Caribou Creek
We had really enjoyed ourselves on West Magnolia and Eldorado Mountain, so we continued our scenic exploration on Caribou Creek. There were a few ATVs at the trailhead, but we didn't see too many on the trail.
The weather continued to be perfect as we started on the trail. Fall colors were there, with yellow aspen trees and brown grasses. It was gorgeous.
We worked our way past the big campsite on the right when Mike noticed that the campfire was still smoking. We stopped to put it out and take a break. The fire was still in embers and completely unattended, so it was a good thing that Mike saw it.
We moved on, working our way through mud puddles that weren't very deep. Judging from the mud high up on the surrounding trees, those puddles had been pretty high earlier in the year.
As we came within sight of the creek crossing we were very disappointed to see that parts of the fencing had been torn down so people could drive around in the marsh. It looked like it was ATV tracks. The fence definitely needs to be repaired, and we'll research that.
We crossed the creek and it wasn't very high at all -- only a couple of inches. We passed a few people parked on the other side and kept on going. It's always sad to see the whoopdeedoos closed, but at least the trail is still open.
The rest of the trail is pretty mellow, and soon we were at the end. We had seen a fabulous trail on the topo maps that went from County Road 116 up to quite a few lakes, and we hoped to find it accessible. However, we found a big gate at the road and signs noting that it belonged to the city of Boulder. It appears that you can't even hike the road.
We worked our way back out and down to Nederland. What a fantastic day of scenery and sunshine.
Reports from Other Days: 7
Use the arrows or dots to flip through the previews of the other reports for Caribou Creek. Click one of them to read more and see all of the photos from that day.
