Our Hike to Lulu City and Little Yellowstone - Rocky Mountain National Park

Our traditional photograph of the trail sign

On Monday, we rose early and met up with my cousin Sarah at Rocky Mountain National Park for the hike to Lulu City.  We were all pretty excited about this hike, because we had heard good things about it on a hiker's blog. 

The trail to Lulu City is fairly smooth and broad, and it climbs slowly and gently as it winds through its lovely scenery.  Most of the hike follows the Colorado River, which is a small and unassuming stream at that point.

A pool alongside the river in the little mountain meadow

This little guy really wanted our lunches, but he couldn't quite get up the courage to come close.  He would sneak up to within 2-3 feet of one of us, then dash away like mad.

We stopped for lunch here at the site of Lulu City.  Lulu City was a small mining town in the 1800's, with a population of 200.  Only a few logs from the foundations of two of the cabins are visible.  We did see some of the silver-mining equipment along the trail, but it wasn't much.  The views of the mountains and the Colorado River were splendid, however.

Another view from our lunch stop.  That water was cold!

After lunch, we discussed the possibility of continuing on to Little Yellowstone Canyon.  We had heard that it was worth seeing, and we were only a mile or so from it.  The unanimous decision was to push on to Little Yellowstone, and we are very glad we did.  It offered some interesting adventures.

Annie is making her way across the stream on the rocks.  There is supposed to be a bridge here.

On the way up, we encountered a pair of hikers who informed us that, "The bridge is out, but it is easy to get across anyway."  Well, the bridge was out- actually several bridges were out!  During the spring snowmelt, the Colorado had experienced a flash flood that sent uprooted trees, boulders, rocks, and gravel down the river.  The bridges could be seen in most cases, and we could even walk on them.  The problem was that they pointed downstream instead of across.  Not a big deal, though, because the same flood had left plenty of rocks to cross on.  Nobody fell in, much to the disappointment of some of our party.

In this picture, you can see one of the "altered" bridges amid the debris.  This must have been quite a flood.

Looking up Little Yellowstone Canyon

We made it to Little Yellowstone Canyon after a slightly more strenuous hike.  It was well worth it, though we didn't obtain any pictures that do it justice.  What you can see in the above photo is only half the depth of the canyon.  Below the trees, it plunges down to the river in steep cliffs.  We all walked out to the rim to get a better look.  Annie and Sarah sat right on the edge, and Daddy walked out there to see what he could see.  Being afraid of heights, I didn't go quite so close.  I did, however, get a fine view, and so did Momma.

The total mileage of our hike ended up slightly over 10 miles, and we were pretty tired at the end.  Daddy took us to eat at a restaurant in Grand Lake, which was near our trailhead.  The food was great, but we'd have enjoyed it even if it wasn't.  Momma, Daddy, and I each got a burger, Sarah had a grilled salmon sandwich, and Annie ordered a salad.  Mmmm!  Before we headed back to Fort Collins, we found a coffee shop.  Perfect.