Flying J Ranch Open Space Park; a short hike after a road closure stopped me in my tracks.

I woke up this morning ready to hike a bigger mountain; it was a sunny day, the snow had melted, and I was ready to climb! 

Rosedale Peak is a 13,000 foot peak in the foothills just about an hour from my home.  After checking online, I thought I could make it up the dirt road to access the trailhead at this time of the season.  After an hour drive in clear blue skies with huge peaks all around me, I arrived on the final road to my destination.  The road was closed just 100 yards from the main road and the trailhead was 3 miles farther west up the road.  At this point I decided to park my truck on the side of the road and hike up; it was still a beautiful, secluded and a pretty road.  So I loaded up my gear with two very excited dogs ready to hike, and then sadly realized that I had forgotten one major thing, my hat!  There is no way that I could hike at 10,000 feet without a hat in 35 degree weather.  Disappointed, I went back to my truck after hiking just 400 yards and knowing for sure it was too windy and cold to go on without a hat.  I decided to drive about 30 minutes back east and hike outside the town of Aspen Park, at the Flying J Ranch, the only Open Space Park in Jefferson County that I have never visited before.  

Mud-fest through Roxborough State Park to Carpenter Peak 7,160 feet.

Spring is here, until the next snowstorm, but today was definitely "shorts" wearing weather and I loved it!
I decided to hike Roxborough State Park which is southwest of Denver on this beautiful sunny 60 degree day in March. Roxborough is a state park which does not allow any dogs, so I have never hiked here before because of this. But my dog Rock has a sprained ankle and needs to take it easy for a week, so it was my chance to hike at Roxborough without feeling bad about leaving the dogs.
I can't believe I have lived so close to this State Park and not visited before, the giant red rocks, bowls and rims in the foothills and lots of foliage makes this park a photographers dream.

Squaw Mountain, 11,486 ft Arapaho National Forest

Squaw Mountain has been on my hiking "to do" list since hiking Chief Mountain, a peak nearby, a couple of months ago.   The views on the top of this 11,486 foot peak are beautiful, but as we descended the peak shortly before sunset, the peaceful sound of silence was shattered by loud gunfire.  Yes, gunfire. 
We first arrived at the trailhead which is located at the intersection of Squaw Mountain road and a forest road after about 35 minutes in the car.  I tried to drive up the forest road a little bit and immediately got our SUV stuck in the deep snow on the side of the road.  We spent a half an hour shoveling it out before we could start hiking.  Fortunately, I was not alone on this hike or I would have had a really hard time getting the truck out myself.   Josh and my cousin Patrick Rainey plus the two dogs were all eager to hike.   

A sunny, spring hike on Saddleback Mountain Peak, 9,568 feet

March has rolled in like a lamb, here in Colorado.  After a cold and snowy February; March has brought sunshine, warmer temperatures, and the smell of springtime to the Front Range.  This warm weather really motivates me to get outside and hike; it also gets me excited about hiking 14ers this summer!   
Yesterday, I hiked Saddleback Mountain which is a little known trailhead in the Clear Creek Open Space that takes you to the peak at 9,568 feet.   The total hike was just over 3 miles round trip and took just an hour and a half to complete. There are no facilities or map at the trailhead, just a small parking lot and Clear Creek Open space sign.

Rampart Range Recreation Area, Sedalia Colorado, Pike National Forest

It's been a while since I have had time to hike and post!  The hiatus has been a combination of the cold blizzard-like weather, and finishing up the last weeks of my day job to focus on my writing and arts.  I am looking forward to posting a new hike or adventure at least twice a week.  

Because it has been so long since we have hiked, Josh and I wanted to do a new hike in an area that we haven't been before.  After searching online with no luck, we set off in the general direction of southwest to see where we would end up!  Our destination ended up being the Rampart Range Motorized Recreation area in the Pike-San Isabel National Forest. You can find more information here. 

Bergen Peak 9,708 feet, Evergreen Colorado

I have had Bergen Peak on my hiking "to do" list for a long time now, but never made the time for the 9.4 mile round trip hike. Last night I decided I had procrastinated long enough, and prepared myself for the solo hike up to the top of 9,708 ft Bergen Peak.
Bergen Peak is located in the Elk Meadow Open Space Park in Jefferson County. The land which is now Elk Meadow Open Space was sold by the Means family, who used the land for their horses to graze, to the Open Space in 1975. Elk Meadow Park has over 400 acres of land for your hiking, biking and equestrian activities.

Getting There From I-70 West Exit #252, Evergreen Parkway or highway 74. Take this road toward Evergreen for 2.25 miles, you will see Elk Meadow Park on your right.

Bear Peak, Boulder Colorado, How far can your feet take you?

On Monday January 11th, I decided to hike Bear Peak in Boulder. It is a visible mountain from most of Boulder and highway 93 situated behind the Flatirons and next to South Boulder Peak. The peak is 8,461ft high, and there are several routes to reach the summit. You can see in the photo to the left that I marked the correct peak in the photo, this is seen from the start of the hike. (click on any photo to see larger)

Getting there:
I started the hike from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) trailhead parking lot. Click here for google map.

From highway 93 in Boulder go West on Table Mesa Drive (also called S. Boulder Road further east) OR; from highway 36, exit onto Table Mesa Drive and head west. Once onto Table Mesa Drive, follow the road up the mountain, through the residential areas and past a school, and continue up to the NCAR parking lot. This is well marked and easy to find. Park in the lot and walk toward the

Beaver Brook and Chavez Trail at Genesee Park, Colorado

The Beaver Brook trailhead was built by the Colorado Mountain Club over 90 years ago and it's an incredible hiker only back-country trail just outside of the city. The map to the left can be clicked to enlarge and you can see all of the hiking options in the Genesee / Lookout Mountain area. You can also find more information on the park here.
The Beaver Brook trail travels 8.65 miles from the park in Genesee to the Windy Saddle trail on Lookout Mountain accessed from the the windy saddle parking lot. You can also access the trail by parking at the Nature Center on top of Lookout Mountain and then you hike 1 mile down to connect to the Beaver Brook trail.

Mount Evans 14er Hike Sept 14, 2008

Pre Blog 14er, hiked 9/14/2008

I was so excited to have my family come to Colorado this year, and my whole family too! Dad, mom, and sister! They havent all come out together since our 2nd year here in Colorado. It was great to have them here!
Here are some photos of us hiking Mount Evans, 14,258 feet above sea level. It was 69 degrees in Denver and 39 degrees at the base of the mountain, and much colder at the top. It was one of the toughest hikes I have done, mostly due to the snow and very very cold wind, but we all forged onward and completed the 5 mile hike. ( It felt much more than 5 miles, and technically we came down a steeper and shorter incline, making the hike less than 5 miles. However, after many years of hiking and running and timing myself, I felt this hike was probably longer than measured)

~ A pre blog 14er ~ 14ers Democrat, Cameron, and Bross.

Hiked 7/27/2008 ~ Prior to my starting this trail blog.

Josh and I finally had time to hike and camp this weekend, since his math class is now over. (and he has finished his final paper in his DU class). We had planned to hike a 14er named mount Democrat. A 4 mile round trip hike, pretty much straight up! However, there is the option of doing 4 peaks over 14k from this trailhead and Democrat was the first of 4, so we had left it open to see how we felt to continue on the loop. Once you start the hike, you spend pretty much 6-8 hours above 12, 500 feet.
Our friends heather and Russ hiked with us also. Russ is a really fast hiker, and Rock stuck with him the whole time. (I had thought Rock was so loyal to always hike with me.....but nope, She wants to hike with the lead person, and then run back to check on all of us slow saps and whine