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

Goat Mountain, Start of the Colorado Trail, Waterton Canyon, CO

Goat Mountain at 7,797 feet is west of Sedalia in Waterton Canyon, which is the start of the Colorado Trail (CT); click here to check out the CT site. The entire trail is 7.3 miles and can take anywhere from 4.5-6 hours depending on your hiking speed.

Chief Mountain, Evergreen Colorado

Chief Mountain is Colorado's 1,452nd highest peak at 11,709 feet tall located in the Arapaho National Forest. It is located just minutes outside of the Denver metro area and is a very do-able hike with incredible 360 degree views. I plan to take visitors here the next time they are ready to do a hike, you get a great alpine experience without the long, long hiking.

Jones Pass and Stanley Mountain

Over this Thanksgiving weekend I wanted to get out and hike a big peak instead of sticking to the warmer Front Range trails. After searching and searching for an accessible winter peak online, I came across the Henderson Trailhead in the Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forest outside of Empire Colorado. This trailhead gives access to Stanley Mtn at 12,521 ft, Vasquez Peak at 12,947 ft, Berthoud Pass at 11,315 ft and Jones Pass 12,451 ft and all of those peaks are on the Continental Divide.

Clear Creek Canyon Hike 11-9-09

Clear Creek Canyon is West of Golden, Colorado on highway 6 and the canyon continues up the gorge to Blackhawk Colorado.
Jefferson County Open Space has been building trails in Clear Creek Canyon for several years and their efforts are an ongoing project. Eventually the the goal is to have a trail which connects to the Continental Divide Trail.
Because the project is currently underway, there is often construction on parts of the trail and the only way to find out which is open is to start driving up the canyon. And that is what I did today!
I woke up on my Monday off, feeling very restless and in need of a good hike. I had a couple of hours of work to do then I gathered up my gear, laced up my hiking boots, and got the dogs ready to hike. The dogs and I drove into Clear Creek Canyon and kept our eyes peeled for a trail-head. Since the canyon trails here are new, I don't know where they are all located but I knew of one farther up the mountain near the city of Blackhawk. As I drove up the winding mountain with the music blaring, wind in my hair and two dogs eager to hike, I was taking the time to reflect on my goals in life. The reflection time was much needed. After driving up the mountain for 20 minutes, I came across my hike, which was closed due to construction on the road in that area and no parking.

Lumpy Ridge, hike to Gem Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park.

Park History
Lumpy Ridge rises above Estes Park on the North side of the town. It is part of Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP), but there is no fee to hike here. Lumpy Ridge has a large raptor habitat, and the birds live in the rocks and cliffs on the ridge. One important point to remember is that in 2007 the Twin Owls Trail head was relocated south and is now renamed Lumpy Ridge Trail head. It encompasses the Gem Lake Trail, Twin Owl Loop and all the Lumpy Ridge Climbing destinations. It now has a larger parking lot and bathrooms. Some of the newer maps do not reference this change, if you are seeking to hike Gem Lake or Twin Owl trails, this is where you start.