Clare Tone

Happy Trails – Hermit Park / Moose Meadow Trail / Homestead Meadows

Archives-Trails History /

By Suzanne Webel Thank you, Larimer County, for Hermit Park!!! Goodbye, Lion Gulch, and good riddance. I have spent many hours over the past thirty years trying to find a better access to one of my favorite haunts: Homestead Meadows. And for 30 years I have been frustrated by the steep, rocky Lion Gulch Trail, by private property owners blocking access to the National Forest, by no-public-access conservation easements, and by impassable four-wheel-drive only roads. Then, in 2007, Larimer County stepped up to the plate in a magnificent way and purchased Hermit Park from Hewlett Packard, thereby opening up a very civilized, scenic, and historic access to Homestead Meadows. Even more miraculously, they took less than a year to open the entire property to the public, complete with trailheads, cabins, picnic areas, campgrounds, and – gasp – some nice trails! Land managers in the People’s Republic might note that Larimer County Parks and Open Lands feels that it is doing a good job protecting its natural resources and welcoming the public to enjoy those resources, and came to that conclusion without much drama in a reasonable amount of time! Access the property from Highway 36 just east of the crest in the road before it descends to Estes Park. At the time of this writing there is a nominal fee of $6 per vehicle. Stop in for a map, if you wish, and proceed up the dirt road to the Kruger Rock Parking Lot, the Kruger Equestrian campsites (!), or to the Homestead Meadows Parking Lot.   […]

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National Public Lands Day

archives, Archives-Advocacy & public lands /

Your Invited! It’s National Public Lands Day Saturday, September 30th 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM  This is your invitation to participate with BCHA and Boulder County Parks & Open Space in a fun morning of building a new equestrian trail at Heil Valley Ranch.  This new trail will connect the new horse trailer parking / trailhead at Heil and two other new trails with the existing trail system. Show your appreciation for public lands by joining up with the project!We will be fine-tuning the new pedestrian/equestrian connector at Heil Valley Ranch. The work will be moderately strenuous and will include the use of hand tools such as McLeods, pick mattocks, and your brawn. It is about a 15 minute walk away from the parking lot and your vehicles, so it is a good idea to bring a backpack to carry water, snacks, clothes, etc. Location:  “The Corrals” at Heil Valley Ranch 2-1952 Geer Canyon Dr, Boulder, CO 80302 Click for Map Directions to the “Corrals” at Heil Valley Ranch: From Boulder:  Travel north on Foothills Highway 36.  Turn left on Lefthand Canyon Drive.  Turn right on Geer Canyon Drive, and drive 0.3 miles.  Meeting location and parking will be on the left just before the road turns from paved to dirt. From Longmont:  Travel west on Nelson Road, then turn left on Foothills Highway 36.  Turn right on Lefthand Canyon Drive.   Turn right on Geer Canyon Drive and drive 0.3 miles.  Meeting location and parking will be on the left just before the road turns from paved

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Happy Trails – Lagerman Agricultural Preserve

Archives-Trails History /

By Suzanne Webel It’s taken more than 25 years for Boulder County and the City of Boulder to cobble together a complex assemblage of nine properties comprising more than 2100 acres, now known as the Lagerman Agricultural Preserve – but it’s done. And the new trail system, comprising the existing 1.6 miles at Lagerman Reservoir and 4.9 miles at AHI (the former “Double Dove”) is now open. Park at the P shown on the attached map at Lagerman Reservoir, on the south side of Pike Road. This trailhead parking facility has a shelter, picnic tables and a boat ramp, as well as 27 vehicle spaces and 5 designated pull-through Horse Trailer/Boat spaces (!). For a short ride with amazing panorama views of the Continental Divide, proceed clockwise around the lake. Be aware that the western half of this trail is closed seasonally from April 1- August 31 for various bird species; the 2012 management plan included many comments from the public requesting that the seasonal closure be lifted, but the county decided to continue it “at this time” (meaning that if enough additional comments are received the decision might be reversed). As you ride across the dam, we hope you will appreciate the new spillway trail bypass that makes this trail a safer experience for everyone, especially equestrians. The Management Plan calls for another trail, approximately 1.25 miles long, that will connect Lagerman Reservoir south to Oxford Road. Stay tuned for that development, or help make it a reality sooner by lobbying for it with county

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Rabbit Mountain Open Space

archives, Archives-Trails History /

By Suzanne Webel Prologue, written in October 2017. Recently I’ve spent a lot of time (again) learning about elk, this time in the context of Rabbit Mountain. In the past few years a growing herd of elk has decided that Rabbit Mountain is a great place to hang out. In spite of Boulder County Parks and Open Space’s mission of providing a haven for wildlife with no hunting, Colorado Parks & Wildlife (CPW) has decided there are too many elk. So they imposed an elk hunt that will close the park to the public for half of every week, for half of every year, so that two hunters a week can have the entire park to themselves while they “harvest” a couple dozen animals a year. The theory is that hunting will inconvenience the elk into migrating off Rabbit Mountain. Whether trails actually inconvenience wildlife seems to be a perennial debate. Over the years we have asked for new trails on many BCPOS parks, and been told repeatedly that trails inconvenience wildlife so we can’t have more trails. Here, we suggested that staff should build at least the trails that have already been approved, especially if the goal is to inconvenience the elk. The first Rabbit Mountain management plan was written in 1984, when the park consisted of about 560 acres, and the plan promised some really nice trails. One short trail was built. By 1995 when the next management plan was written, the park had grown to more than 2400 acres, and more trails were

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Add a Serving of Caution to that Tender Spring Grass

Community News /

By Dr. Juliet Getty Spring is almost upon us in most of the country, so it’s time to revisit that critical topic: spring grazing. Transitioning a horse from hay to pasture must be handled with care; this point is non-negotiable. For every horse, a gradual change from hay to grass is required to allow the digestive system to adapt, but for the insulin-resistant horse, grazing time and duration can make the difference between soundness and a disabling condition like laminitis. This time of year can be a test of patience for horse—and owner. The horse may be pawing at the gate to get to the first taste of tender spring grass, yet the owner must pay close attention to making the transition safe and healthful. The first spring sprouts are actually lower in sugars and starch (non-structural carbohydrates—NSC) because they use all that energy to promote their own rapid growth. As the leaves form, the overall sugar and starch content increases, making it especially tempting. Regardless of the growth stage, quantities should be monitored because horses crave fresh grass and will eat volumes of it, making their overall NSC consumption really high—dangerously high for horses who are overweight, cushingoid, or who have experienced insulin-related laminitis. Temperature and sunlight play a major role in the amount of NSC accumulation. To be safe, here are the rules: When the night temperature is below 40 degrees F, the grass is too high in NSC. Once it gets above 40 degrees F at night, the lowest NSC level is before

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Happy Trails – Picket Wire Canyon

archives, Archives-Trails History /

By Suzanne Webel This trail had been on my bucket list, for just about ever. It was reported to be enormous and gorgeous, with dinosaur tracks, prehistoric rock art, a Spanish Mission, and a historic ranch….. But it was always a bit too far, too remote, and too … well, just too unknowable. And then there was the small matter of the US Army declaring it wanted to expand its Fort Carson Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site (PCMS) by taking over the entire 400,000 acre Comanche National Grassland — including Picketwire Canyon — and turning it into a bombing range. Starting in 2003, the plan would have condemned an additional 6.4 million acres of land owned by private citizens, making the total project area three times larger than any other military base in the United States, larger in area than the states of Maryland and Massachusetts combined, and displacing more than 17,000 residents. Sight unseen, I figured that was a pretty bad idea, so I joined up with other trail advocates, geologists, archaeologists, and ranchers to oppose the Army’s expansion plans. After a decade of pitched political battles, on 25 November 2013 the U.S. Army announced that its plan to expand the Piñon Canyon Maneuver site had been cancelled. So, naturally, by early spring of 2014 I had organized an equestrian expedition to check it all out. Warnings: Picketwire is a very long drive from Boulder County, approximately 5 hours. The area is next to a bombing range There is no designated horse camping and no water

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Tips for Driving a Horse Trailer on Mountain Roads and in Other Adverse Conditions

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By Suzanne Webel After almost 40 years of driving a horse trailer on our mountain roads I hardly ever give it a thought any more. But the other day, when I suggested to a riding partner that we meet at the top of Flagstaff Road and she demurred, it occurred to me that an essay on “Driving a Horse Trailer on Mountain Roads” was long overdue. And then I thought, heck – why not also compile a bunch of ideas about safe driving “In Other Adverse Conditions.” So here are some tips gleaned from my own experience and that of a few other folks. The disclaimer: I am not a professional, and I am not an attorney. Drive at your own risk. Know your rig and its limitations, and have it checked frequently by a qualified mechanic. Don’t drive alone, unless you know where you’re going. Let someone else know where you’re going and when you estimate you’ll be back. When in doubt, just don’t do it. But if you decide to go for it, enjoy the ride. Plan Ahead Defensive driving requires all drivers to plan and to think ahead. As the driver of a large rig, you must be continually aware of the other traffic around you, because you will need to make wide turns, you will be driving more slowly than others, braking takes longer, and you need more space in traffic. Try to avoid narrow roads during rush hour traffic. If you are driving in an unfamiliar area, ask someone (possibly a

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Share Your Story: One Wild Ride #4

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The One Wild Ride mustang group wishes everyone a Happy New Year! Recently the discussion of trucks have come up. Every cowgirl or cowboy knows the importance of a good truck for your special horse, as well as a good trailer. Junior year is usually the year in which a high schooler starts driving, and as soon as we turn 16 many of us are on the roads. As of Winter Break, Maggie has gotten her first truck, a cherry red F-150, complete with a trailer hitch to pull a bumper pull horse trailer. My work with Drifter has been paying off. A few weeks ago, he was having trouble with transitioning into a lope, and would tend to bolt. For the smaller girls that ride him, this was a complication. Upon the arrival of the 110th National Western Stock Show, I proposed the idea of riding in the Kick Off Parade. With just three weeks to spare, we rounded up a group of 10 riders, and created a few formations to be able to wow the crowd. I was nervous, due to the fact that I was riding Drifter, and even though he had been riding better, this was his first parade. Most people choose to have the first parade for their horse be a small town gathering, with just a few groups of people on the sidelines, a few flags and parade floats, definitely not the National Western Stock Show Parade, harboring over 60 groups of riders, hundreds of horses, flags, and cheering people. As

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Bison Back Home on the Range in Larimer County

archives, Archives-Advocacy & public lands /

If you have never had the opportunity to visit this Open Space in Larimer County either by foot, horse or bike you should. Rich in PaleoIndian history, with a Clovis site and buffalo kill site, this is a true open space gem. On November 1st an iconic species, buffalo, was returned to the prairie. Ten bison, carrying on the valuable line of genetics from the Yellowstone herd but without the disease brucellosis, now roam 1,000 fenced acres of the Red Mountain Open Space and Soapstone Prairie Natural Area. The buffalo are only visible from the roadway near the Soapstone Prairie access. For photos and more visit the Larimer County Facebook page. To support the herd and help fund fencing, supplies and veterinary staff you may donate to advancing.colostate.edu/BISON. LindaP

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Do Horses Spread Weeds Along Trails?

Advocacy-public lands-resources /

A follower, Randy W, recently sent me this article for Horse Science News. This issue has been under discussion many times in the Boulder area and here is a recent study that disproves the old question: Do horses spread weeds? Do Horses Spread Weeds Along Trails? By Liz Osborn, HorseScienceNews.com Horses have been blamed for scattering unwanted weeds across the landscape as they travel down public trails. This accusation has now been scientifically investigated. The results reassure trail riders that horses in the United States are not guilty as charged. Research probed from several different angles the possibility of horses causing non-native plants to take root alongside trails. The raw material examined was horse hay, manure and hoof debris. Samples were collected at endurance riding events in five states: North Carolina, Kentucky, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan. The study investigated whether weeds would germinate from the material when carefully cultivated in pots under ideal conditions. Researchers also looked at what grew from the horse debris left alongside trails. They found that only a tiny portion of the potted hay samples actually sprouted any non-native plants. Meanwhile, no exotic species emerged among the cultivated manure or hoof debris. Alongside the horse endurance trails, nearly 300 plots of hay, manure and hoof debris that got left behind were monitored to see what plants they produced. Only three of these plots sprouted anything, and all were native plants. By the end of the second growing season, no plants had survived in the trailside leavings. A third angle of this study compared plant

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