Wapiti Trail
The weather was exceptionally nice for an early March weekend. The temperatures for both Saturday and Sunday hit 70°, so we knew we had to get outside. We originally planned to go hike Bobcat Ridge in West Loveland, but when I looked at the parking lot web cameras at about 11 am, I noticed that the parking lot was empty, suspiciously so. Bobcat ridge doesn't have a lot of parking space, so I wanted to check to make sure that it wasn't too crowded before heading that way. It turns out the trail was closed due to muddy conditions, so we had to figure something else out.
Since this is the first real hike that Katie and I have done this season, we didn't want to do anything too ambitious. We ended up picking the Wapiti trail because it had some good turnaround points that we could choose how far we wanted to go pretty easily. Once we made it 2.5 miles into the trail, we decided to continue on the Ponderosa Loop, a 2.5 mile loop that took us to a scenic overlook of the western mountain range where we sat and ate a late lunch. It was a little windy since the overlook was exposed, but the views were worth it.
The hike ended up being an ambitious 8.32 miles that took us almost 3 and a half hours and nearly 1100 feet in elevation gain.
8.32 mi
3.4 hrs
6,844 ft
1,093 ft
Muddy Tracks
The Wapiti trail is mostly a mountain biking trail, one that's very well maintained to bike on. There were a few other hikers on the trail with us, but the majority of the people who passed us were bikers.
Bike Bank
I say this trail is good for bikers because just about all the corners are made from stone to prevent erosion.
Warm Winter Hike
Wind Blown Trail
Most of the trail was winding through the trees, but there was this field with wind blown dead grass.
Wild
We came across a small herd of wild deer. Not uncommon for being in the mountains but they're typically hard to spot while your hiking since you're looking down trying not to trip.
Another Wild Animal
The lighting was pretty good so I was able to get a shot of Katie with the deer. Unfortunately the deer started walking away as I started taking photos of Katie and the deer together.
