The Flat Tops!

Of all the mountain ranges I know, the Flat Tops are one of the best. Like my other favorites the San Juans in SW Colorado and the Uintas in Utah, the Flat Tops are wide open with lots of rolling terrain and extensive vistas. Wildlife love ranges like this, and so do walkers. I haven't been in the Flat Tops since The Everett Ruess Trail hike in 2001. Now that we'll be calling Steamboat Springs home, we'll be spending a lot more time in these great mountains.



The eastern side of the Flat Tops from the Colorado River Road.



You can never escape the paranoiacs.



The Middle Fork Derby Creek road is rough but just awesome.












The Parking Lot.



In the morning I tried to get on top of this...Derby Peak...



...but was thwarted by laziness and steep snow.





Still managed to see foxes, elk, grouse, and deer. And good views to the bigger Colorado mountains to the south.







Springtime in the Rockies.