Ouzel Falls Hike

Ouzel Falls is the most popular hiking destination in the Wild Basin area of Romo. Wild Basin is in the southeastern corner of the park and is a lesser used and more rugged area. I had never been hiking in this part of the park, and this hike made me mad at myself for not exploring the area before.

The snow on the trail was nicely packed all 2.7 miles to the falls, so I only used my traction spikes and left the snowshoes in my pack. The trail follows North Saint Vrain Creek much of its way, passing by Calypso Cascades and several other small and unnamed cascades. We saw mountain lion tracks crossing the trail, and signs of otters sliding over the snow between the un-iced spots of the creek.

The falls were predictably frozen over, with the faint sound of hidden water trickling down somewhere behind the ice. Having lugged our snowshoes all the way, we decided to go off trail and put them to use.

From the base of the falls, we shoe'd up and headed around the western side of the falls, with the plan to meet the trail where it comes around from the east onto the northern ridge. The initial push up the steep terrain was very difficult. The snow was deep and soft, causing everyone to sink in despite their snowshoes. It took about 10 minutes for the seven of us to go about 25' at one point. The deep powder also concealed gaps in the rocks underfoot; luckily only our poles found these holes and not anyone's leg. Once up, it was a pleasant stroll across the ridge, with spectacular views of Longs Peak as our reward.

We found the trail and made some quick how-much-daylight-is-left calculations and decided to turn back the way we came. It's amazing how much easier and faster it is to snowshoe where even only one set of tracks has already broken the snow.

I have to mention the wildfire of 1978. In the photos you can see evidence of the burn in the mostly tree-less foregrounds. The '78 Ouzel Burn was the most widespread fire in the park's history, covering over 1,000 acres. Started near Ouzel Lake by lightning, the blaze spread slowly through the thick forest. It was contained to a low-risk area for some time, before high winds blew it out of control eastward towards private property and buildings. Luckily, it was contained to the park's boundaries by more than 500 firefighters. The lack of canopy due to the fire is what made the sweeping views in the above photos possible.

Indian Peaks

Finally got my arse into the Indian Peaks Wilderness yesterday. Snowshoeing through 3'-4' of snow. Sank into a drift up to my chin. Crossed frozen creeks on rickety footbridges. Glissaded down rock chute. Fell short of ultimate alpine lake goal, but got out before sun/temps went down, so a winning decision to turn around. Discovered limits of Subaru on snowy forest roads. BBQ and locally brewed pale ale in Ned afterwards. Solid day.

Western North Carolina Exposure

I went to NC for Turkey Chicken Day. Had lots of fun and food with family and friends. Spent some time on the trails of Pisgah and DuPont. Met the new dog. Watched football. Enjoyed a backyard fire. All in all, a damn good trip.

29ing good old Thrift Cove.

"Where's the bugs?"

Where I fall...

...Rick dominates.

New terrain for me in the backs of DuPont.

The happy family + startled dog.

Snowy Bald Mtn

I made a quick trip to walk the loop on Bald Mountain in the snow yesterday afternoon. The high was 20, so I bundled up considerably for such a short hike, except I forgot about my legs. So I was tromping through 10" of powder with plain old cotton pants and no gaiters. I did remember my micro spikes though, so my boots might've been full of snow but they weren't slipping around!

 

 

Heil Valley MTB: Part Two

Sweet single track on Wild Turkey Trail.

Last week I went back for more fat tire stoke at Heil Valley Ranch. I did several laps, mixing together the various segments of Ponderosa Loop and Wild Turkey Trail. Total ride was 16.7 miles in 3h 15m, with a moving time of 2h 40m, and 2,679 feet of elevation gain. Lotsa fun despite two flats, the second of which made me walk out the last mile to the car.

Took a siesta at the Ponderosa/Wild Turkey intersection.
The stone foundation of an old ranch building is in the background.

Stumpy in its natural habitat.

One of the last really warm days of the season.

Playing Catch Up

A quick recap of some past events:

Wednesday, October 12: Deer Mountain Hike 

Deer Mountain is a prominent mountain in Rocky Mountain National Park located close to both Estes Park entrance stations. Its summit is fairly flat, making something of a forested mesa. There are several granite outcroppings, the highest of which lies at 10,013 feet on the south side. Comparatively, it is not a high summit, but it is in a great location that offers incredible views of the higher peaks, and the surrounding low areas.

Deer Mtn is located near both the park entrances.

The trail starts at the Deer Ridge Junction trailhead, where US 34 and US 36 meet. The trail system includes trails that lead to the summit from the east and west and other trails that nearly circumnavigate the entire base of the mountain. Deer Mtn is very popular and the parking along the street at the trailhead is usually pretty crowded and nearly always full in summer. It was definitely the most popular hike I hadn't done yet, so on a quiet Wednesday I decided to check it off my list, hitting the summit plus a loop around the north side to add some miles.

The assent begins with freshly snow-capped mountain views.

My route took me from Deer Ridge Junction on the west side, up to the summit, down the east side, and around the northern base back to the start point. This made a nice loop up, over, and around the northern half of the mountain. The main western summit trail is 3 miles from the junction. From there I would drop down the east side 3.3 more miles and hook up with the North Deer Mountain Trail that would wrap around the northern base another 4.1 miles back to my car.

There was still snow from the winter system that went through a few days before in the shady areas.

The trail immediately started up the west side of the mountain, switching back and going into the trees for about a mile and a half before leveling out, offering views to the north, west, and south through the trees along the way.

Looking west at Horseshoe Park and the Mummy Range.

The views were extraordinary in the morning light, and forced me to stop several times in order to take it all in. The snow from a few days before was still covering the mountain tops in the distance, and it was good to see fresh white snow after months of watching the snowfields turn gray.

Along the flat top of Deer Mtn.

The trail actually drops in elevation before the actual summit, and I struck off trail to explore some of the rocky outcroppings. I didn't stick around long though, the cold wind drove me back into the shelter of the tree-covered trail.

Last 0.2 miles to summit.

The short spur trail to the high point was actually pretty icy. I slipped and slid my way up the steps to the rocky summit, where the trees opened up and showed off the surrounding mountains.

Deer Mtn summit, 10,013'

The summit is on the south side of the mountain, and overlooks the Beaver Meadows entrance station and the town of Estes Park. I was lucky enough to have the summit to myself and found a good spot out of the wind to sit back and eat some trail mix as I stared at the Continental Divide.

Going down the east side.

Going down the east side I discovered that, despite being one of the least remote trails in the park, the eastern half of Deer Mountain Trail is virtually unused. It is also really cool. The east side is more open with fewer pine trees and several aspen stands, there are also lots of rock outcroppings right next to the trail. The more exposed, sunny trail was in the lee of the wind, so I quickly warmed up and was able to shed some layers. Along the way I startled groups of mule deer and cow elk.

Last leg along the north side.

The junction at the base of the east side connects with a trail into the town of Estes Park and a short spur to the North Deer Mountain Trail. The trail from town was much more traveled, but two left turns later I was on North Deer Mtn, which, again, was not well-traveled. As I skirted the base of the mountain I ended up back in the trees and the wind picked back up.

I'll admit it, I started to get pretty tired while hiking North Deer Mtn Trail. And I my surroundings were not helping. The trail was cold and windy, not very scenic, and since it was surrounded by thick pines, it was actually pretty dark. Eventually, after a few miles of walking headlong into the wind, on a far hillside I could see a trail that I knew was from Aspenglen Campground and intersected my trail. I kept waiting for that junction, where I knew I would see a sign telling me I had only 1 mile to my car. Finally it came, I turned left, and headed uphill to Deer Ridge Junction.

As I was straggling along the last mile, my spirits were lifted by the sounds of elk bugling in the glens downhill from the trail. I never saw them, but it sounded like two different males were going back and forth. Animals can make some crazy noises.

Eventually, I was back to the main western summit trail where I had started four and a half hours earlier. As I walked the last 50 yards, there were several people walking the trail too. Some were headed to or from the summit, but many were only walking a few hundred feet up the trail from their parked cars to check out the view, before turning back. I'm sure I looked strange, sweaty and obviously worn out, with a full daypack on, compared to everyone else who was milling around the trailhead now that it was afternoon.

I took off my boots, drove to Smoking Dave's, and ordered the burger that I had been craving since mile 5. I ate it so fast the waitress asked if I wanted a second one. Good day.
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Sunday, October 16: Volunteer Day at Forsberg

This was my second time volunteering with Boulder County Parks and Open Space. This time we were taken to a small parcel of land owned by POS called the Forsberg Property. I was excited about this work day because the land is not open to the public, so this would likely be the only way I would ever get to explore it.

Our task was to remove the old metal t-posts from fences that had been put up by ranchers way back when. The barbed wire fences create hazards for animals like coyotes, deer, and migrating elk. Luckily for us, the wire had already been cut and coiled up, so our main responsibility was pulling out the posts and getting all the materials back to the truck to be hauled away.

I found I really enjoyed using the post pullers; it is very satisfying when a post finally breaks free from the earth. We encountered many very stubborn posts, but with enough manpower and a few cheater bars (which were well bent by the end of the day) we got almost every one out. After pulling all the posts we made a fire line to pass them down, two at a time, to the edge of the property at the road, where they were then loaded into the pickup.

I really enjoyed working up a hard sweat outdoors, especially in a beautiful, relatively untouched piece of land. The fencing was really the only evidence of man beside occasional litter by the road. I was hoping to catch a glimpse of the golden eagles that nest on the site, but no luck there.

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Wednesday October 19: Heil Valley Ranch MTB
I have started doing some volunteer work for the planning department in Longmont, a town about half an hour north of Boulder. They've got me working on a river corridor reinvestment project through downtown which should be really interesting. Anyways, on to the fun stuff..

When I went in on Wednesday I brought my bike and afterwards headed over to the last nearby mountain biking destination I had to check out. Heil Valley Ranch is a Boulder County Open Space along the foothills, north of Boulder and west of Longmont. It's over 5,000 acres and has five trails totaling 14.5 miles (4/13.2 of which is open to bikes). The area was settled in 1888 and there are remains of some of the historic buildings visible along the trails.

Brief breather along the north end of Wild Turkey.

I took off from the parking lot along the Wapiti Trail, which gains elevation and meets Ponderosa Loop. Wild Turkey branches off Ponderosa, and Picture Rock Trail off Wild Turkey. The trails at Heil are very rocky, especially Ponderosa. Since Wild Turkey is a little smoother and was purportedly funner on a bike, I decided to ride it in each direction and pretty much skip out on the extremely rocky Ponderosa Loop (and Picture Rock which is a one-way decent to the town of Lyons). However, I made a little slip up and missed the junction that should have signaled I was done with Wild Turkey and it was time to turn around, so I continued on the west side of Ponderosa Loop back down to Wapiti. Guess I was just going too fast to notice!

Even though I didn't follow the plan, I still got a great ride in. Ponderosa wasn't nearly as teeth-rattling and bike-unfriendly as it was made out to be, and I had a blast negotiating all the rocks. Wild Turkey was smoother and more 'flowy' for sure, but I enjoyed more technical Ponderosa just as much.

10 miles, 1h 25m, 2k+ elevation gain

Once I was back at the Wapiti junction it took me awhile to figure out what happened and where I was. I thought about heading back up and riding Wild Turkey again, since I was feeling really good and wanted more stoke, but the sun was setting and I needed to get back to my car. So I dropped back down Wapiti, meeting several hikers who seemed surprised a radical mountain biker would actually slow down and yield to them (most people seem to get all their impressions about bikers from the X Games). I rode just over 10 miles in an hour and a half, gaining over 2,000 feet, with a little bloodshed.
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Saturday, October 22: Volunteer Day at Rabbit Mtn
Another volunteer day with Boulder County Parks and Open Space. They are winding these down as winter approaches, so the agenda for the day was not known beforehand, as the last several are kind of wild cards, used to finish up whatever wasn't done already. So I arrived at the BCPOS hq to learn that I would again be pulling fence posts. But this time, with the wire still around to deal with too.

After meeting everyone over breakfast burritos, we loaded into the van and drove out to Rabbit Mountain Open Space. Rabbit Mountain used to be called Rattlesnake Mountain, and I had heard that there are plenty of rattlers there; one of the POS employees had actually told me on a previous work day that they don't like to take volunteers there until it starts to get colder because of all the snakes.

Our main goal was to take out the fences at a spring in the back of the property. Apparently several ranchers in the area all had their fences converging at the spring since they all wanted a slice of the water, creating an asterisk of fences, which was causing all kinds of trouble for animals trying to get a drink. Unlike last time, these fences still had the wire, so we had to cut the wire at the posts, coil it, pull the posts, and get it all back to the truck. I was happy to be on post pulling duty again. I pitched in on the coiling too since there weren't always wire-less posts to pull, and I quickly found that I wasn't very good at it. My coils were always misshapen ovals, and I seemed to always have really rusty wire that would break when bent.

After we cleared out all the wire and posts we could at the spring, we moved back to the entrance to take down a fence along the road. This fence was on much easier terrain, flat former pasture, than the steep and brambly terrain around the spring, but the posts were a lot harder to get out because they did not have the little knobs that the pullers grip against. We got all the wire, but left plenty of posts. Might not look great, but now the deer will have an easier time getting off the road quickly.

Rabbit Mountain is a pretty neat area, especially since it is actually open space and you're allowed to roam anywhere you want, unlike most BoCo property. I'd like to go back and snowshoe through the ravines. (When the snakes are all hunkered down.)

Pre-Blog Photo Extravaganza

Here is the photographic best of my explorings, from before I started writing about it. These are from the months I was living in Fort Collins. Unless otherwise stated, photos are from Rocky Mountain National Park. Descriptions are below the photo.

Upper Beaver Meadows, Nov. 2010. My first hike in Rocky Mountain National Park after moving. I was still living in the Fort Collins La Quinta at this point. The snow at these lower elevations was sparse, but was already snowshoe-deep at higher places like Bear Lake. At first I kept to short, simple hikes that stayed near roads like this one, as I gained my bearings in the park.

 

Hallett Peak from Storm Pass, Nov. 2010. In the first few months, I took lots of drives through the area and especially RMNP with maps, learning the roads that were open for winter. I would stop at the pull outs and parking lots and see what trails started from them and where they went.

Base of Eagle Cliff Mountain, Nov. 2010. There is a spot just before you pass through the Beaver Meadows entrance station where the elk tend to congregate in winter. Nearly every time I went to the park in winter there were at least some elk resting or eating here.

First Snow in Romo

I've started calling Rocky Mountain National Park "Romo" after its website URL, nps.gov/romo. Not sure when this started, but it's ingrained at this point.

On the weekend of October 7-9, the first winter storm rolled through. Down here in Boulder we only got rain, other Front Range towns were snowed on early in the morning before temperatures warmed, and the mountains received a decent helping of the white stuff. Saturday, after a day spent indoors cleaning and listening to the constant rain, I couldn't take it anymore and drove up US-34 to see how much snow the park got and catch the sunset.

I anxiously sped up the winding highway, trying to make out what was happening in the world of college football through the radio, which was struggling to maintain its connection to the airwaves between the mountains. As I gained elevation, I eagerly awaited the moment when the rain would be replaced with snow. Soon I rounded a curve and saw the mountains and trees dusted white, and finally I broke through the snowline and was surrounded with the fresh white powder.

In the low afternoon light, the snow added a great deal of depth and texture to the scenery. Distant trees, rocks, and cliffs seemed to pop out of mountainsides more than usual. The shadows from the setting sun's angle, combined with the layer of snow which literally added depth, gave the sensation I was seeing in 3D-HD. I drove faster.

Once at the park I gleefully used the "Express Lane" at the entrance station, having recently found out that my pass will work at the self-swipe gate, to great express success. I felt like such a local, "I don't need no stinkin' map!"

While driving, I figured that I had forgotten to throw my headlamp or a decent flashlight in my pack; all I had was my tiny, single AAA battery, emergency light. So I headed to a place close where I could get by with low light, Hollowell Park.

Hollowell is an open, marshy meadowland that lies at around 8,400 feet, at the eastern base of Steep Mountain. The trailhead is an oft passed by parking lot with a few picnic tables and space for about ten cars, that provides access to the Mill Creek Basin trail system. The South Lateral Moraine separates Hollowell from the larger and much more popular Moraine Park. (Moraine Park is an almost can't-miss elk spotting locale.) This spot is popular with fly fisherman, who take advantage of the quick access to Mill Creek.

The South Lateral Moraine juts out from Steep Mtn.
The flat expanse north of it is Moraine Park, and
the smaller Hollowell Park is immediately south.

Lateral moraines are linear ridges of glacial debris deposited along the sides of advancing glaciers. The South Lateral Moraine is one of the more dramatic lateral moraines in the park. It is 1.8 miles long, forested with pines, littered with boulders other glacial erratics, and is very steep on both the north and south sides.

I didn't have the light to spend a lot of time out and about, so I decided to go off trail and explore the moraine. My plan was to hike west along the trail towards Mill Creek Basin right up to the foot of Steep Mountain, and then turn straight north and scramble to the top of the South Lateral Moraine for a view of the Continental Divide as the sun went down. Then I would walk east along the top of the ridge, exploring the snowy moraine, eventually dropping back down to my car.

I parked, put on a toboggan and gloves for the first time this season, and started off, determined to get to the top of the moraine before the sun really started to set. When I reached the trail junction at Steep Mountain, the point I was to head north, I found a very, very strong desire to head up Steep instead of the moraine. I was giddy with the impending return of winter, and the general increased sense of adventure from exploring in the cold, snowy park, and wanted a taste of it right away. But the common sense lobe of my brain beat out the adventure part, and I stuck to my plan, knowing that coming down Steep Mountain in poor light would be a much riskier task.

Hollowell Park meets another winter season.

Having avoided machismo-induced disaster (for the day), I turned north and headed up the far western edge of the South Lateral Moraine, near where it meets Steep Mountain. I walked through the open and flat field of grasses and shrubs for a few hundred yards, to the base of the moraine. There is no gradual increase of slope; the moraine suddenly rises upward from the glacier-scooped valley floor. I hoofed my way up the steep pitch, slipping on the wet snow every few steps. My heart rate rose dramatically as I powered up the hillside with a sense of urgency as the sun started to dip behind Steep Mountain. 

When I made it to the top, the peaks of the highest mountains were still lit up with the warm afternoon sunlight. The clouds of the storm were still thick and hung heavy in the sky, as they slid east towards Boulder, Denver, and the plains. I tried to spot elk in Moraine Park through the trees to no avail, as I downed half my water in a few big gulps.

Happy with my sprint to the top, I started east along the flat top of the moraine at a much more casual pace. As the light slowly started to fade and my senses became more acute after my hustle from car to summit, I became much more aware of everything. Even though I was only a half mile from the busy Bear Lake Road, I felt suddenly and entirely surrounded by the natural world all around me.

It is an interesting power that snow can have. It can create an overwhelming sense of silence and stillness like nothing else I've experienced. But it can also help accentuate the wildness of a place; a constant reminder that if I were to stay, I would have to fight to survive. I became aware that, while almost every other animal in the park would have the sounds of their movements muffled by the snow, mine were actually amplified. My boots created loud crushing footsteps, and left stark, obvious and unnaturally shaped tracks.

View from the top.

I stood still on the flat shelf of the moraine, unable to see through the trees down either side, smiling as the wind blew snow off the treetops and onto me. As I moved on, I could hear every creak of the pine branches, groaning under their first load of snow in months. Every chirp and flutter of birds flying from tree to tree. Every crunching decibel of my footsteps, compacting the pure snow between my boots' tread.

I found a large boulder, dragged from God knows where by the glacier that formed the South Lateral Moraine and the valley of Hollowell Park to rest on. It gave me a sweeping view of Mill Creek below, Bear Lake Road making a sharp bend right at the entrance to Hollowell, and the numerous whitened mountain peaks. I quietly ate my gourmet dinner (only the finest Clif Bars, trail mix, and oranges for me) and watched the stream of cars make their way down Bear Lake Road and out of the park. I wondered if anyone in those cars had spotted me, a spec of unnatural green and blue on the edge of a rock, nearly 400 feet up.

As I made my way down the slope, slipping and sliding even more than on the way up, I came across a group of mule deer bucks, who were all already staring at me by the time I spotted them. I angled around them and they eventually figured out I was no threat and went back to eating. I found myself saddened to see they were so used to humans that they didn't even look up when my car's locks beeped and doors closed.

Even though this wasn't one of my more adventurous times in the park, I was utterly and completely thrilled by it. It is a testament to these mountains, that even the shortest time in the tamest place, can generate a most powerful response.

I love winter, and it's coming.

Snow Is Coming

The first winter storm of the season came through this weekend. The blog is a few days behind, I need to add posts for a hike in Caribou Ranch Open Space (done, retroactively dated so it's below this) to see aspen fall colors, and my quick trip to Rocky Mountain NP (done, above) after the first snow. 

Time to add these to the day pack.

Colorful Caribou Ranch

I finally got in a drive on the Peak to Peak Highway to see the high fall colors. The drive from Boulder to Nederland to Allenspark to Estes Park and back to Boulder was a gorgeous 2-hour loop. Most of the aspen were still bright and vibrant with only a few stands on the decline, and the mountain peaks were dusted with fresh snow. 

I stopped at a Boulder County Open Space just north of Nederland (Want to sound like a local? Then just call this mountain town "Ned.") for a short hike. Caribou Ranch, named by a prospector who was reminded by the area of the Cariboo Range in British Columbia, is over 2,100 acres of montaine ecosystem in western Boulder County, near the Indian Peaks Wilderness. The park lies between 8,000 and 10,000 feet in elevation, meaning that glacial activity helped to form the area's valleys. Loads of mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and birds live or pass through the park.

Along the Switzerland Trail RR grade portion of DeLonde Trail.

The Denver, Boulder & Western Railroad ran from 1904 to 1919 through what is now the park. The former route is called the Switzerland Trail after brochures for the train ride that proclaimed the scenery as beautiful as the Alps. The Blue Bird Mine site is in the park, to which miners flocked (among plenty of other area mines) in the 1870s on the search for silver. In 1936, the first Arabian horse breeding operation in Colorado was set up on the ranch. In 1971 a music producer bought the property and converted the barn into a studio, which was used by the likes of Chicago and Elton John, and then destroyed in a fire in 1985. Lands for the park were acquired by Boulder County in 1996 and 2001.

Black Bear claw marks.

I set off along the DeLonde Trail which would take me 1.2 miles to the 1.9-mile Blue Bird Loop. The entire walk was a very pleasant stroll through the yellows and greens of aspens and pines. Part of the DeLonde Trail follows the old railroad grade and features placards showing photos and information about the old tourist train rides.

The aspen are ablaze.

Along the Blue Bird Loop trail I took the short spur trail to check out the old mine complex, which includes a restored bunkhouse and company house, the remains of log buildings, a mill foundation, chicken coops, smoke house, and several mine shafts complete with the original cart tracks coming out of their (gated) entrances.

Restored bunkhouse at the Blue Bird Mine.

Mine entrance.

The rest of the loop brought me to the barn and back to the DeLonde Trail. The ~4.5-mile walk was very nice and I'm looking forward to returning on snowshoes and cross-country skis, but I am so glad I was able to explore the area with the aspens still peaking. 

Aspen litter.

Afterwards, as I continued my drive up the Peak to Peak Highway to Estes Park, the tops of Mount Meeker and Longs Peak became socked in with dense clouds as afternoon rain rolled in. I briefly walked through the Upper Beaver Meadows in RMNP in hopes of spotting some elk. I was a bit too early in the day for them though, so I headed to Smoking Dave's for some Carolina-style BBQ pork instead!

Bald Mountain

After a day full of surfing the web for jobs, writing cover letters, and making phone calls, I needed to head out for a break from sitting and staring at a computer screen. So I headed up Sunshine Canyon to check out the small Boulder County recreation area of Bald Mountain.

The summit of (mostly) Bald Mountain.

The 7,160-foot Bald Mountain summit is in fact pretty bald, but there are also plenty of scattered ponderosa pines, shrubs, and wildflowers throughout the open space. There are several factors keeping Bald Mountain bald. Strong winds (sometimes exceeding 100 mph) are a big factor, as they create an unstable environment which makes it hard for young tree seedlings. If a seedling does manage to take root, then it must compete for water which is scarce because the mountain is too high for heavy rainfall and too low to accumulate snow. And to top it off, the soil is poor and has insufficient nutrients to sustain lots of plants.

The property became Boulder County's first park in 1973. Before that it was used by pioneers and locals for livestock grazing, mining, and logging. An old livestock loading corral and chute still stands today near the entrance. (I noticed it, but didn't take a photo.)

The trail is a short 1.5 mile lollypop loop that takes you over the summit and then around the west, north, and east sides of the mountain. There are great views of the eastern plains and Denver, as well as the peaks of the Continental Divide.

The trail approaches the summit.

I did the loop in both directions, making a very pleasant 2.5 mile walk. The whole time I could hear the activity of hundreds of birds searching for food in the trees. Part of the mountain was burned during the huge Four Mile Fire in 2010, so there are plenty of charred trees littering the landscape, many of which have been cut down by Boulder County Open Space. Lots of hairy woodpeckers were tapping away at the blackened trunks.

Some un-felled burnt pines.

At the top, I caught a glimpse of several of the distinctive Albert's Squirrels climbing trees. But the most interesting wildlife activity was dozens of what I'm guessing were some kind of nuthatch, flying busily about, picking seeds out from pine cones, and then holding them at the end of their beaks and rapping them against the branches to crack them open.

Brush reclaims the hillside.

Biking (as well as horseback riding, though there is no trailer parking) is allowed on the trail, but there were no tracks. This isn't surprising, as no cyclist in their right mind would drive up the canyon to ride something so short. However, I do have a slight itch to ride up to the trail from my house, do a lap in each direction, and cruise back down the road for a ride of about 10 miles.

Views to the east, with metro Denver and even DIA visible.

It was certainly a very pleasant little walk but nothing too special. I'm glad I finally checked it out, but I doubt I'll be back too soon, especially since I have the Mount Sanitas trails a stone's throw away from my place for when I want an easily accessible short walk just to move around a little.

Valmont Bike Park

Saturday I finally went to Valmont Bike Park, over on the east side of Boulder. It was a great time and I quickly became mad at myself for taking so long to check it out.

 

Valmont from the spectator platform, with the Flatirons in the distance.

In May of 1996, the city hosted a public input meeting on what to do with the newly purchased 132 acres of park land on Valmont Road.  Two local cyclists saw the need for a dedicated space for cyclists to ride, and big biker turnout at public forums showed the city that cyclists were a large user group with unmet needs.

The planning process began in 1996, but the dot com bust really hurt the city's budget, so the park was put on hold. Then, in 2006, the development process was restarted. The original 1996 plan was updated to meet the current city needs and demographics, and the final decision was to develop 40 acres into the bike park. (The majority of the park remains undeveloped, I believe a dog park and disc golf course are coming next.) Total estimated cost of construction was $1.2 million. Sales tax revenue covered the majority of the cost, and nearly half a million dollars was raised through a partnership between Boulder Parks and Recreation, Boulder Mountain Bike Alliance, and IMBA. Ground was broken in October of 2009 and the park officially opened in June 2011.

The park was designed to be a world-class facility that can meet the needs of riders of all ages and abilities. In addition to hosting the day-to-day public recreation, it is also designed as a venue for special events and races. There are currently 4 miles of single track trails, with many man-made and natural obstacles including logs, bridges, and rocks. There is also a slopestyle course with four runs of varying difficulty, a dual slalom course, dirt jumps for all abilities, two pump tracks, several cyclo-cross features, and a "tot track" for young riders.

Accidental fire yields decent results.

I rode all the single track available to me, much of it multiple times. I did not try out the pump tracks, but definitely will next time. The green (easiest) trails were very tame but were still fun to zoom around on. The blue (more difficult) single track was either steep and twisty with nice berms and banked turns, or peppered with rideable elements. I only shied away from a few features, for fear of my bottom bracket and crank slamming into rock, and all I tried I cleaned either my first or second try. I wish there were more challenging features on the single track, but what's there is very fun. My favorite trail was "Corkscrew," a very fast and flowy series of switchbacks; after five runs down my cornering was already noticeably improving.

  

Corkscrew trail.

I only tried out the easiest of the four runs (dubbed S, M, L, & XL) on the slopestyle course. The "Small" path still has ample opportunity to get some good air. I doubt I'll ever have the right bike or mindset to go for the L or XL, but I'm looking forward to working my way up to the M lines.

The big starts on the slopestyle course.

  

Besides pushing it on the slopestyle and increasing speed on the singletrack, the only way for me to really stay challenged at Valmont is to learn to ride the pump tracks. This is supposed to be a great skill to learn so I'm looking forward to trying it out. But long-term, unless they start working on a Phase II, I'm not so sure I will stay challenged by the park. Again, that's not to say I wouldn't always be able to have a great time though. Need to find the best way to ride there for next time.

Fun stuff to roll!