The Big South trail is an out-and-back hike with many possibilities for how far up the Poudre River you want to go. The trail will satisfy anyone who wants a first-hand experience of what the river's upper reaches are like (even though the trek into Rocky Mountain National Park, to the river's source at Poudre Lake, is only recommended for those who are prepared for a river fording). We chose the six-mile hike, where the destination is Goose Creek. Unfortunately, a small emergency caused us to turn back, a little short of our goal.

Still, the Big South trail is said to be one of the best hikes in Poudre Canyon, and we agree. The views up- and downstream are amazing. They give you a sense of how the entire canyon, including the canyon's lower reaches near Ted's Place, must have looked back in the 1860s, when Euro-Americans first started coming up here in earnest.

When we looked away from the river, we saw the mountain slopes streaked with patches of yellow, as the aspen trees at higher elevations had already changed color. We also saw the dead lodgepole pine and the bark beetle's toll.

Closer to the level of our calves, a Rosa species lined the trail. The plants weren't large, often only a foot in height and sparsely branched. Probably the rose was R. acicularis (prickly wild rose) or R. woodsii (Wood's rose), both of which inhabit Northern Colorado and often stump experts in the characters separating them. Whatever the rose's identification, its orange and red hips glistened in the fall light.