Did this as first part of a two day,, one night backpacking trip. 57 year old flatlander found the elevation gain of 1610 feet over 6.5 miles exerting but manageable. Trail generally good condition and easy to follow. Stream crossing was a little unclear but happily someone had it marked with stones on the other side of the creek. Mostly shade for me, camped up near Buffalo meadows. Had the place to myself. No people or animal sightings at all. Very pleasant.
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June 30. Wildflowers in bloom! Lots of water in the creek and small sections are mini streams themselves. Mostly easy hiking and easy downhill if coming from Rich Creek trail. Dog had a good time. Lots of signs of moose activity but no animal encounters. I did this early, some sections might be hot later in the day. Had it to myself.
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Did this June 29, as my first solo overnight! Started at Rich creek trailhead, road there had a lot of holes and washouts but manageable with my SUV. Trailhead only had four cars at 9am on a Tuesday. I saw NO ONE for two days. Took the route counter-clockwise because I wanted day two to be mostly downhill Found Rich creek trail to be mostly shaded and all up. Generally path was very easy to follow but was happy creek crossing was marked with stack of stones. Camped in the trees about six miles in at a site with a fire ring, though no fires allowed. Multiple good camping spots around this area, as well as a few a few miles sooner. Sooo quiet. Not even many birds. No bugs. Day 2 closed the loop with Tumbling Creek trail. This was mostly easy downhill and much wetter than Rich creek trail. Small bits (10-20 feet in length) of the trail were mini-streams in places. The one crossing with the logs was sketch. Lots of water.. I had my dog with me and there was no way he was doing the mash of logs. We waded in about a foot of water. He did good, I went partially down thanks to ill advised flip flop use. Next section had some sun though so dried quick. No animal sightings but tons of fresh moose evidence. Wildflowers all over the place of every variety imaginable. This was my 4th day in Colorado. I live at sea level. My tubby 57 year old body found day one elevation gain of 1600 feet taxing. It took me 5 hours to do the 6.47 miles day one. Day 2 hada gain of 308 feed and a decline of 1494. This one took 3.5 hours for 5.53 miles because I kept stopping to take pictures of the views and the flowers. I would rate this hike as moderate, not difficult. It was a lovely backpacking experience made even better in that I had it to myself!
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