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At 7:20 a.m. on the morning of July 4, I started my hike of
a portion of the Colorado Trail known as the South Cottonwood Trail. I began at
South Cottonwood Canyon (sometimes referred to as Spring Canyon) west of Buena Vista and hiked
approximately eight or nine miles due south 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).
You can see pages of the two stretches of the Colorado Trail inside Cottonwood Canyon here:
South Cottonwood Canyon To Cottonwood Pass Road (Avalance Trailhead)
Cottonwood Pass Road To The Highest Point Before Going Into Mt. Columbia Area |
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A beautiful 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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Sigh! There were 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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... And look what I found! A couple of old tobacco containers! |
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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. |
