Lory State Park - 6-11 and 6-12 2011
 

Rollin and I decided to go backpacking and stay overnight in one of the six back country camping spots.
This was Rollin's first backpacking trip.
 

We chose to start at Arthur's Rock trailhead (5,600') and climbed west to the Arthur's ridge at 6,600ft.  From the Arthur's Rock intrsection, we headed west to the campsite.

Lots of wild flowers on the trail and I think I got a picture of every flower.

Looking back at the back side of Arthur's Rock to the east.

Horsetooth reservoir and Fort Collins.

Campsites 1-3 are pretty close to the Arthur's Rock intersection, site #2 looked to pretty pretty nice.  This view is beyond campsite #3 and the trail runs along the north side of the ridge resulting in a beautiful forest.

We arrived at our destination, Campsite #5, which is in the northern group of campsites in the park.  We were the only campers in the area, total isolation, 30 minutes from Fort Collins!

We decided to hike to the ridge to the north to get a good view the the city lights.  We waited for the sun to set and watched as the city lights lit the sky.  Several panoramic images follow.

Mt Meeker and Longs Peak to the South.

Looking north from the ridge.

Looking south back at the Arther's Rock ridge.

Coming down from the ridge, we bumped into a doe who was wondering what we were doing up there.

6-12-2011 - We woke up at the crack of dawn, ate breakfast and broke camp. We headed down the timer trail to the north and east to continue the loop.

The ridge we hiked the previous night.