Acclimatization hike near Fort Collins

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Txhiker42
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Acclimatization hike near Fort Collins

Post by Txhiker42 »

Can anyone suggest a short (6 miles rt or less), scenic hike near Fort Collins? We are flying in from Texas that morning so it will be the first hike of the trip. I don't want too much elevation gain, but would love some good views. We plan on hiking Twin Sisters or Flattop the second day, then Grays and Torreys the third.
It doesn’t have to be fun to be fun. -Jeff Lowe
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dpage
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Re: Acclimatization hike near Fort Collins

Post by dpage »

Horsetooth Arthur's Rock and Grey Rock are all by Ft Collins and about the right distance.
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Andymcp1
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Re: Acclimatization hike near Fort Collins

Post by Andymcp1 »

Greyrock and horsetooth are both great hikes near Fort Collins. Both are just short drives. Greyrock is slightly longer than horsetooth, but provides some good scrambling if you would like it towards the top. If you want a leisure trail walk on rolling hills that is pretty easy, blue sky trail would be perfect. ( just watch out for the mtn bikers!)
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herdbull
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Re: Acclimatization hike near Fort Collins

Post by herdbull »

How close to town do you want to be? Not much in the way of "scenic" within 30-45 mins of town also not much acclimatization. If you're willing to venture a little further I have a place in mind that will accomplish both of these.
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Txhiker42
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Re: Acclimatization hike near Fort Collins

Post by Txhiker42 »

herdbull wrote:How close to town do you want to be? Not much in the way of "scenic" within 30-45 mins of town also not much acclimatization. If you're willing to venture a little further I have a place in mind that will accomplish both of these.
I'd love to hear your suggestion. Anything within an hour or so would be fine. We just want to have time in the afternoon to sample the "other" Fort Collins attractions. :iluvbeer:
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Re: Acclimatization hike near Fort Collins

Post by mtn_nut »

Go hike and spend the night up near the big south trail (south fork of the poudre river). It's very scenic, has good free camping along the trail, and is at around 9k feet. It's fairly long if you hike all the way to the end.
Last edited by mtn_nut on Thu Jul 25, 2013 8:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Acclimatization hike near Fort Collins

Post by cougar »

Greyrock (free) or Horsetooth ($6/car) - depends on how close you want to be. Greyrock is a bit more of a workout and may be better for preparation for higher stuff. Both are similar in elevation and distance, Greyrock a bit longer and more elevation gain. Arthur's Rock is really short and lower, and $7 entrance fee. If you want to push it to 9 miles, Round Mtn trail west of Loveland is a good conditioning hike also (and free). It's about halfway to Estes Park. Horestooth or Arthurs is closest to town (20 min drive) and there's an extensive trail system if you want to do a loop or something a bit longer. Greyrock also has a loop option.

Crosier Mtn is another option closer to Estes.

watch out for snakes

if you're hitting the breweries, a bicycle tour between them with flights at each one is another good way to acclimate
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ChrisRoberts
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Re: Acclimatization hike near Fort Collins

Post by ChrisRoberts »

herdbull wrote:Not much in the way of "scenic" within 30-45 mins of town
Wow, you must not be looking very hard
Some rise, some fall, some climb to get to terrapin
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Re: Acclimatization hike near Fort Collins

Post by mike offerman »

ChrisRoberts wrote:Wow, you must not be looking very hard
My thoughts exactly!
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Re: Acclimatization hike near Fort Collins

Post by DanandDad »

My son and I flew in from Chicago back in June for CSU orietation on a Wednesday. We did Horsetooth hike right after getting off the plane with no problem. Very nice hike with great views from the top of the trail. We stayed in Fort Collins Wednesday and Thursday night just walking campus. We drove to Dillon Friday afternoon. We drove up the Torrey and Grays trailhead road that afternoon to check it out and hiked the last mile to the trail head. We could feel the altitude but felt good. Saturday morning we got to the trailhead at 5:45. We had a good climb but felt altitude sickness on the way down and felt we could have used one more in Dillon to get acclimated. We think part of it was due to overly greasy food we consumed at the summit. Last summer we climbed Flat Top in RMNP to prep for Longs. I think with your plan you''ll be fine for T&G. Just get to the trail head early if it's a weekend.
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Re: Acclimatization hike near Fort Collins

Post by susanjoypaul »

If you do Horsetooth, you'll notice most folks do the standard route to the north summit, but I believe the true highpoint is located on the south summit. There's a climber's trail leading to the base on the east side of the rock, and it's a class 3/4ish route to the top. I was up there two weeks ago, and happy to have a guy spot me on the downclimb. Horsetooth is famously featured on the Fat Tire Amber Ale logo.
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Re: Acclimatization hike near Fort Collins

Post by herdbull »

mike offerman wrote:
ChrisRoberts wrote:Wow, you must not be looking very hard
My thoughts exactly!

First off he wants to acclimate. You ain't doing much of that at 5K-6K. That's almost a complete waste of time even coming from Texas.

There's nothing absolutely nothing to the East, North and South that would qualify as "scenic". That leaves you the Poudre. The bottom half of that blows, has no views, and just doesn't offer much but a slow meandering drive.

He's out to climb bigger mtns so why not just drive to Big South and head up towards Cameron Pass from there. It gets you to 10K has dozens and dozens miles of trails, logging roads, endless hiking and scenic views. It also gets you away from the crowds, the heat and traffic.

Heck you can even climb and see Long's Peak:
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