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July 4, 2006 -At 7:20 a.m. on the morning of
July 4, I started my hike of
a portion of the Colorado Trail that is sometimes referred to as the South Cottonwood Trail.
I began at South Cottonwood Canyon west of
Buena Vista and hiked
approximately eight or nine miles in a southerly direction to the Mt. Princeton Hot Springs. |
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Early on, the trail climbs uphill with some great
views of Mt. Yale (above) and South Cottonwood Canyon (bottom).
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A purple flower.
Amazingly, I had the
entire trail to myself as I did not encounter even one person during the entire hike. |
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The trail eventually turns south and runs along the
eastern edge of Mt. Princeton. This clearing
was particularly scenic with numerous colorful wildflowers growing. The Mt. Princeton summit is not visible
from this photo, but it is somewhere behind the peaks on the right. |
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For much of the trail, there are really scenic views
of the Arkansas River Valley to the east. In this shot, the
Buena Vista prison is on the far left and
Johnson Village
is located on the middle-left. |
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Many
aspens on the trail. |
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Because the trail goes through tall forested areas,
there were only two spots where
the Mt. Princeton Summit could be seen well from the trail. Here is one! |
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After seven miles heading south, I reached this switchback
of Mt. Princeton Road. At this point, the Colorado Trail goes along this road all the way to
the Mt. Princeton Hot Springs. |
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I walked downhill past the parking lot
adjacent to the Frontier Ranch and Mt. Princeton Trail entrances. Unfortunately,
the trail continues down a long road with a major switchback, and here is the view of Mt. Princeton looking back from this spot.
Instead of walking down the long and boring road, I made a short cut
and scurried down a sandy hill with pinions and rocks ... |
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A couple of old tobacco containers on the ground. |
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A nice photo of Mt. Antero. |
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I arrived at the Mt. Princeton Hot Springs and had a
friend pick me up and drive me back to my car. The Colorado Trail continues west of the
Mt. Princeton Hot Springs upward in Chalk Creek Canyon, before it continues
south along the eastern side of Mt. Antero and Mt. Shavano. |
