Feeling the Fern

Despite the innocuous name Fern canyon is the steepest trail in the Boulder Mountain parks, climbing 2100' in 1.2 miles. Earlier this year I hiked down Fern canyon from Bear peak, but today was my first hike up this trail. By the time I reached the summit I was soaked with sweat. Last time I was on Bear peak I didn't stick around, as there were annoying gnats everywhere. This time I saw dozens of dragonflies circling the peak. Cool sight.

I returned via the Green-Bear trail, hiking up Green mountain before heading down the Ranger and Gregory trails. Atop Green mountain Monarch butterflies were fluttering around, and some checked out my bright orange backpack to see if it was a flower. By the way the latest wildflowers were a study in contrast. In a cool, shaded valley I saw a couple of columbines, which normally grow at much higher elevations. And on a sunny, south facing hillside prickly pear was in bloom.

The hike was about 9 miles and 3500' elevation gain. 

Lawn Lake

Lawn Lake is an alpine lake on the north side of Rocky Mountain park. It once had an earthen dam, but the dam failed in 1982 causing a flash flood which killed several campers, scarred the Roaring River valley and severely damaged the city of Estes Park.

But I don't blame the lake, as it didn't ask to be dammed. So today I hiked to the lake from the Lumpy Ridge trail head near Estes Park. The trail starts near the privately owned MacGregor ranch, and for a mile or two it passes through the ranch. To the south are the ranch's broad meadows, and to the north are the granite outcroppings of Lumpy ridge. These formations are very popular with rock climbers. In fact as I walked by Pear Buttress I heard several climbers talking but I couldn't see where they were.

As I hiked I was thinking that this could be called the "delayed gratification" route to Lawn Lake. For 8 miles there isn't much in the way of spectacular scenery, just a lot of trees, high hills and from time to time a rushing stream. There is a shorter trail, but if I had taken that I would have missed a meadow where beavers have taken down all of the aspen trees.

After a long slog up the Roaring River valley the trail reaches the top of a gentle ridge before dropping down the other side to join the Lawn Lake trail The first sign of the lake is the ravine from the 1982 flood.

The lake sits at just under 11,000' elevation and is bordered by high peaks, including 13,500' Fairchild mountain to the far right in the first photo. The shoreline has plenty of smooth rocks and even a small sandy beach. It would be a nice place to camp, and there are several nearby campsites.

I hiked to the north end of the lake, but when the trail hit a big snowfield I decided that was my cue to turn back. As I retraced my step my friend the marmot was waiting on the trail for me.

In all the hike was 20 miles and about 3500' elevation gain. On the drive back to Boulder I saw a bunch of cars pulled off the road at Lion Gulch, and when I looked where everyone was facing I saw two bighorn sheep on the rocks above Hwy 36. I may return to Lumpy Ridge next spring, as there is an 11-mile loop that would be a good early season hike.

Keyhole with extras

At the Long's Peak trail at 7 am this morning, ready to hike! Even got a good parking spot.

The weather was beautiful, sunny and warm from the trail head at 9400' all the way up to 12,000'. Above that it was pleasantly cool with a gentle breeze. The trail was dry nearly to treeline, then just a few small snowfields. So I made good time up to the Chasm Lake junction.

Because much of the Long's Peak trail goes through tundra it's a great place to observe alpine critters. Last year I saw several flocks of ptarmigans, but this year there were marmots, marmots and more marmots.

My destination was the Keyhole, a rock opening at the far end of the Boulder field. Last year due to a sore ankle I never reached the Keyhole, so today was the day. En route the trail passes one of the world's most scenic privies: solar powered and en plein air. Then you climb over a steep rock pile to reach the Keyhole, which at 13,200' elevation looks like something out of an Indiana Jones movie.

On the far side of the Keyhole is the route to the summit of Long's Peak, which requires traversing narrow ledges with steep drops. But currently it's still winter on the west side of Long's, so add icy snowfields to the equation. Not for me, I only tackle this route when it is completely dry. However I did meet some climbers outfitted with crampons, ice axes, rope and helmets, who planned to do the ascent. The second photo shows the route.

After descending from the Keyhole and Boulder field I decided to take a major detour, turning north at Granite pass onto the N Longs Peak trail. From there I looped back via the Boulder Brook and Storm pass trails. This added about 8 miles to the return trip, but it was an opportunity to hike these trails for the first time. N Longs Peak trail had gorgeous views of snow capped mountains, also a few wildflowers. Boulder Brook followed a cascading stream, initially down a gentle slope but then much steeper approaching the junction with the Storm Pass trail. Storm Pass was... meh. Well except for the wild iris. It's a horse trail, 'nuff said. But this was my first time on these trails, so I'm glad I tried them. Next time I'll climb Estes Cone, which would have added 700' elevation gain.

Got back to the car at 4 pm. Funny thing is that I didn't feel particularly tired. Am I buff or what? In all 20 miles and about 5000' elevation gain.

Finch Lake

Since the Twin Sisters hike only took 3 hours, afterward I drove south to the Wild Basin entrance of RMNP. From there it's a 2-mile drive on a dirt road to the trailheads, but the entrance station volunteer told me that parking would be very hard to find. So I parked by the entrance and walked to the trail. Fortunately there's a horse trail that parallels the road, so you don't need to walk on the road.

I decided to hike to Finch lake, mostly because I thought it would be less crowded than better known destinations like Ouzel Falls. From the trail there are a few views of the south side of Mt Meeker, but mostly it's just a pleasant walk through the trees. Part of what makes it pleasant is that the trail has sections that are covered with needles and bark, making for a soft walking surface. And since the snow is still melting there were many small streams crossing the trail.

As for Finch lake it was nice but not amazing like some of the high alpine lakes (e.g. Chasm lake). Good spot to picnic and watch for wildlife.

For the return trip I decided to take a different route, going by Calypso Cascades. En route I had to cross another rock slide from the 2013 floods. Did I mention that the Park Service builds great trails? Seriously they do amazing work.

The hike down was gorgeous, as water was flowing everywhere. The second photo is Calypso Cascades. St. Vrain creek was running really high.

The takeaway is that late spring is good time to visit Wild Basin, especially to see lots of rushing water. The hike to Finch Lake was 10 miles, 1400' elevation gain.

Twin Sisters

It's getting a bit hot for hiking in Boulder, so this morning I headed up to Rocky Mountain park. My destination was the Twin Sisters, two 11400' peaks on the eastern edge of the park. Although these are not high peaks by RMNP standards they have "prominence," i.e. they are easy to spot even from Longmont:

And more practically they are snow free earlier than higher destinations. This was my first time up Twin Sisters, and as expected the trail offers a great view of the towering east face of Longs Peak.

The lower part of the Twin Sisters trail was obliterated by the 2013 floods. A huge rock slide took out several switchbacks and mowed down thousands of trees. First photo is looking down the slope -- the gully is probably 30' deep. Second photo is of the top of the slide.

For now the trail has been rerouted to cross the slide area and then climb up through the trees on the southern side. It's still a work in progress. Eventually the trail climbs above timberline. There were a few patches of snow, but mostly the trail was dry and clear. At the saddle below south Sister there's a radio tower used for search & rescue, and on top of the peak I saw several markers.

All in all a fine early season hike. 7 miles, 2400' elevation gain. Virtually no wildflowers except for a few tiny pink blossoms of alpine ground cover. Interestingly I saw a chipmunk eating these flowers, so contrary to what I learned from Caddyshack some varmints apparently have sweet breath.

Walk in the park

Slept in this morning as I was up late watching Al Pacino in Dog Day Afternoon (1975). "Attica! Attica!" When I did get up I didn't have any major aches from yesterday's long trek, so I figured that I could do a short hike. I mean relatively short. I hiked from Chautauqua park to Bear peak, 10 miles, 2800' elevation gain. A month ago this was a strenous hike for me, but now it feels routine. Not sayin' I don't breathe hard on the steep sections, but I can keep up a good pace. Only trail runners were going any faster.

No wildlife today but I did see four more types of wildflowers. Also some tall weeds: teasel, thistle and mullein. Still lots of snow up on the Divide but some of the lower hikes in Rocky Mountain park should be doable next weekend.

Flatirons greatest hits

My hike today is known as Guardians of the Flatirons, and it involves summiting all three of the 8000' peaks in the Boulder mountain parks. Per usual I started at Chautauqua park

... but instead of heading up the nearest peak (Green mountain) I hiked the Mesa trail south toward the S Mesa trail head. Some critters were out this morning, including several mule deer and a red fox. The wildflowers were comparable to last weekend. While the irises were fading some new flowers were coming online, including the spiny yucca (also called soapweed)

In about 2 hours I reached the far end of the Mesa trail, so time to turn around and head for the hills!

For the third weekend in a row I climbed the steep trail up Shadow canyon, reaching the saddle between S Boulder peak and Bear peak shortly before 11:00 am. First stop was S Boulder peak, from where I took a photo of Bear peak.

By the way since I knew that I would be out in the sun all day I was wearing my white hiking cap, which has a detachable mesh neck shade. I have never thought of this cap as being fashionable, but as I hiked down from S Boulder a trail runner said, "Your hat is awesomeness!"

After returning to the saddle I did the short and easy hike up Bear peak, followed by the long and rocky descent down Bear peak's west ridge to the Green-Bear trail. The GB trail eventually connects to a short but steep trail to Green mountain's summit. Several hiking groups were on top -- in fact it felt almost festive. Then down the Ranger trail, down the Gregory canyon trail, and lastly a short walk through Chautauqua to my car. En route I saw one interesting wildflower and one not-so-wild flower.

In all today's three-peak hike was about 16 miles and over 5000' elevation gain. That's comparable to climbing Long's peak, except not really coz Long's is a completely different animal.