Hiking Trails and Trips
Trips
"Drunken Sailors!"...that's what our track looks like. Our goal was to summit "the hump" on "The Camel" (8,408'). We did, and rambled around the area, since it was all USFS land.For extra credit, I thought we might be able to climb the "head", as well as the "hump". NOT! The head is a whole different ball game. Got stuck at the crux. Class-4 minimum, likely low Class-5. Climbing shoes would have been better than boots,...
Cherokee SWA, Lone Pine Loop, Ranked Peaks 7322 & 7835
Mishawaka, Colorado, United States
Hiking | 12.2 miles
Hiking | 12.2 miles
Trekking through the Lone Pine Unit of the Cherokee State Wildlife Area, with hopes of tagging a couple of Larimer county ranked peaks was an interesting ridge-walking experience. And since it is a designated wildlife area, prime hunting area, you'd hope to see the elk, mule deer and moose that we encountered.Right off, crossing the swollen Lone Pine Creek was a challenge. I chose to cross on a submerged log, that was dropped...
Many Thunders Mountain (8,540') -- Aborted
Red Feather Lakes, Colorado, United States
Hiking | 6.2 miles
Hiking | 6.2 miles
"Close, but no cigars"....Got within 200' laterally and 10' vertically of the true summit of Many Thunders Mountain (8,540'), but decided to call it quits. It's still there, and I'll tag it on another day.My partner got bummed-out 600' laterally from the true summit. The Vedauwoo-like rock, which is "sticky" for good friction climbing, was slippery due to the 2" of soft, melting snow cover.I continued on for another 400', tagging the false...
These two "soft-shouldered", low-elevation peaks are easy to do, and do offer some nice panoramic views of the Indian Peaks at the the summit. And for the bucket-listers, Taylor is a ranked peak in Boulder county.A few points:The highest point on Taylor is actually about 50' NW of the cairn, near a lean-to.We dropped 320' of vertical bushwack on the return, on the NE side of Taylor. Our hope was to find...
I don't have a "bucket list", but fortunately others I hike with do. I was invited on an off-trail hike to tag Larimer County's ranked peaks 8722 and 8820. And even these lowly 8,000' peaks offered a wonderful view of the Red Feather Lakes area. You can see Wyoming to the north, Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park to the south, and the Medicine Bow Range to the west. Great views!Both peaks have false summits nearby,...
Deer Mountain (10,013') Traverse, RMNP
Fall River Estates Subdivision, Colorado, United States
Hiking | 5.4 miles
Hiking | 5.4 miles
If you have a couple of cars in your group, considering doing a point-to-point shuttle hike across the east and west slope of Deer Mountain. The east slope is very different than the west in the winter...you'll have to punch through snow drifts near the summit.Everybody does the west slope, but the east slope will offer you a bit of off trail. Distance wise, the traverse is much different than a round-trip...
A good friend offered to share a mystery hike with us on this fine, mountain weather day. Early on, it became apparent that we were headed to Miller Rock, since we were on the Miller Rock Trail. What wasn't apparent was the ghost town...Gresham.It was a real surprise to encounter Gresham, and explore the two remaining buildings in the former mining camp, one a cabin, the other the post office. Gresham's post...
North Fork of Cache la Poudre, From Eagle's Nest to Gateway
Laporte, Colorado, United States
Hiking | 9.4 miles
Hiking | 9.4 miles
This trip presents 10 miles of the 60 mile long North Fork, a major tributary of the Cache la Poudre..."Hide the powder" (French). A substantial part of the route is off-trail, beginning in the Eagle's Nest Open Space in Livermore, and ending at the confluence of the North Fork and the Cache la Poundre, Gateway Natural Area.My last trip on the North Fork, was just a short 1/4 mile jaunt, less than...
The USGS list 33 "Sheep" Mountains in Colorado. This "Sheep" Mtn is within 12 miles of the "Sheep" Mtn I visited last week. And, I can report that there are sheep on this Sheep Mountain!It's an easy off-trail climb, with a well defined summit...but no view. Once you reach the summit, if you hike a bit to the south, you'll be rewarded with a view of the entire Lumpy Ridge and the...
Funny how mountains are like people: approach them from a different angle, and you might see a different character. My previous hike in 2010 of Sheep Mtn followed the well-worn trail to a less than impressive summit.This time we chose to go off-trail at the "pot rock", and follow the ridge to the summit. The summit hasn't changed, but the 1,100' of vertical bushwhacking was a joy. Rock outcrops had to be navigated along...
Lyric Falls is not much to see in the Winter...a cascade covered in a blanket of snow. But it was fun going off-trail, and climbing around and over the boulder field...without snowshoes. Suddenly you'd punch through the 1-1/2 ft of snow and drop into the interstitial space, and find your self waist deep...and your boot wedged between the boulders.Looking forward to coming back in the Spring, and seeing the Lyric cascade over the...
Hidden Falls is a well known ice climbing site, but vanishes during the summer. The flow becomes just a seep, maybe that's why they call it Hidden? With the drought that Colorado experienced this year, even the winter "flow" seems to be vanishing.Since I had some time left after Hidden Falls, thought I'd do some extra credit and catch the other water features on the Wild Basin Trail: Calypso Cascades, Ouzel Falls,...
Crosier Mountain (9,250'), W Shoulder, Long/Sullivan Gulch
Waltonia, Colorado, United States
Hiking | 8.2 miles
Hiking | 8.2 miles
How many ways can you can the summit on Crosier Mountain?Inspired by Mountain Jim's "Other Routes on Crosier Mountain", we chose to approach the summit from the off-trail route on the westerly shoulder. We combined a couple of gulch routes previously done to get to the saddle, 750' below the summit.We ascended Long Gulch, to reach the saddle. Ascended the westerly shoulder, to the summit. Descended the Crosier Mtn Trail to Drake...
If you google "Stanley Canyon", you'll pull up a ton of trip reports. Kind of amazing that it is so popular, considering that you need USAF clearance to be able to access the restricted trail-head. So I'll only add a few data points to collection of observations.About 1/4 mile from the trail-head, the trail begins a 24% or about a 14° on average climb for the next full mile. It's not the...
What do the following have in common:John Lennon's "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds".1966 remake of John Ford's "Stagecoach", starring Bing Crosby.Blue azurite.Arabian horses.Answer: Boulder County's Caribou Ranch Open Space.You'll find this to be an easy hike, trail well marked, virtually no vertical (400' climbing), and easy to get to trail-head.Two features are the high points of the Open Space, and connect the bulleted items above:1863 DeLonde Homestead (orig spelling "DeLande").Blue Bird...
Panorama Peak (9,284') to Pole Hill Powerplant
Estes Park, Colorado, United States
Hiking | 9.7 miles
Hiking | 9.7 miles
Spatial connectivity, or "connect the dots" is what my experience was with this off-trail hike. Earlier in the year, I had explored on the north side of the North Fork of the Little Thompson ("Little T") drainage, seeing the summit of Sugarloaf Mountain and other neighboring ranked peaks. This hike...explore the south side of the "Little T", and orient my previous hikes in the area.Panorama Peak (Pano Peak), our highest elevation, is not...
Signal Mountain (11,262') & South Signal Mountain (11,248'), via Dunraven TH
Glen Haven, Colorado, United States
Hiking | 11.7 miles
Hiking | 11.7 miles
My last attempt on Oct 12, 2011 to reach the Signals, was done-in by difficult route finding in the snow, and shortness of daylight. Finally, the trail was mostly visible, and both summits were tagged.Interesting views from the summits. Of course, Longs and it's neighbors, and the Mummys. But the Never Summer Range, and the Snowy Range as well. Even Pikes Peak!But what I found interesting was a view of Crown Point...
Mount Lady Washington (13,288')-Aborted, RMNP
Estes Park, Colorado, United States
Hiking | 8.0 miles
Hiking | 8.0 miles
The thought was to tag the summits of both Storm Peak (13,326') and Mt Lady Washington (13,288'). The reality of it was that the 60 MPH gusts made a summit attempt look foolish. The A-Team made it to within 500' vertical of Lady Washington, and were being knocked down by the gusts.I had previously summited Mt Lady Washington in late Spring, as a snow climb. This trip was an opportunity to see the...
A hiking friend of mine cleverly called this the "Black & Blue" Lakes trip. Blue Lake is +500' above Black Lake, and well worth the extra effort. The vertical stats shown on ET are wrong: 2100' of climbing, not 3400'.Blue Lake is situated on a slab shelf below Storm Peak, but well above Glacier Gorge. You'll be able to look down the Gorge and see the distant Mummy Range, Mills & Jewel...
Creedmore Lakes via Peaks 8220, 8340, & 8435
Red Feather Lakes, Colorado, United States
Hiking | 10.5 miles
Hiking | 10.5 miles
Just a fun day, exploring an area 4 miles north of Red Feather Lakes with some good climbing friends. Our goal was to tag the summits of 3 Larimer County ranked peaks on the way to Creedmore Lakes.We experienced high winds...the Red Feather station recorded 40 mph gusts. Unfortunately I was not able to tag the summit of Peak 8220. The climb required what looked like a Class-4 (actually Class-5.6, see Tips...
