Holzwarth Historic Site, RMNP, Colorado

Leaving the Coyote Valley Trailhead we traveled north on Trial Ridge Road to the Holzwarth Historic Site.  Sometimes the Holzwarth Site is referred to as the Never Summer Ranch but technically it was one of two businesses in the same area.  The cabins and buildings of the Never Summer Ranch have been removed to preserve the historic accuracy of the Holzwarth site.



Historic Site sign
 

We parked in the parking area and started our 1.3 mile hike along the trail.  The first historic building we came to was an old miner's cabin which belonged to the Never Summer Ranch. The cabin was built by Joseph Fleshuts in 1902. For some unknown reason he abandoned the 160-acre homestead in 1911, and was never heard from again.  RMNP rangers were on hand to retell the history of the cabin.

Fleshut's Cabin

From the old miner's cabin we hiked the mostly level trail towards the Holzwarth site crossing the Colorado River and enjoying sweeping views of the Kawuneeche Valley.

Fences and corrals are all that remain from the Never Summer Ranch

At just over a half-mile from the trailhead we reached the Holzwarth cabins.  The cabins that make up this site were built by German immigrant, John Holzwarth Sr., in 1917.  Initially the family moved to the area to start a cattle ranch but with the opening of Rocky Mountain National Park,  tourism boomed and the family quickly turned their cattle ranch into a guest ranch called the Holzwarth Trout Lodge.  In the day guest could stay at the lodge for $2 a day or $11 a week.

 

Guest cabin at Holzwarth Trout Lodge
 

Park rangers and volunteers escort you through the property
 

Cold house at the cabin - notice the prairie grass on the roof.  That is the original grass the Holzwarth's planted on top of the roof.  It has been maintained all these years.

 

Again, park rangers and volunteers were on the site to give tours of the cabins and tell the story of how the lodge worked.

 

 

Kawuneeche Valley, RMNP, Colorado

On our second day in Grand Lake, Colorado, we drove Trail Ridge Road (the highest continuous paved road in the United States) through Rocky Mountain National Park. 

Visitor Center Sign

Grand Lake is considered the West Portal of the Rocky Mountains and the entrance to the park is just a few miles from the town itself.  At the Kawuneeche Visitors Center we stopped and bought a park pass and got the first stamp needed for our geocaching tour.  There are four visitor centers in the park and we needed three out of four stamps from the centers to earn the big geocaching prize!

On the west side of RMNP, Trail Ridge Road runs parallel to the Kawuneeche Valley. Kawuneeche means "valley of the coyote" in Arapaho language. This valley runs almost directly north to south and is a marshy valley made up by the Colorado River.

Kawuneeche Valley floor

Our first stop in the valley was the Coyote Valley Trailhead. The trail is an easy hike of less than a mile and is on a level graveled path.  We parked in the small parking area and began a hike that traveled westbound for about a tenth of a mile until we came to a footbridge that crossed the Colorado River.  At the bridge we were less than 10 miles downstream from the Colorado's headwaters.  From this point the Colorado River travels another 1400 miles before spilling out in the Gulf of California.  

View of Colorado River from footbridge
 

Colorado River flowing through Kawuneeche Valley

We stopped for a moment to take in the views of the Never Summer Mountains and the western slope of the Continental Divide. We were sad to see the condition of the lodgepole pines in the RMNP and how they have suffered due to the pine beetle infestation.
 

Never Summer Mountains

At another four-tenths of a mile we reached the end of the trail, or loop, and turned to walk back to the parking area.  We had hoped to see moose, elk, or coyotes in the valley but on this hike the only wildlife we saw were various birds. 

Spotted Sandpiper

Adams Falls, RMNP, Colorado

The first area of the Rocky Mountain National Park that we explored was Adams Falls.  We made our way to the East Inlet Trailhead off West Portal Road just east of Grand Lake, Colorado.  There is parking and restroom facilities available at the trailhead. 

Map of area

We began our hike at the East Inlet Trailhead.  This trail uses natural materials from the area to give it a harmonious appearance.  The East Inlet Trail was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.  After hiking through pines and aspens, for about one-third of a mile, we reached the Adams Falls Trail.

Adams Falls from overlook

The Adams Falls Trail is a semi-lop that reconnects with the East Inlet Trail in less than two-tenths of a mile.  At the connection we turned right and hiked the short distance to an overlook of the falls.

Adams Falls from overlook

Adams falls if an impressive waterfall that drops roughly 55 feet in a series of steps through a narrow rock gorge.  From the overlook we hiked up to the top of the falls where we had an other impressive view of the falls from above.  From this point we could see Grand Lake in the distance.

Unlike the Adams Tunnels (see earlier post) the falls and nearby Mt. Adams were named after Jay E. Adams, an early settler of Grand Lake who arrived in the late 1800s.



View of  Mt. Adams

From the top of the falls our hike continued a short distance and hooked up to the East Inlet Trail once again.  We turned left at the junction and headed back to the parking lot.  If we had enough time and energy we could have turned right at the junction and hiked  about a half-mile to the confluence of the East Inlet Creek and Echo Creek. We understand that there is a beautiful meadow of wildflowers near the confluence and moose are frequently spotted in the area.