Tag: Mueller State park

Grouse Mountain Trailhead Loop

Today I decided to hike the Western part of Mueller State Park from the Grouse Mountain Trailhead down to Geer Pond and back in sort of a loop.  Total trail was 5.52 miles and took exactly 2 hours to hike.  I started the hike at 11:15am without a jacket.  I was a bit cold, but it looked like it would eventually warm up.  It did, but it took about half an hour.  It never got “hot”.

The beginning of the hike brought me to a very small (one room?) cabin.  It was most obviously dilapidated and overgrown with pine trees sprouting from the floor.  I questioned its odd placement and what it was used for, as it wasn’t near any obvious necessities (a road, water, etc.) and was located in the middle of a hill. 

Just as I rounded the corner from the structure I came upon some burn piles.  I thought how cool it was Mueller was doing some thinning, then realized the piles were over the boundary of Mueller.  That got me to wondering who owned the land…

At this point in the hike I started noticing a lot of markings on the trees.  Specifically the Aspen trees.  Most look like they’re from deer or elk, but a few showed similarities to Black Bear markings. 

By now it was finally starting to warm up a bit.  I was able to see the backside of Pikes Peak in the distance with a little bit of snow on the peak:

At this point I came upon some bike riders.  I heard them before I saw them, and was a bit upset as I was sure they were scaring all the wildlife away.  Why can’t people hike in silence and enjoy the sounds of nature? 

As I rounded the corner I heard what sounded like a weed-wacker.  I was pondering why someone would think such a device was necessary in the backcountry when I realized it was an insect.  A very loud insect.  I’ve heard clappers before, but this was ridiculous!  I could see it flying about 10 yards away.  It looked yellow in color, but I wasn’t able to get a better look at it to see what kind of an insect it actually was.  It wasn’t a moth or butterfly.

The halfway point of my hike brought me to Geer Pond.  This is by far my favorite pond at Mueller.  I’ve spent countless hours fishing here, and love the solitude.  No one was here today but I didn’t have time to stop and enjoy the pond (my kids were waiting for me back at the campsite).  I took a quick picture and started my (uphill) trek back. 

Mueller is a great place to hike, but unfortunately it sits at the top of a hill, so you inevitably start hiking downhill and end your hike going back up. Fortunately I would rather hike uphill, as my body is conditioned for an uphill hike. 

I passed a drainage area and those bikers again.  They were confused as to how I’d passed them, and I replied I’d taken a loop.  I ended up passing them a third time later in my hike, to which they seemed embarrassed:  “Usually the bikers pass the hikers” they noted.  I smiled, talked to them a bit about reading the trial maps at Mueller, and kept hiking. They never caught back up with me. 

I hadn’t seen any wildlife on this hike (except that loud insect), so I was happy to see a rabbit in the middle of the trail.  It wasn’t happy to see me and bounded behind a tree.  I watched it and was delighted to see a cluster of (edible) Sheathed Woodtuft mushrooms. 

That was the extent of my hike.  As always I was glad I’d taken the hike, but a bit disappointed I hadn’t seen more wildlife.  I ended up getting quite a sunburn as well, which was totally unexpected since I’d hiked the entire time with goosebumps, wishing I’d brought along a jacket.

Cahill Pond and Rule Creek Pond Hike

We started at the trailhead at 12:40pm, intending to take a 4.75 mile loop hike to visit the two remaining ponds at Mueller State Park I’d yet to visit:  Cahill and Rule Creek Ponds.  As you can see from the photo of the route we took above, we got a little off tack, but only for about 1/3 of a mile.  The trails at Mueller are wonderfully market with numbers.  Unfortunately the post for the switch off said Trail 17 went left and right.  Since we were looking for 34 we were confused (until we came to 32 and noticed our mistake).  The positive part of this blunder was I got an extra 2/3 of a mile in (making it over a 5 mile hike), and the way back was all uphill!  Woot!

I don’t know much about the history of Mueller except it was Homesteaded in 1870, then passed through several families (cattle ranchers) until the Mueller Family bought it as a game preserve.  It became a Colorado State Park in 1990.  There were no clear signs indicating who this home belonged to, but it couldn’t have been that old as it had a concrete foundation and evidence of glass windows.   

The building was dilapidated and had a “keep out” sign.  It was obvious the roof had caved in some time ago (and was littering the floor, along with barbed wire.  I didn’t go inside.  

It was pretty close to Cahill Pond, so I’m assuming maybe it belonged to the Cahill Family?

Directly to the East of Cahill Pond is a large meadow.  I couldn’t help but stop and take a picture of the grass and rolling hills.

There was another building located inside an Aspen grove just before the Cheesman Ranch trail.  It looked to be an old hay loft and root cellar.

Rule Creek Pond lined Highway 67, and we came upon it almost accidentally.  I’ve seen it from the road frequently, but never realized it was a Mueller State Park Pond. 

The rest of the trail followed a service road.  The trail was pretty to look at, but I noticed some of the leaves were already starting to change color!  It’s only August 20th:  way too early for the leaves to change!

Completing this hike means I’ve now visited all the ponds in Mueller State Park, most of which you need to hike at least 3 miles round trip to see:

  • Rule Creek Pond
  • Cahill Pond
  • Peak View Pond
  • Geer Pond
  • Lost Pond
  • Dragonfly Pond
  • Rock Pond
  • Brook Pond
  • Never/Never Pond
  • School Pond

Rock Pond Trail

One of my goals this year is to go on new hikes.  I knew I wanted to take a new route on this camping trip, but I wasn’t sure which one to take.  I ended up settling on the Rock Pond trail, mainly because it included destinations of two new ponds I’d yet to visit, and it had the option of looping around Geer Pond, a favorite of mine.

It was a couple of miles from the campsite, so I took the truck to the trailhead.  While there I took a picture of the map to log my time and just so I’d be sure to have one while on the trail.  As I was looking at it I realized the map wouldn’t be of much use:  it was facing the wrong way!  You’d think they’d have been smarter than that when posting a map.  Luckily I know the area, but to someone who doesn’t, they’d get all turned around…

The hike was all downhill to the pond (about 2.5 miles one way) and followed a service road.  I was the only one on the trail… except for a white tailed deer I saw walking slowly towards me from the opposite direction.  She didn’t seem to notice me for a while, but once she did she bounded off the trail and was gone in a second.

I spent this part of the hike musing to myself as I followed the trail downward.  I thought for some time about my love for hiking: which is considerably more enjoyable while alone. 

Most thoughts centered around the kids, their lives, and how I fit into them.  This may seem like a simple task, but honestly, it’s not.  I’m questioning my role in Rebecca’s life specifically.  She’s graduated High School, and is off to college next month (but still living at home).  She doesn’t have a job, and I’ve been strongly pushing her to get one.  She doesn’t seem interested in this.  In fact, she doesn’t seem interested in much (therein lies the problem).  I’m wondering how to motivate her, if that’s even something I should be doing (or should I just let her figure it out on her own), and how I’ll be able to “kick her out” when she turns 18 and doesn’t have a job (something that will happen if she’s not employed). 

She’s begun complaining about everything that doesn’t have to do with guard (something she’s willing to drive hours away to participate in), and none of her hobbies have money earning potential.  She feels distanced from former close friends, and honestly needs direction.  However, I don’t feel she wants to take it from me.  Personally I’m feeling as if I’ve lost my best friend, as now I actually have to play the “mom” part in our relationship.  Neither of us is enjoying this much.  I want my best friend back! 

No one tells you the hardest part of parenting is letting them go to figure life out on their own.

I made it to the section of the trail that let me choose between going to Rock Pond or Brook Pond.   I love to hike and the weather was hovering around a nice 90 degrees with no chance of thunderstorms, so this was an easy choice for me.  I’d visit both. 

I’m so glad I did!  I only added less than half a mile to the hike, but some really cool experiences!

I found some wild strawberries on the trail.  I’ve found strawberries while hiking before, but never quite so many!  Usually I see one here and there… this time I saw small “fields” of strawberries in several spots along the hillside  So cool! 

They looked a bit overripe, so I tried a few.  They tasted amazing!  Warm from the sun they were hands down the best strawberries I’ve ever had (if a bit small…)

I grabbed a few to add flavor to my drink and some to bring back to the kids at the campsite, and headed down to Brook Pond. 

The pond was small, but clear.  I could see lots of trout swimming near the shore, and a few jumping in the middle.  Most were only about the size of my hand, too small to “catch”, but knowing they were there gave hope to future fishing opportunities. This was a pond I’d swim in if I’d had the proper gear…

I circled the water and came to a small stream feeding the pond.  I figure this was the perfect time to try out the water-proofness of my new hiking boots, and crossed in a mucky area.  They passed the test!

Knowing I was close to Rock Pond I decided to continue on and take a break there.  It only took about 10 minutes of walking to get there. This pond looked deeper than the previous, colder, and not quite as inviting.  I didn’t see any fish.

I sat for a few minutes, enjoyed the cherries I’d brought for lunch, then was quickly on my way.  It was 1pm and I wanted to get back to the kids before they worried. 

I decided to take the trail that went by Geer Pond, mainly because I didn’t want to hike back up that service road.  I’d much rather make it a loop than hike back from where I’d already been. Once again, another great choice!

Almost immediately the trail sloped upward at quite a steep angle.  This made sense:  I’d come down the entire way here, which meant I had to hike up at some point to make it back to the trailhead.  I saw some Columbine flowers along the trail.  I love seeing Columbines while hiking!

After about a mile (that passed quickly) I came across some small waterfalls, hidden inside small rock caves.  They looked cool and inviting, and I wished I’d had a handkerchief to get wet in the water.  Or a book.  I needed to spend more time here, and I absolutely need to bring the kids here to “play” sometime soon!

These waterfalls lasted for about a quarter of a mile, then all of the sudden, I was at the back end of Geer Pond!  I knew this because I’d played with the kids in this waterfall a few times before!

I found a few cool flowers:  Alpine Kittentails

and then I was at Geer Pond. No one was at this pond either.  All weird since it was about 1:30 in the afternoon on a Saturday in July.  I kept thinking the entire time what fun it would be to snowshoe these trails!

Lost Pond was a bit of a disappointment. It seemed murkier than usual.  There were some really large salamanders that were fun to watch however.  And lots of flies.  I didn’t stay long.

The hike out took about another half an hour.  I made it to the trailhead at 2pm, which made it a 2 hour hike.  I covered just over 5 miles, and stopped a bit to enjoy nature, so I considered it a success!