1200 Miles West

On Sunday, we met Sara and headed up to Mt. Falcon for a hike.  Originally Sara was going to take us to Herman’s Gulch, but no one was able to verify the snow levels at 10k feet and above, so we’re going to save Herman for another weekend….possibly in July.

When we first arrived at Mt. Falcon, I wasn’t sure what to expected, but Sara mentioned ruins and pieces of a story related to a Presidential Summer Home.  So, we headed down Castle Trail to figure out what was out there.

I was surprised by the number of bikers and trail runners out that morning and after hoofing it up some of those hills, I have a greater respect for the athleticism that it takes.

The first ruins that we came to were that of the house that John Brisben Walker built.  It burned to the ground after being struck by lighting in 1916 after his second wife Ethel died.

After checking out the ruins, we continued down Castle Trail until it intersected with Walker’s Dream which took us up to the second set of ruins.

Looking out from this point, you could see the ruins of the Walker home.

We headed back out to do some more hiking which included Old Ute Trail, Devils Elbow and Meadow Trail.

Somewhere along the way we ran into a wild bird who seemed friendly at first and then proceeded to “attack” Mike.  I thought that it was going to peck his leg, but thankfully he just got tangled in his feed.   Here’s the culprit…

Sara had her pedometer on and we walked something like 16,000 steps or close to 6 miles.  It got a little challenging at the end, but we all pushed through and rewarded ourselves with a little treat afterward.  Sara and I had a salad and Mike had a cheeseburger.

We’re already looking forward to our next hike with Sara!

How many of you can say you have been to the highest point in South Dakota? Thought so, no too many. During our trip to South Dakota we were able to get out and enjoy our first hike of the year. I like my walks in the woods to be challenging so I chose a hike up Harney Peak in South Dakota to make sure our hearts would at least pump a little.

The Black Hills of South Dakota are very scenic with interesting rock formations, beautiful pine trees, and a nice green plushness as compared to Colorado.

One of the neat things along the hike were the Cathedral Spires. Yes those are people on top of those rocks. Fools.

We started at about 6000 feet (we live at 5400 in Colorado) and hiked up to the peak at 7242 feet. With the ups downs on the trip though, my GPS says we gained almost 2000 feet of elevation overall. The view from the top was spectacular and supposedly you could see five states: South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, North Dakota, and Montana. On the day we were there though, someone forgot to turn on the dotted lines so you could pick out the state borders.

There is a lookout tower on the summit that the Forest Service manned until 1967 to keep watch for forest fires.

Here we are, the happy couple, on the peak. I must say that Erin hardly complained at all during the seven mile round trip. Yes, my shirt is a nice bright orange and doubles as a safety signal in an emergency.

We had a great time during our hike and I look forward to the thirteeners and fourteeners we’ll summit this summer.

Mountain goats and white tailed deer, oh my!

We snapped this picture driving down the road. What’s surprising is that these guys weren’t even phased by the cars that were driving by.

Hiking in Custer State Park we rounded the corner to find two white tail deer grabbing an afternoon snack.

Located only 30 miles from Denver, Golden Gate Canyon’s hiking trails offer something for everyone. We had originally selected the Frazer Meadow /Horseshoe Loop Trails, but after speaking with the ranger at the Visitor’s Center we changed our plans and elected to take give the Burro Trail a try:

Burro Trail
Permitted uses: Foot only
Miles paved: 0
Miles non-paved: 4.5
Total distance: 4.5
Usage: Medium
Degree of difficulty: Difficult
Elevation: 7,800

This trail did not appear in our Denver Day Hikes book, so we (aka I) assumed it was a moderate hike like the others we had reviewed in the book. The first mile and half was treacherous, especially since we were out drinking the night before.

Once we had hiked about one-third of the trail, we made it to my favorite area which was the heavily wooded section. Don’t get me wrong, I like to see the scenic views from the edge of the mountain as much as anyone, but it was warm today and it felt nice to walk through the cool forest.

The entire hike took us about two hours to complete, however I don’t think we saw another hiker until we were about 30 minutes from the end. It was nice to spend a morning in the wilderness.

Trail Rating: Moderate to Strenuous
Trail Length: 2.6 Out and back
Elevation: 11,200 to 11,950 feet
Location: Arapaho National Forest

After heading South last weekend, we decided to head West to the front range of the Rockies. Our destination was 10 miles outside of Georgetown, CO.

The directions we had noted that we would need to proceed one mile on rough road until we hit the trailhead. Little did we know that without four wheel drive, probably wouldn’t have made it up (or back down) the road.

Knowing that we would be reaching an elevation of almost 12,000 feet, we made sure that we were prepared. That meant that we dressed accordingly wearing long sleeves while also ensuring that we had full camel packs and a protein bar.

After the first fifteen minutes, I could definitely feel the change in elevation. I was breathing heavier, plus my right ear started hurting. It wasn’t a bad, it felt much like your ears do just before they “pop” on an air plane after take-off. But I kept trekking forward and I’m glad that I did as this was the view from the top of one of the boulders. >>>

We continued on to the second lake on the hike which was actually Silver Dollar Lake.

It was almost 11am by the time we reached the lake and the wind had picked up considerably, dropping the temperature quite a bit. We took a break for about 15 minutes, snacking on our protein bars while also taking a couple of snap shots of each other. That’s me in the bottom picture and YES that is snow…

On our trek back to the car, we must have passed and chatted with six or seven groups of hikers, many with dogs. We’re definitely going to head back to this area again and look forward to some of the other 11 and 12k elevation hikes in the area.

Before arriving in Denver, we decided to visit the Rocky Mountain National Park and set out on our first hike. After purchasing both a year round pass, a topographical map and a guide book, we set out on the Cub Lake trail. There were quite a few hikers out that day, many of them returning from overnight trips. Something Mike and I will tackle one day…

About two miles into the hike we took the following rapids picture. I dipped my fingers into the river and was amazed at how cold the water was.

About three and a half miles into the hike I started to wonder how we would return to the car in the next half mile when it seemed like we were still out in the middle of no where! Well, low and behold, I thought we were out on a four mile hike, but instead it was actually six! After we finished the hike, Mike informed me that he was pleasantly surprised that I made it the entire way without one complaint!

Here’s a picture of me about 3/4 of a mile from the end.

This coming weekend we plan on heading back to Rocky Mountain National Park and look forward to hitting the trails again. We’ll make sure to take our camera and let you know how it was and how we did.

We plan on trying an 11k elevation hike this time around…

On the 18th we headed down to Colorado Springs - approx 70 miles South of Denver - with the intention of visiting Pike’s Peak after a hike at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, which is known for it’s petrified redwood stumps and thousands of detailed fossils of insects and plants. (The picture above shows Mike looking at one of the fossilized redwood tree trunks)

This weekend’s hike was very different from the one we took last week in the Rockies. The terrain flatter and not quite as interesting, but none the less we walked approximately 4 miles.
We started out around Noon and at 90 degrees, it was nice and toasty out there. But with our camel backs and protein bars, we mad it through just fine!

After our hike, we headed down to Cripple Creek as we heard that they had a steam engine that took you on a 45 minute ride up the mountain. Little did we know that the city was hosting the mobile Vietnam Veterans wall. I’ve never seen so many bikers in my life!

We looking for a parking spot for five or ten minutes, Mike was ready to give up and head home, but I convinced him to give it another try and low and behold…we found a spot. During our train ride we learned that hundreds of millions of dollars in gold has been (and continues to be) extracted from the surrounding mountains.

After leaving Cripple Creek we decided to head back to Colorado Springs for dinner. With no direct route back, we decided to take a back road which ended up being an old railroad route.

The road was narrow and the turns were tight, here’s a pictures of what we experienced.

After reaching Colorado Springs we used the GPS to find Phantom Canyon Brewery. We made it in time for happy hour for $2 pints. We reminisced about Grizzly Peak as we enjoyed our beverages.

On the way home we stopped at the outlet mall in Castle Rock…have I mentioned how great the shopping is here? If not, I promise to take anyone who visits to any one of the new out door malls that they have here. And if you’re looking to spend a little money, I’ll even take you to Cherry Creek and you can buy me something from the Louis Vuitton store.