Joche Wizlo: Lyons Gulch Trail

Since I didn't have to work until later in the day, Jo and I decided to get out and put our snowshoes to work. We couldn't drive too far because of time restrictions, but of course Jo had a trail in mind that was pretty close, so after hitting the local bagel shop for a few necessary supplies, we drove 45 minutes or so to the Lyons Gulch trailhead. I saw it spelled both ways (Lion and Lyon, ) so I use the two interchangebly.

We were both feelin' good and ready to go.

There were clouds in the sky that made it a chillier day than it otherwise would have been, but in between the rolling clouds the blue sky would come out and light everything up, and it was so beautiful.

The trail was empty, which was surprising since it is supposed to be a really popular trail. It leads to a series of homesteads from the 1800s. We knew we didn't have time to see them all, as they're pretty spread out, but our goal was to make it to the first one and back, a trip of about 6 miles. The trail crisscrossed a small creek seven times. The water was mostly covered up with ice and snow, but you could still hear the gurgle of the running water, a sound we always find welcoming.

We followed some puma tracks for part of the trail. I don't care what you say, Jo. They were puma tracks.

The obligatory trail shot.

And some random fluff, including snow-covered rocks (this would have been a cool B&W shot) and some animal tracks in the snow. We saw lots of tracks besides the puma's, including hare and squirrel. I'm still waiting to see a snowshoe hare in person, but no luck on this trip.

As the trees started thinning out, we could sense we were getting close to the homestead meadows.

At this point we were walking on unbroken snow, which luckily wasn't too deep at all.

And then we were there! We came across this old frozen trough. One of the way the homesteaders made a living was to raise cattle, and this trough is a remnant of that venture. A little ahead was the Walker Homestead.

A sign explains Sarah Walker of England was the only woman to homestead in this area. She moved here in 1908. There are conflicting stories on whether she moved to the area after seperating from her husband or after he died. All sources agree she lived in this homestead by herself. Imagine being alone trying to build a home and make a living. Sarah had a garden, a milk cow, chickens and a spring. She didn't have a horse so she would hike down to what is now Highway 36 to sell her eggs and cream. She would hitchhike to Lyons for supplies. Walker lived here for 15 years, then moved to Lyons. The property changed hands several times and was even used a schoolhouse at one time.

All that is left of it now are some rocks from the foundation, a rusty old bedsprings and the rusty old stove, as well as various small artifacts strewn about.

We were both hungry and decided this was as good a place as any to eat, so we invited ourselves into the Walker Homestead, at least what was left of it, and busted out one of our favorite trailfoods. BAGELS!