Elbow Fork is a trail we did on accident. We were somehow convinced that Elbow Fork was Bowman Fork. You can see the Bowman Fork Trail from many of the ridges along Elbow Fork. Ultimately this trail, while similar in difficulty, will not take you anywhere near the same destination as Bowman Fork. Despite all that though, Elbow Fork was a fairly decent trail to hike. It was challenging, as it is quite steep in some places; and, had some great places to rest and look around in the shade. We met a few other hikers and runners on this trail, even late on a week day. So this seems to be a well frequented destination. We found about 3 pounds of all kinds of trash including wrappers, bottles, chew cans, caps, cigarette butts, etc.

Willow Heights was a trip we took during one of the hottest days of June this year. We wanted to head up away from the hot air of the valley. After making a quick stop at Hidden Falls we found ourselves bounding up this well marked trail. The dense Aspen forest kept us well shaded, and within half an hour we had already made it to the mountain meadow just before the lake. The view here is incredible, the skyline is littered with mountain peaks to the south and forest everywhere else. At the lake, we watched a single duck dive and resurface multiples, heard birds chirping, and found plenty of animal tracks in the mud. We found minimal trash, mostly plastic wrappers. 

​Hidden Falls was a great place to stop on our way to Willow Heights. The waterfall made the air in the small ravine quite cool compared to the hot air of the valley. We stopped here to look around and cool off; and, it was well worth it. This short walk up the stream is quite a popular destination, even mid-day we encountered several people from different groups relaxing near the falls. We found several plastic water bottles, broken glass, and plastic wrappers scattered across this destination.