I was off at sunrise heading east on highway 34 towards Greeley Colorado. Full from a hardy breakfast at one of the early open restaurants near I-25 I had planned the day hike around the Pawnee Grasslands. It was a pleasant drive east even though the sun became overly bright after the red-orange sunrise. The air was clear this morning and the Rockies were clearly visible in my rear view mirror. Photo by Dan Keating

In fact the Rockies were so clear I had to stop and get out before reaching Greeley  to take a good look. You see I have lived here all my life and a clear view of the front range is a rare thing now-a-days. When I was a youngster it was an every day occurrence but with all the folks moving here and the increased automobiles and other industrial pollutants the air has become increasingly dirty. I turned north on a county road and drove for about 20 or so miles until I hit Colorado 14 and then headed east toward Ault. Highway 14 run right into the Pawnee around Briggsdale Colorado if you are looking at the map

But enough negative thought onwards for a brief stop in Ault at the small grocery store. Looking for every day aspirin and water. Found the water but they do not carry aspirin. Which leaves me with the impression that the small quiet town of Ault has no headaches or small aches and pains like me.

From Ault it is about a 15 minute drive east until you reach the first portions of the Pawnee Grasslands designated as National. The grassland contain close to 200,000  acres of prairie and there are   private farms and ranches scattered throughout that adds to the immensity. It stretches east from highway 85/87, north to the Wyoming border and south to Highway 14. Most of my exploring is done from north and east of Briggsdale a small town on highway 14.

A short drive further east from Briggsdale you reach county road 103 and a small green sign pointing left to Koeta. This little town is not on any maps nor is it referenced in any literature I could find. There is a map at the Colorado visitors center on Prospect and I-25 that shows it on a wall mural map as a ghost town. Which it really is not Koeta does have at least a couple of families there both I believe work for Weld County road division.

About a 15 minute drive north of highway 14 finds the ghost town of Koeta at an intersection of three county roads.  One of these roads is the abandoned railroad right of way of the CB&O railroad. You can actually see Koeta from quite a distance as an old water tower is still standing black against the sky. There do seem to be people living there and they appear to be with Weld County. There is some rock foundations and a few uninhabited houses and one large building that at on time looked like the corner general store or bar in old western movies but is now in total disrepair.

I continued east from town and shortly turned north following the carved wooden signs that say Pawnee Buttes. About a mile out of town is an interesting study in history and present day caring. There is an old cemetery here that still is in use although infrequently. The head stones date from the late 1800's to 2002. Many young people and small children are buried here which I think shows the hard life that people in this area endured trying to make farming work.

The one unusual feature was that ever headstone or marker no matter how crude had a stuffed animal beside it. The ranged from daffy duck, Elmo, dogs, cats elephants and just about everything else imaginable. Some were very new and showed they were recent additions. The wind must play havoc with them yet they are still there. I don't know who or how many people are involved, since there is nothing in sight except the Koeta water tower, but someone cares and it is evident.

About another 15 or 20 minutes and you arrive at the Pawnee Buttes. There are two parking areas on to the west is the upper parking and the one to the east is the lower parking area. These are my descriptions not theirs. The upper parking area is at the trail head and observation point where you can view down from the northern buttes or start the main trail down into the flats and continue between the buttes to the base of the furthest butte east. The trail ends at the base of the east butte. This trail is 4 miles round trip.

On this day I took the lower parking area and started off cross country around the east side of the butte. I spent about 5 hours walking exploring, meditating and enjoying the suns warmth from the rocks. Walking across country is not trail walking and is much rougher on my old body but sometimes it's worth it for the quiet and solitude that it offers. There was not another human in site all day and sometimes that can be a great joy.

If you are a walker or hiker and have not explored the Pawnee National Grassland it is very different,  beautiful, desolate and very enjoyable. Written by Dan Keating