Hiking – Neota and Thunder Peaks

We will meet at the northwest corner of the Fort Collins Northside King Soopers parking lot (1842 N. College Ave).  We will meet at 6:50 and leave at 7am.  Those considering driving should recognize that Long Draw Road is not paved, and there will be occasional obstacles to navigate, but it should be doable with a 2WD vehicle of reasonable clearance.

NOTE: to be added to the trip, please email me, Jim Kelly, at pthread1981@gmail.com.  Also, I am seeking a co-loader for the trip.

This hike includes a tour of three peaks along the Continental Divide including two 12ers, Thunder and Lulu Mountains and will consist of a ridge hike on the border of Rocky Mountain National Park and the Neota Wilderness. We will begin at the La Poudre Pass Trailhead and quickly veer off trail through trees before we head west up the gentle east ridge of Mount Neota, which is primarily grassy but has a little scree.  After approximately 1.5 miles we will reach this summit.  From here we will descend briefly and continue further up the ridge another half mile to the summit of Thunder Mountain.  Here we will stand at the intersection of Larimer, Jackson, and Grand counties.  Continuing south west for a approximately a half mile we will reach Lulu Mountain, the high point of our trip, at 12228 ft.  From here we will continue along the ridge for approximately half a mile to Thunder Pass, where we will take the Thunder Pass Trail south for 1.5 miles until it intersects with the Grand Ditch Trail, at which point we've lost our altitude and we begin our 3.5 mile trek back to the trail head, passing the headwaters of the Colorado River along the way.

Note that in the initial portion we may get a little "misplaced" as we navigate the treed section to gain the ridge, so some course corrections are expected.  Make sure you are prepared with plenty o water for the route as we expect this could take up to eight hours and there are not designated refill spots along the route.  Also ensure you are prepared with adequate footwear for occasional talus/scree and class 2 travel.