so we were wondering if it would turn out to be a walk through a neighborhood. However, the trail quickly winds into the backcountry and basically loses sight of all signs of civilization, save a few power lines and an stretch that parallels a very rough dirt road. For a couple miles, you follow a creek upstream, and then begin a moderately steep climb up the ridgeline. About three-quarters of the way around the loop, at the top of the ridge, we were greeted with excellent views to the south of Pike’s Peak, Ute Pass, and the surrounding mountains. Passing through forests, meadows, and boulder fields, the trail provides interesting views at every turn. We also saw a humongous ant hill.

Giant Ant Hill

The trail starts around 8,400′ elevation, and climbs to nearly 9,400′. Even though we’d been in the area for almost a full week, I started feeling the effects of altitude sickness (probably because I hadn’t eaten much breakfast), so we rested for a while near the top of the hill, and then began our descent back to the car.

View of Woodland Park

View of Pike's Peak

Woodland Park

Now very hungry, we drove back to the town of Woodland Park, and stopped at The Donut Mill (Ian’s recommendation) for a very late breakfast. This was another pleasant surprise; the donuts didn’t look exceptional, but were most excellent – very fresh and light traditional donuts. We got a maple iced, a cinnamon sugar, and four glazed donut holes.

The Donut Mill

It didn’t take long to realize that we were still hungry from the hike. Our cell coverage was also acting up, so we needed to find some WiFi to get ourselves reoriented. We decided to find a coffee shop (Faith knew the town had two) and solve both problems in one stop.

Our first stop was Cafe Leo, a modern establishment right down the street from The Donut Mill that serves homemade pop-tarts and various sandwiches. They were very crowded, and didn’t seem to have public WiFi, so we grabbed a patriotically-decorated mixed berry pop-tart, and walked around in an attempt to scout the other coffee shop’s location, splitting the delicious pop-tart along the way.

Woodland Park

Cafe Leo

After determining it would be better to drive to the other coffee shop, we walked back to the car, and drove about half a mile up the road to The Coffee Cottage. It’s more of a traditional coffee shop, instead of a cafe. I got an iced dark chocolate mocha, Faith got an iced dirty chai latte, and we split a small raspberry crumble shortbread cookie. All the drinks and food were excellent, especially my mocha (which was far closer to coffee than chocolate). We sat at a table by their open back door, enjoyed the breeze, got caffeinated, and figured out our plans for the rest of the morning and early afternoon.

The Coffee Cottage

Manitou Springs

On our way back into town, we drove through Manitou Springs again, intending to find a parking spot and walk around for a while. However, downtown was a zoo, and there was no parking to be found. Instead, Faith took a video while we drove through downtown (see video near the end of this post), and we headed off to find somewhere less crowded.

Garden of the Gods

Well, so much for finding something with less people…we drove to Garden of the Gods, not realizing how popular it is in the early afternoon. We drove the one-way loop through the park, stopped to take a few pictures, and headed back to the house for some lunch, slightly delinquent because of the crazy traffic.

Garden of the Gods

Originally called Red Rock Corral, the name changed to Garden of the Gods sometime in the 1800s. The story goes like this: when a surveyor suggested it would be a prime spot for a beer garden, his companion supposedly said, “Beer garden! Why, it is a fit place for the gods to assemble. We will call it the Garden of the Gods.”

Scientists consider the parks to be one of the best contrasts of the plains and the mountains, both in geology and biodiversity. Paleontologists have unearthed several dinosaur fossils in the area, including a new species discovered in 1878. Mule deer, foxes, and bighorn sheep frequent the area, as well as over 130 species of birds.

There’s archaeological evidence of people visiting the garden as early as 1330 BC. The Apache, Cheyenne, Comanche, Kiowa, Lakota, Pawnee, Shoshone, and Ute peoples all have connections to the area.

Garden of the Gods

You wind among rocks of every conceivable and inconceivable shape and size...all bright red, all motionless and silent, with a strange look of having been just stopped and held back in the very climax of some supernatural catastrophe.

Helen Hunt Jackson

Lunch // Afternoon

Smoked pork loin

For lunch, Ian smoked a pork loin with a spicy BBQ sauce, which was extremely tender and juicy. It was one of the best things we ate all week, and was a fantastic sendoff meal. After lunch, we packed up, visited for a while, said our goodbyes to Abby and the boys, and then prepared to hit the road to catch our eastbound flight home.

Denver International Airport

Ian, Faith, and I left for the airport around 15:30, so Ian would have plenty of time to get back before the twins’ bedtime. On the drive up the interstate, we could see the Air Force Academy, Castle Rock, and the sprawling metropolis of Denver from the car. I didn’t realize how massive the city of Denver is until driving through it.

Driving toward the Airport

We arrived at the airport, and had plenty of time to kill before our flight, which didn’t depart until 00:19MST. Checking in was a breeze (some of the easiest security I’ve experienced), so we took the train to our gate, and then started to search out some food. We wanted to try Denver Biscuit Company, but it was two terminals over, so we deemed it best to find something closer by.

About this time, we realized Faith had never tried Panda Express, so I of course felt obligated to introduce her to it. We got orange chicken, broccoli beef, some kind of limited edition shrimp dish, chow mein, friend rice, and a chicken egg roll. It was all outstanding, and a bittersweet reminder of how much I miss having a franchise nearby.

Panda Express

Denver International Airport

Conveniently, there’s also a Ben & Jerry’s right across from the Panda Express, so we got a couple cups of ice cream for dessert, hoping the sugar would keep us alert and awake for a while. I got strawberry cheesecake and Half Baked, and Faith got Half Baked and cookies and cream. We sat at a table with a nice view of the tarmac and watched the planes (primarily Icelandic Air) operate.

Ben & Jerry's

Denver International Airport

Once the sugar high wore off, we were ready to find a spot to settle down and take a nap before our red-eye. Thankfully, I read one of the ticker boards and noticed that our gate had changed (of course without an announcement or app alert), so we found a good spot with a power receptacle, and Faith snoozed while I stood guard over the luggage.

Our flight started boarding around 23:50MST, and took about 3 hours to get back to CLT, about 25 minutes before our scheduled 05:52EST arrival. Fortunately, we were able to sleep some on the flight home, but we still took another lengthy nap immediately after we got home.

Video

Here’s a video of some of today’s adventures:

Conclusion

Thanks for reading! Click here to subscribe to email notifications.

There’s one more post coming…stay tuned.

– Isaac and Faith

Pike National Forest

The post Day 6 – Lovell Gulch Trail, Woodland Park, Garden of the Gods // Colorado 2022 appeared first on Isaac Church // isaactchurch.com.

Day 3 – Beartooth Highway, NE Yellowstone // Church Trip 2021

Isaac Church — Thu, 01 Jul 2021 12:00:00 +0000

Today we drove the Beartooth Highway and the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway, stopping in Yellowstone’s Lamar Valley, Cooke City, MT, and Red Lodge, MT. We also did our first hike in Yellowstone on the Trout Lake Trail, and visited the Roosevelt Arch.

Bears, Oh My!

The Roosevelt - Gardiner, MT

Gardiner, MT

A pre-dawn start (04:30) put us back on the road up to Mammoth, where we turned onto the Grand Loop Road towards Tower-Roosevelt. Alongside the road, we spotted a mama black bear and her two cubs playing in a meadow shaded by trees. The bears seemed to be undisturbed by the growing crowd of early-rising observers, so we watched for a while from the car as the cubs wrestled and attempted to climb the closest tree.

Black bears

Black bear cub climbing a tree

Black bear cubs playing

Lamar Valley

Another hour-long drive brought us to the Lamar Valley shortly after sunrise. The Lamar Valley is home to vast herds of bison, though nothing compared to before their near extinction and subsequent rebound. Click the boxes below to learn more about bison; they’re fascinating, stately creatures!

Bison

There are approximately 4,680 bison in Yellowstone, with about 3/4 residing in the Lamar Valley in the north, and the remainder in the Hayden Valley to the south (where we visited our first evening in the park). Males (bulls) weight up to 2,000lb, and females (cows) weigh up to 1,100lb. Even at that weight, they can run up to 30mph and jump over objects 5ft high. Bison have excellent hearing, vision, and sense of smell.

Most bison live 12-15 years, although it’s been documented that a few will live 20+ years. Bison will travel ~1,000mi throughout the year. In the winter, they travel in groups of ~20, while during the summer breeding season, group sizes rise to ~1,000. The groups are directed by the older females.

Click here for an interesting NPS article/videos on bison in Yellowstone.

NPS Bison Video

Lamar Valley

Bison stomping in the dirt

Bison - Lamar Valley

Pronghorn antelope - Lamar Valley

Bison - Lamar Valley

Lamar Valley

We also spotted an antelope on a distant hillside. Several people said they’d spotted a wolf, but it had run back into the woods. Dad and I both thought we spotted one through binoculars, but we couldn’t be sure…could’ve just been another antelope. On our way out of the valley, we saw even more antelope closer to the roadside.

Antelope

More Moose!

Continuing on US-212 toward Cooke City (our breakfast destination), we passed a clearing in the road where I spotted a moose. After giving everyone a heart attack from my excited shouting, we threw the car in reverse and backed up to get a clear view. Turns out, it was both a mother and calf, sitting a short distance apart, partially concealed by the tall grass. We stayed to watch for a while, and our patience was rewarded when both moose finally stood up to stare down two deer that entered the clearing. After defending their shaded, grassy breakfast spot with nought but a glare and a 9′ tall height advantage, they continued with their grazing.

Cooke City-Silver Gate // Breakfast

Wildlife watching had once again thoroughly exhausted us, so we journeyed on to breakfast at the Bearclaw Bakery in Cooke City, MT, briefly delayed by a herd of bison using the main road to cross a narrow pass.

Bison

We were able to get a table at the restaurant, but had to wait a little while. Cooke City-Silver Gate is the union of two old mining towns that sit on the northwestern end of Yellowstone National Park. It’s a neat little place, but like most small towns in WY/MT, it has limited amenities and most businesses operate seasonally or at will, and it’s not exactly built to serve crowds.

Bearclaw Bakery - Cooke City, MT

Ham and brie toast

The Bearclaw Bakery has quite the ambiance. To date, it’s the only place I’ve been in that has a tanning bed in the restroom. It’s also the only breakfast place I’ve ever visited that sells snowmobile parts out of the dining room and has a mechanic shop in the back. Despite the incredulous atmosphere, the food was really good. Mom ordered a country scramble with bacon, cheese, and onions; Faith and I split another country scramble plus ham, brie, and fig preserve-topped sourdough toast; Dad got biscuits and sausage gravy.

Bearclaw Bakery

Cooke City, MT

Bearclaw Bakery

Cooke City, MT

Basic breakfast, but everything was far above average. Plus, where else can you eat that has a tanning bed in the bathroom and a mechanic’s shop in half of the restaurant?

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Clarks Fork Picnic ARea

Opting not to stay and use the tanning bed, we continued on US-212 towards the Beartooth-Absaroka Wilderness. Our first stop was the Clarks Fork Picnic Area, the site of a couple waterfalls and an old wooden mining flume.

Clarks Fork Picnic Area

Old Mining Flume

Clarks Fork Picnic Area

Beartooth Highway

From Clarks Fork, we continued on the Beartooth Highway.

Beartooth Highway

The Beartooth Highway runs E-W through the Absaroka Mountains along the MT/WY border. It’s a 68mi stretch of of US-212 that connects Cooke City-Silver Gate, MT and Red Lodge, MT, passing southward through WY. It goes through the Custer, Gallatin, and Shoshone National Forests, and the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness. The road climbs over 5,000′ to a peak elevation of 10,970′ at the Beartooth Plateau. Unsurprisingly, it sometimes takes a month of plowing to get the road cleared for summer traffic (see videos below).

The highway is considered a National Scenic Byway, which is recognized by the USDOT for having 1+ of the following “intrinsic qualities”: archeological, cultural, historic, natural, recreational, or scenic. Roads that meet 2+ of the qualities are considered All-American Roads; the Beartooth Highway has received this designation as well. The only All-American Road in NC is the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The Beartooth Highway originally opened in 1936.

Spring Clearing

Crazy Creek // Yellowstone Overlook

We passed Crazy Creek Falls and Lake Creek Falls, but opted not to get out, instead taking pictures from the car. If we’d had time, I would’ve loved to stop at Crazy Creek. It was a immensely wide, aptly named waterfall, stretching across half the mountainside. Then, after climbing for a while, we stopped at the Yellowstone Overlook and a couple overlooks to take some pictures looking back towards the park.

Crazy Creek Falls

Lake Creek Falls

Beartooth Lake // Top of the World

Significant road construction was underway on the next stretch of the highway, so we had to wait about 30 minutes for a guide car to take us past the construction. Unfortunately, that meant missing the Clay Butte Lookout Tower, and pullout for the Beartooth Falls. I did manage to snap a slightly blurry picture of the falls from our moving car.

Now clear of the construction, we stopped at Beartooth Lake Camground for a view of the lake and the brightly colored Beartooth Butte.

Beartooth Falls

Beartooth Lake // Beartooth Butte

The Top of the World Store has a unique selection of souvenirs and camping essentials. After a quick stop, we carried on.

Top of the World Store

Island Lakes // Beartooth Summit

Just a short distance from Top of the World Store, we pulled into Island Lake Campground. Now high above the most of the treeline (but apparently not high enough to avoid the biting bugs), alpline lakes dotted the landscape, as did lingering snow banks.

Island Lake

Near the Beartooth Summit

It wasn’t long before we arrived at the Beartooth Pass Summit. We stopped for a while to enjoy the view, and Faith and I scrambled up the nearby boulders at the summit (just to say we’d reached the true peak), fighting strong wind gusts and mild dehydration from the altitude.

Beartooth Summit

Beartooth summit

Beartooth Summit

Beartooth Pass Vista Point

We’d now been driving along the Beartooth Plateau for several miles, so it was time to begin our descent towards Red Lodge (and lunch!). Our lunch reservation was at 13:15 in Red Lodge, so we had to hurry. We did make one last stop on the way down at the Beartooth Pass Vista Point.

Beartooth Pass Vista Point

Red Lodge // Lunch

Even after all those stops, we were only 15 minutes late for our lunch reservation at Piccola Cucina at Ox Pasture in Red Lodge, MT. The restaurant is run by a famed Sicilian chef who also has restaurants in Italy and NYC. How another location ended up in a small town in Montana, I have no idea.

For lunch, we split two caesar salads, and then each ordered a pasta dish. I got Paccheri alla Carbonara (paccheri pasta with eggs, Italian bacon, and pecorino cheese), Faith got Orecchiette Gamberi e Burrata (orecchiette pasta with shrimp and burrata cheese), Dad got Ravioli al Ragù di Manzo (ricotta ravioli in beef ragù), and Mom got Lasagna al Ragù (lasagna with meat sauce & creamy béchamel). Our meal was accompanied by fresh-baked focaccia and a sun-dried tomato oil.

Caesar salad

Pasta

The entire meal was fantastic, especially the Caesar salads. You could taste the quality and see the attention to detail that had gone into all the dishes. Faith said it was even better than the Italian food we’d had in Italy.

Piccola Cucina at Ox Pasture

Red Lodge, MT

This is 5-star NYC Italian dining, but in a small town in Montana. What more could one ask for?

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Chief Joseph Scenic Byway

After our lunch, we attempted to find a nearby bakery to pre-purchase a snack for later. Unfortunately the bakery was closed, so we settled on getting some coffee for Faith, and then drove south on Highway 120, crossing back into Wyoming. Soon, we reached the start of the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway, which returns to Cook City from the southeast.

Dead Indian Summit Overlook

The highway follows the route that the Nez Perce indians used to escape from the US Army as they were being forced from their homelands. Several signs along the way detailed their journey and tactics. Dead Indian Summit Overlook provided the best views and information.

Sunlight Bridge

About 10 miles from the top of the pass, we reached the Sunlight Bridge, which crosses 1,200′ above Sunlight Creek, which feeds into the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River. It was an impressive but narrow canyon with steep rock walls and clear rushing water far below. The Sunlight Bridge is the highest in Wyoming.

Trout Lake

Back in Yellowstone

Chief Joseph Scenic Byway

Beartooth Highway Sign

Since we’d been trading off napping during the cloudy drive back to Yellowstone, we found somewhat of a second wind. Faith and I decided to do a short hike just east of the Lamar Valley. The Trout Lake Trail is a short, 1.2mi lollipop-shaped loop trail that climbs to a beautiful lake surrounded by wildflowers. We actually saw several large trout jumping in the lake, as well as a family of geese and a least chipmunk.

Ice Cream // Roosevelt Arch

We’d originally planned to explore Mammoth Hot Springs in the evening, but unfortunately, Faith came down with some altitude sickness and Dad was in need of some eye drops, so we went to a grocery store in Gardiner instead. After everyone was finally feeling better, we got some ice cream from Scoop! There It Is and Yellowstone Perk (we abandoned Yellowstone Perk after one cone purchase because we realized it was incredibly expensive). Flavors of the night were huckleberry and raspberry sorbet; both were very good.

After finishing our ice cream, we walked/drove to the Roosevelt Arch. The arch is named after Teddy Roosevelt, because he was visiting the park during the time of its construction and gave a speech at its dedication when they laid the cornerstone. The inscription on the top quotes the 1872 legislation that established Yellowstone as the world’s first national park, “For the benefit and enjoyment of the people”.

Ice cream in Gardiner

Roosevelt Arch