Tips & Hints - After Work Hikes

One of the great joys of the summer is that it stays light out long enough to get in an after-work hike. Thanks to the excellent work of Jefferson County Open Space and Denver Mountain Parks, those of us on the Front Range have a plethora of options to choose from. Here are a few of my very favorite after-work hikes:

Mt. Falcon – This is a great leg burner. You climb about 1,000 feet in 1.7 miles, and can climb an additional 1,000 feet to a picnic shelter, if you are so inclined. The nice thing about Mt. Falcon is that it offers a hiker-only trail in the Turkey Trot trail. Since this area is extremely popular with mountain bikers, I highly recommend that option!
Mt. Galbraith – A great hiker-only park. Good climb through some interesting terrain, and a very doable 4.4 miles round trip, if you add in the loop at the top, which you should.
Green Mountain – Another popular trail with both mountain bikers and hikers, with a lot of different options for adding or subtracting length to your hike (take a map!). I would recommend doing this one in early summer or late summer/early fall. There is very little shade, and it can get scorching!
Apex – This trail leaves from the parking lot of Heritage Square and is also very popular with mountain bikers. But, it meanders near a creek and you can often catch deer or elk at the top, so it makes it worthwhile. And, it’s a great climb.
Deer Creek – A little south of the metro area, this is a great area that offers mixed use trails as well as a hiker-only option. There are some interesting red rock formations to check out, and usually some deer near the trailhead.
Elk Meadow – I like to save my Evergreen hikes for when it’s super hot in Denver. This one is a pleasant walk in the trees and meadows near Evergreen, and also serves as the base of the climb to Bergen Peak.
Bergen Peak – It a while to get to the top of this 9,700 peak, so I would not recommend it if you are short of time or can’t leave the trailhead by 5:30 or 6. It is 3.7 miles one-way to the top, and I have been caught hiking back down in the pitch black a few times, which can be a little dangerous.
Lair O’ the Bear – This is a great trail for kids because it follows Bear Creek and is relatively flat for about 1.5 miles before climbing more steeply. This JeffCo park connects with Little Park, a Denver Mountain Park, so be sure you have a map that covers both areas.
Red Rocks Trail – This trail offers great views of Denver and Red Rocks Amphitheater. It is not recommended for hot, hot, hot days as there is very little shade. Depending on how far you want to go, you can park at Red Rocks, or at the Matthew Winters Parking lot.
White Ranch – Great Foothills hike with a hiker-only option. Not a ton of shade until you reach the top, but really pretty views of Golden and Denver beyond.
Centennial Cone – This park alternates mountain biking days and hiking days on the weekends, but are multi-use during the week. The trail has several loops, so you can make it as long or as short as you’d like.

There are other options for your after-work enjoyment, but these are a few of my favorites. What are your favorite after work hikes?

Trip Report - Flat Tops Wilderness Horse Packing

The best thing about backpacking with horses? They carry all the heavy stuff, so all you have to carry is a daypack with essentials. The worst thing about backpacking with horses? Horse farts. Specifically, being down wind of horse farts. Phew-eeee!

Grubby Guy and I went on a backcountry camping trip to the Flat Tops Wilderness with GGuy’s friend, Bart, and his girlfriend, Nicole. Bart brought his two horses, Twink and Rue to help us pack in, so we were a party of six.We decided to do a shuttle hike, starting at one point and ending at another, so we left GGuy’s truck at the Hill Creek trailhead, and hopped in with Bart and Nicole to drive up to Wall Lake trailhead near Trapper’s Lake.

Once there, we packed all of our stuff – tent, sleeping bags, clothes, food, camp stoves - into dry sacks and panniers to load up the horses. Twink and Rue were not at all sure they wanted to do the hike and tried to make a break for it several times during the loading process. Bart rounded them up, and we got them saddled and left the parking lot about 1:30 p.m.The Wall Lake trail gains 1,721 feet in just over 2 miles. It is considered one of the steepest but fastest ways to the top of the Flat Tops, and it mellows out considerably after that. Once on top of the plateau, we took the Oyster Lake Trail for another four or five miles to a little lake that was hidden on the top of another, smaller plateau, where we set up camp for the night about 5 p.m. We hung out at camp for the late afternoon/evening, Bart and Nicole went to a look-out point to glass the hillsides and GGuy took his fishing pole to the lake to catch a few. We met up back at camp around 7 p.m. and made some fresh salmon filets that GGuy brought with him from Alaska (gotta LOVE the horses!). We sat around long enough to see a few shooting stars and then crawled into bed to warm up.
GGuy, Bart and Nicole woke up before dawn to look for deer and elk and other critters while I stayed snug in my sleeping bag and slept in. (Heaven!) Once everyone was back in camp, we made breakfast and then packed up again to head toward Oyster Lake. We left camp about 10:30 a.m.
As we hiked, we stumbled upon a herd of sheep grazing on the short grass and their very protective dogs. And, walked past numerous lakes and streams and springs, through flat “parks” that were filled with short grasses and wildflowers, and through low-lying wetlands. We saw the Big Marvine and Little Marvine peaks (http://www.listsofjohn.com/PeakStats/Climbers.php?Id=1834) in the distance, and endless blue skies. It wasn’t a hard hike in terms of elevation gain, but it was a long, long day. I thought it was going to be 2 hours, so I only packed a granola bar and a few little snacky things. It ended up being much longer, and I was low on fuel. By the end, Grubby Guy and I were slap happy and not making any sense, singing nonsense songs to keep ourselves entertained. We sang “Hallelujah” when we finally came over a small hill and spotted Oyster Lake in the distance, about 5:30 p.m.

Bart picked out a camping spot and tied up the horses. Then we snacked, and set up the tents. Bart and Nicole napped while GGuy and I went to the lake to pump water. On our way to the lake, we spotted a herd of elk lazing in the sunshine by the lake. We stopped and watched an elk take a bath in the pond and the rest nap or munch on the short grass. After about half an hour, one of the elk finally spotted my red vest and the whole herd stood up and high tailed it out of there. We got our water and went back to camp to cook dinner. We built a small fire that night and stayed up late chatting and staring at the campfire.

We woke up early the next morning, and, knowing we had another long day ahead of us to get to the truck, we ate a good breakfast, packed sandwiches for lunch and set out for the Hill Creek intersection off of Oyster Lake Trail. Once we got to the edge of the plateau and headed back down, the trail got super steep and rocky. We had to gingerly pick our way down the trail, using our trekking poles for balance and to stop our downward momentum. Wildflowers grew shoulder-high along the trail, in just about every color of the rainbow. It was hard not to look at the wildflowers and the views, but the trail demanded we pay very close attention. We stopped for lunch on a small knoll and then set out for the last three miles. Everything was going along fine until we came upon a hillside that was criss-crossed by cow tracks. We went left when we should have gone right, and thus began a very difficult detour through ferns that grew well over my head and underbrush that was so thick it was difficult to pull your legs through without dragging a plant along with you. GGuy did his best to keep me calm and assure me that we weren’t “lost,” we just didn’t know EXACTLY where we were. After about an hour of bushwacking and trying to find the trail, GGuy finally spotted it down the hill from where we were. Once we found that, it was an easy two miles back to the truck across a beautiful stream and through a wildflower filled forest.
The Flat Tops are one of my very favorite places in Colorado, and this was a great trip overall. The hiking, while long, was definitely ‘do-able,’ and you just can’t beat the scenery. The Flat Tops are one of the first areas to be considered ‘wilderness,’ and it’s easy to see why it should be protected as a wild place. I would highly recommend the Flat Tops to anyone looking for a relatively easy backpacking trip. After the first pitch, you can cover a lot of ground and see some of the most amazing views in all of Colorado.

Lessons learned from this trip:
1) The Flat Tops make a perfect backpacking destination. Once you are on top, you can cover a lot of miles with relative ease.
2) Horses make backpacking much more pleasant, especially since you can fresh food instead of strictly dehydrated food. Not having 40 pounds of gear on your back is absolutely priceless.
3) Right when you think you are in the wrong spot, stop, check the map and backtrack to the point where you KNOW exactly where you are. Far better to retrace some steps than spend an hour hacking your way through dense vegetation that makes it difficult to distinguish land features and find your way back to the trail.
4) Take care of your blisters right away so you don't end up like me!

Trip Report - Chief Mountain Hike

In the summer, I like to get out for a few after-work hikes during the week. Not only are the trails less crowded, but seeing the mountains in the gloaming and watching the sky light up at sunset is a special treat.

On Wednesday, August 5th, I met Levi and Kris at Chief Mountain for an after-work hike. Kris wanted to try Chief Mountain, between Evergreen and Idaho Springs on Squaw Pass Road. It was a lot further than I usually travel for an after-work hike, but well worth it!

Chief Mountain is an 11,709 foot peak reached after a fairly short 1.5 mile hike. The trail gains about 1,100 feet over that distance. The elevation gain is steady, and not terribly hard – enough so you feel like you get a workout, but not enough that you have to stop every 10 steps for a breather. The trail is fairly rocky, so if you plan to go after work later in the summer, you might want to take a headlamp to make the descent a little easier. The trail passes through a dense pine forest at the bottom, and then into an alpine tundra once you pass treeline, about half a mile from the top. Once you pass treeline, you can look to the north and see Idaho Springs about 7 miles as the crow files below you, look west for Squaw Pass Road as it makes its way toward Mount Evans, east toward Evergreen, and south to see the rocky summit of Chief Mountain above you. The trail circles the bottom of the peak, eventually leading up to the base of the rocks that constitute the peak. Once you get to the top, the views are well worth pausing for to take it all in. Do a 360, and you can see Mount Evans, Greys and Torrey’s Peaks, Pikes Peak and Longs Peak. I reached the top when the sun was barely above the mountains to the West. The light on the rocks and stubby trees was amazing. It seemed like everything was letting its light shine from the inside. Just incredible!

All said, it took about 40 minutes to get to the top. I left the trailhead at 6:40 p.m., and was back at the car by 8 p.m., having stopped to take photos and breathe in the beauty.

(This would be a great place to bring a picnic lunch on a weekend. You can scramble on the rocks at the peak, and then rest in the relatively flat meadow at the top.)

http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/arnf/recreation/trails/ccrd/chiefmountain.shtml

The hardest part of the Chief Mountain trail is finding it. It is not well marked at all, and further than you think it could possibly be. Several times, I thought I MUST have passed it, but hadn’t.
To get there:From Denver, take I-70 West to Exit 252. Go south on Colorado 74 for 3.4 miles and turn on Colorado 103, Squaw Pass Road toward Echo Mountain Ski Area and Mount Evans. Follow the narrow, winding mountain road for about 12 miles (Just east of mile marker 18). Look for Echo Mountain Ski Area on the right. The parking area is around the bend from the entrance to Echo Mountain. There is a pull-out on the right. You will know you are in the right place when you see the ski lift for Echo Mountain just below you. The trail is across the road and slightly behind the pull-off.

Leaving Denver (Colorado Blvd. and Exposition) at 5:20 p.m., I got to the trailhead about 6:30 p.m.

After the hike, we checked out Trinity Irish Pub in El Rancho for a tasty treat and a cold beverage. http://www.thetrinitypub.com/location.html

Girl Getting Grubby Goes to Alaska!

Sometimes, I think, when trying something new, it’s best to jump right in and not have any clue what you’re really in for! There is something to be said for not knowing what you don't know, for jumping in with both feet, for figuring things out as they come along. That way, everything is new and fresh and an adventure.

Such was my experience with backcountry sea kayaking in Glacier Bay National Park. I worked on a small cruise boat in GBNP in the summer of 2002. It was a magical, wonderful experience. At the time, I knew I wanted to go back someday and really experience all that GBNP has to offer. So, when Grubby Guy and I were kicking around summer vacation ideas, I threw a kayak adventure in Glacier Bay out there. Since GGuy had a friend in Sitka, we decided to split our time between visiting with friends and deep sea fishing in Sitka with a backcountry kayak adventure.

In sum, it was incredible and amazing, with some pretty hefty doses of misery thrown in.

Here’s how it all went down…After our flight from Sitka to Juneau was canceled, we had to make arrangements to make our way to Gustavus the next day. We had planned on camping at Bartlett Cove and getting an early start, but that wasn't going to happen. We spent the night in Juneau and then hopped on an early flight to Gustavus. Once we landed in Gustavus, after a quick 30 minute flight in a small Cessna from Juneau, we picked up another couple at a guesthouse in Gustavus and went to Bartlett Cove for our orientation. A guide from Glacier Bay Sea Kayaks went over tides and timing and other necessities for the next few days on the water, and got us decked out in our borrowed gear – double 18-foot kayak, heavy-duty rain paints, thick rubber boots, life jacket, paddles and spray skirt. We packed everything we owned into dry bags – clothes, food, first aid kit, cameras, tent, sleeping bags – packed the dry bags into the kayak and then waited for the camper orientation from the National Park Service. The camper orientation talked about the “Leave No Trace” backcountry ethic, the “natural” toilet (aka: tide), and then focused a lot on bear awareness…Glacier Bay has a pretty heavy concentration of both brown (think big Grizzlies) and black bears. The Park Service emphasized what to do if you encounter a bear, when to fight back and when to play dead. They pointed to a few spots on the map where previous campers had encountered “menacing” bears, and a few spots that were closed to campers due to bear activity. Then, they mentioned that they would not come looking for you until one full day after you failed to report back. I sort of freaked out at this point! The bear info concerned me, but GGuy and the Park Service employee calmed me down, saying that we “looked like reasonable” people that we should be fine. I tried not to take note of the look of concern that crossed her face when we told her we would not be taking along any bear spray.

I did not have time to fret, we had about 2 hours to get through a narrow, shallow passage just north of Bartlett Cove with the high tide or we would have to go the long way around and face some strong rip currents. We headed north – it was super shallow, and the water was super clear. We could see the bottom as we cruised north – small rocks and sea shells and grass all glided by beneath our boat.

We paddled through the narrows and into the Beardslee Islands and to the Bartlett River. The tide was still high, so we paddled up the river about a mile. GGuy fished off the kayak, catching a few Dolly Vartan trout. We pulled over to the shore, ate a quick lunch of sausage, cheese and crackers, and GGuy fished a little more from the shore. We walked up the bank of the river, following an animal trail for a bit. We saw huge paw prints in the mud and found a huge mound of scat, which did nothing to assuage my bear fears. We got back into the kayak and floated down the river once the high tide began to wane. GGuy caught a pink salmon, and we tied it to the back of the boat for a little dinner treat!

We got back out into the Beardslee Islands and paddled north. It was so calm and clear, and we were the ONLY people around. It was a stillness I’ve very rarely experienced. We had several pairs of Harbor Porpoise diving for fish around us. They would announce their presence with a “Whoosh!” and then dive again for fish. It was so still and calm, that even this exhale was crystal clear, even from a distance. I was a little worried about the salmon hanging off the boat…I thought it easy pickins for the Porpoise or one of the seals whose heads kept popping up around us. Two seals followed us for quite a while. We named them “Fred” and “Lou.” We set up camp that night just northeast of the Kidney Islands, next to a small creek so we could gather fresh water with the filter that GGuy brought. There was some bear scat around, but nothing super fresh. We saw a couple of good tent spots, so we unloaded and set up camp. It started drizzling while we were still paddling, and it pretty much rained the entire rest of the night. We set up the tent in the rain, cooked our dinner in the rain, ate in the rain, brushed our teeth in the rain, then gave up and crawled into the tent to dry off and warm up. GGuy and I both fell asleep mid-sentence we were so beat from the day. We woke up several times during the night, and one would say to the other: “It’s STILL raining!” “Yep, STILL raining!” One other sound woke us in the night…the sound of wolves howling. Now, I’ve heard coyotes howling plenty of times during my camping excursions in Colorado, but I’ve never heard a sound quite like this. It was more guttural and lonesome. It was half bark/half howl, and truly a sound I will not soon forget…Wolves in Alaska!

Waking up stiff and sore and knowing I would have to leave the cozy tent and put on full rain gear just to go to the bathroom was not an inviting thought. But, I couldn’t stay where I was, so I put on the gear and got up. It was still drizzling, but was an incredible, peaceful morning. We set up the stove, made some coffee (So delicious! Just what I needed!) and oatmeal. We pumped up a little water from the creek and packed up the boat again. We had to drag the boat through a lot of mud and crustacean-crusted rocks to the sea. The tide was incredibly low – it can very by up to 20 feet! We had a hard time navigating our way out of the Bearselees – we made a few wrong turns and had to backtrack to find a way out that had enough water.

We saw a few bears walking the shores of some of the islands (well, I had the "bear eye" as GGuy called it - I would spot them and point them out to him so he could look at them through the binoculars), and a ton otters floating in the water around the Bearslees. There were easily 100 or more otters, all floating on their backs in ones and twos and in larger “rafts.” They would pop up their little heads, holding their little hands and look at us and then dive back under the water. It was so adorable. One came up about 10 yards from the right side of the boat – looked at me with total surprise and dove back under! It was one of those moments where I felt completely connected to the Universe and all of the creatures in it. We were completely alone with the creatures and wilderness fairies. We could not see or hear another boat. It was just us, the otters, the bears, the seals, the ducks and the wild birds.

We stopped for a break once we got out of the Beardslees and into the larger bay. Even though it was getting to be high tide, and we should have had an easy time of it, it seemed like we were paddling against the tide. We would paddle and paddle and paddle and not get very far. It was hard work. We pulled over and tried to contemplate a jaunt over into Beartrack Cove. It would have been an additional 6 miles round trip, against the tide and into a headwind. Neither one of us had that kind of stamina in us. (Full confession: when we pulled over, I asked GGuy if we could just paddle back to the Lodge and get a room…I wanted a warm, comfortable bed, a hot shower…and no bears! Luckily he convinced me this was a bad idea and that I would regret it…)

We decided to cross the bay to York Creek, about 3 miles further and across an open span of the bay. Just outside of York Creek, we ran into a couple with inflatable rafts who had just come from York Creek and reported seeing a “fairly good-sized” Grizzly” by the mouth of the creek. They headed off to Beartrack Cove to hike up the stream to the Glacier! Their plan was to raft back down the creek! And, I thought I was nuts! I was super nervous about setting up camp at York Creek because of the bear sighting, but I was also super tired and damp and in need of a rest. We arrived about 3 p.m. and picked a spot, stamped down the brass and walked up and down the beach clapping, ringing our bear bell and yelling “Hey Bear!” It was all we could do – that, and be super aware of our surroundings. GGuy and I walked to York Creek and he fished for salmon off a point of rocks. I mostly stayed on the beach, clanging my little bell, scanning for bears, and picking out fossils in the rocks. GGuy fished until about 6:45 p.m., then we walked back to camp and cooked our dinner. It had stopped raining before we set up camp, so it was quite amazing to hang out on our little, private beach, eating our dinner, hanging out and absorbing the serenity all around. We watched as the little island in front of our camp first appeared and then became a bigger island as the tide rolled out. We crawled into the tent pretty early and literally passed out mid-sentence again. I remember laughing at GGuy because his eyes were half closed like a cat…then my own slammed shut and I was down for the count!

We woke up early again, ate a little breakfast and were contemplating the day ahead when I looked down the beach, and about 70 yards away, a mid-sized black bear was making his way down the beach. I stood up saying “Hey Bear!” to let him know we were there and then stood by GGuy so that we would appear larger. We rang the bell and kept talking to the bear. He was curious about us, but eventually lumbered into the trees…only to come back out to the beach about 70 yards on the other side of us. He was clearly on his way to the salmon creek, and we were merely a detour. We packed up pretty quickly after that and headed up bay with the tide.

We stopped just before Spokane Cove to rest and use the restroom, then pushed over to Lester Island, a distance of about 4.5 miles. We pulled over when we reached Lester Island for another rest. Cary laid down in the gravel for a nap, and I stretched my back and legs and arms and looked for interesting things in the small rocks. There were some great camping spots on Lester island, but we knew we had a big water crossing ahead, and rather than try to tackle it in the morning before getting picked up by the sighseeing boat, we decided to push all the way to Sebree Island, where we would be picked up in the morning.

We had a big, long open-water crossing from Lester to Sebree Island. It was approximately 4.5 miles across, without the relative safety of a shoreline to follow. The seas were pretty choppy and the paddling was tough. We were paddling slower than we could walk. Between the choppy water and tide, we averaged about 2 miles per hour. It seriously felt like we would never get there…that Sebree was just a mirage. We kept paddling and paddling and paddling – encouraging each other to keep paddling, that each one brought us that much closer to our destination. When we finally reached the island, we pulled into a little private cove on the tip, about 1 mile from our pick up spot. I was sooooooo happy to get out of that blasted kayak and rest and walk and stand and put the paddle down! The sun had come out halfway into our big crossing, so it was nice to dry out and warm up and sit in the sun, surrounding by stunning beauty. We hung out on our private beach and watched the sea and the sky. GGuy fished off of a rocky point on Sebree, and caught a lovely pink salmon that we cooked up for dinner. We hung out on the rocks and ate dinner and just felt really lucky to be there. It was a long, exhausting day, and we crawled into the tent just after 8 p.m. and called it a night!

We woke up about 6 a.m. and loaded up the kayak so we could make our rendezvous with the tour boat. We found the rock cairns past campers had set up on the beach and knew we were in the right spot. Another kayaker pulled in just after us, and we made coffee and swapped trip stories. He’d kayaked all the way from Juneau and been out for 14 days…solo! As we were waiting for the tour boat to pick us up, I spotted a Grizzly bear with my "bear eye" across the small sound, and we watched him for a while through GGuy’s binocs. It was incredible! He would flip giant rocks like they were nothing and then stick his nose in the hole from the rock and suck out the tiny fish that had gotten stuck there with the last tide! It was truly an awesome sight!

I felt a little like wildlife when the tour boat stopped to pick us up…the tourists on the boat was looking at us and taking photos. Pretty funny! The boat took us up the West Arm of Glacier Bay. We went into Tidal Inlet, picked up more campers at the Queen Inlet, then made our way up to Reid Glacier, Lamplugh Glacier and Johns Hopkins Glacier. We saw some pretty incredible calving at Johns Hopkins…huge slabs of ice rumbling like thunder and then sliding to the sea with an incredible roar. Awesome!

As happy as I was to know there was a shower in my very near future, I was also sad that the adventure had come to an end, that it was no longer just GGuy and I in Alaska, that we were giving up the serenity of the wilderness for creature comforts of civilization. Our time out there was intense and wonderful.

I definitely felt the solitude of wilderness. There were many points during the trip when we were the only man-made objects around. It was almost overwhelming how tiny that made me feel. Tiny, insignificant and totally connected – to the otters, to the seals, to the trees, to the bald eagles soaring overhead, to the wilderness. That was an incredible feeling.

If I had to do it all over again, I’d bring larger containers for water. I'd stay longer and make littler jumps between stops so each day wasn’t such a long grind. I’d explore more of the tiny coves that abound in GBNP. I’d also relax a little more about the bears. Be aware, be safe, but be in the moment more. I’d find myself relaxing more as the time spent at each campsite went on, but I definitely worried too much.

I am so glad I went with GGuy. There’s no one I trust more or would have wanted to be there with. As GGuy said: “We are so lucky!”