Who Hikes?

[TwistedObsession]

Any hikers around here? Not talking about mountaineering, 14ers and what-not, just local hikers in the 10 mile or less crowd.
My girlfriend and I have just started getting in to hiking over the last year or so, but we don't know a lot of people that are interested hiking or in shape enough to hike too much. So far we've hiked a few trails in Teller and El Paso county like Rainbow Gulch, Waldo Canyon, Red Rocks, Raspberry Mountain, Horse Thief, Pancake Rocks and part of the America Discovery Trail around Poverty Gulch. We pretty much stick to moderate trails with a great payoff and a few photo ops along the way, we are always looking for other similar trails close to home. We'll be hitting Dome Rock as soon as lambing season is over and the trail is open all the way and maybe the Crags some time this summer. If we can ever find a weekend that we both have time, we want to hike Conundrum Creek near Aspen and camp over night at the hot springs.... That may have to be next year the way it looks right now.

[rubbersidedown]

I love to hike! Everything I do is pretty much right here in the front range. I hit Deer Creek, Mt. Falcon, Mathew Winters, Three Sisters, and Castlewood Canyon, one of these at least once a week in the summer and fall. I would love to start branching out into the high(er) country to do some hiking! Post up in the staging area or here next time you get a trip planned!

[Ooompa Loompa]

It's a little over 10 miles (around 12 I think) but you should head to Rampart Reservoir sometime and do the trail around it. It's a beautiful hike. Also since you're in Cripple Creek the Lost Creek Wilderness area is pretty close to you as well.

[TwistedObsession]

I'll do that for sure! Don't know what this weekend looks like yet but if I come up with something I'll post it here.

I haven't hiked rampart, but biked it last summer, it's a great trail. We used to walk the dogs down Rainbow Gulch to the reservoir when we lived in Woodland Park last year.

[Yota]

We love Maxwell Falls (Jeffco Open Space Park) because we can take our dog with us off-leash. That's a fun easy to moderate hike and the payoff is the waterfall at the top of the trail. You can ride this one too if you have mountain bikes.

The toughest hike my wife and I did pre-kid was Herman(n?) Gulch up near the Bakerville exit off I-70. It had a 1200- or 1600-foot elevation gain over ~5 miles I think. It was a solid intermediate hike in my opinion but I saw people much older and fatter than I making it so it can't be that bad. But the payoff is the lake at the top and the water trickling down from the mountains (I forget the names) around the lake. Sit and relax by the lake before heading back down. We saw lots of wildflowers along the way and you even pass through some wooded areas.

I'd recommend starting in the early morning as usual when it's cool and thunderstorm potential is low and be heading back down by noon or so. We got rained on during our descent because we were coming down at 1:30 or 2 - no thunder thank goodness.

[starbreaker666]

I would love to hike and geo-cache, but the nearest trail is 80+ miles away..lol

[MinesJeep]

I love to hike. I used to do it all the time, well when ever school allowed. Not so much since i started 4-wheeling but would love to get back into it and into shape. Post up in staging area when ur looking for a tagalong. I'd love to go.

[Mike Boyle]

I try to go out to McInnin Cannyon area every Sunday. Typically hike between 4-6 miles each time I'm out there. Really neat area to hike if youre ever over here on the Western Slope. Unfortunatley its starting to get really hot so I may have to start looking at trails up on the Mesa.

[zoriloco]

Im planning a trip down to Lost Lake,Gunnison on August. Found a great website with great reports. Im planning on hitting maybe 2 trails this summer.

Check out the pics.....

http://aroundcolorado.com/trip_reports/2004_0601_LostLake/index.html

[TwistedObsession]

Started out hiking to the Crags today around 3pm and unknowingly turned off that trail toward the Devils Playground area but ended up turning back at the 12,000 foot mark since we were not prepared in any way to hike to the summit of Pikes Peak with only gear for a 2+ hour hike to the Crags and back. The wind was kicking up around 40-50 or so would be my guess and wind like that up there at 5pm..... it was getting cold really fast and we still had a 20 mile drive home with no top or doors after we hiked back down so we called it a day about 3 miles from the summit. It was a pretty nice trail with a lot of friendly people making their return trip as we were getting started. We'll have to plan on trying that one again when we can get an earlier start some time.

[Ooompa Loompa]

Awesome, sounds like a good time even with the crappy weather. I did a quick overnight trip last night. Left the house at around 3 pm, hiked the trail up to Palmer Lake reservoirs, then kept going into the national forest, and setup camp there. Got up this morning and packed everything up and hiked back. Hit some light rain on the hike back, but it wasn't even heavy enough for me to break out my poncho. It was my first hike with my new sleeping bag (LL Bean Katahdin good to 20* and weighs in at just under 3 lbs) and tent (LL Bean Ultralight, weighs in at just under 4 lbs). The load was much lighter, but it was also more compact, so I was able to distribute the weight in a much more balanced manner. It was like a night and day difference.

[Colin]

I would love to hike and geo-cache, but the nearest trail is 80+ miles away..lol

MOVE!

Twas what I did, fawk eastern colorado. But then again, wasn't attached to any job or family so the move was easy :D

[JeepWheelin02]

I just got back into this after being out of it for YEARS. I have done the incline and Seven Bridges so far. Seven Bridges, Seven Falls, and the numerous other trails right off Cheyenne Mountain are all fun scenic trails. And if ya want a good work out hit the incline and then run back down Barr Trail.

[Trango]

I was at Section 16 on Sunday - another good hiking/running area. Oh yes, the Red Rocks Park (especially the old quarry) is truly magnificent.

[TwistedObsession]

may be trying the peak again saturday from the crags

[bsaunder]

my wife and I go hiking with our daughter (she still rides in the kid back pack, though she is good for ~3 miles her self now in ~1/2 segments) at least every other weekend and backpacking with her at least once a year. We've generally hit up Indian peaks, rocky mtn park, walker ranch/eldorado springs area, or several places around morrison. Starting to look for more areas to trail run as well.

[Ooompa Loompa]

No updates? Anybody done anything lately? I summited Mt Sherman (14,036 eleveation) yesterday. Stayed the night at 4 mile campground, and got up the next morning and drove up to the gate (~12k feet), and hiked from there. It's only about 5.5 miles round trip, but it's a really cool hike, and all the old mines/mining equipment along they way are pretty neat.

[TwistedObsession]

Haven't gotten to hike in a few weeks.... work stuff is killing me.

[clemsonkrawler]

I went hiking up on Pinion Mesa last week. At around 8000ft, its better than hiking in the valley anywhere. Im about to start looking towards Grand Mesa and the 10000ft mark to get cooler temps.

[Mike Boyle]

Haven't been out since the temps got out of control. Was planning to tonight but the friggin cops closed the area I like to hike in because of Furita's fireworks display. :rant:

[Ooompa Loompa]

Went on a 3 day/2 night 30 mile backpacking trip in the Lost Creek Wilderness area from July 5th to the 7th. I had a blast, but it definately took a lot out of me. It was hot everyday, then it would rain, and cool me down, but then I was hiking through the rain. Pics here: http://s95.photobucket.com/albums/l153/lars9999/Lost%20Creek%20Wilderness%20backpacking%20July%202008/

[TwistedObsession]

Went on a 3 day/2 night 30 mile backpacking trip in the Lost Creek Wilderness area from July 5th to the 7th. I had a blast, but it definately took a lot out of me. It was hot everyday, then it would rain, and cool me down, but then I was hiking through the rain. Pics here: http://s95.photobucket.com/albums/l153/lars9999/Lost%20Creek%20Wilderness%20backpacking%20July%202008/

Nice pics, we have a fat little flat-coat too. This is Max and his big sister Kiko.
http://a616.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/81/l_a356c821b4eb8979f5578083cb9956d7.jpg

He has hip dysplasia and can't hike much, so he started packing on the weight about 2 years ago.
http://a767.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/63/l_cb3138a4196b26f9df0707c5f14b0546.jpg

[xjmatt]

Just spotted this thread. I've been getting out a pretty fair amount this year and its' been a good year I have to say.

This past weekend 7/25-28 the wife and I hiked up to Conundrum Hot springs to go soak with the hippies. We've done that trip at least once a year now for the past 3 years. This year it was unbelievably wet. There is still snowpack up there and some sections of the trail you were hiking through canopy. The wildflowers are out in full force and are pretty cool to see. Word of caution though, the bridges are all washed out so be ready to ford some potentially deep, COLD, and fast moving rivers.

7/11-7/14 we took a long weekend and did a 30 mile loop through the Flat Top wilderness area. BEAUTIFUL area. It was hard to take a bad picture, but holy mosquitoes batman. I've never seen mosquitoes like that since backpacking in the lake region of upstate New York. The moment you stopped you got swarmed. Got some good pictures, saw some amazing terrain, but also spent a lot of time in my tent on that trip!

7/6. Climbed Dead Dog coulier up Mt. Torreys. Easy approach, great climb, close to home, good fun. Obviously it's melted out now but when it's in it's a fun snow climb.

No plans for this weekend just yet but might get a morning hike in somewhere nearby since the wife wants to hit the farmers markets. We shall see! Good to see there are some others who enjoy getting around on their own 2 feet :)

[meatblanket]

7/6. Climbed Dead Dog coulier up Mt. Torreys. Easy approach, great climb, close to home, good fun. Obviously it's melted out now but when it's in it's a fun snow climb.

Did that one the second week in June. Great conditions, I was an idiot for not bringing skis, but I had no idea there would be that much snow left that late. This was an odd year. Usually it is best in late May, when you can ski an unbroken line from the summit of Torrey's all the way to the parking area if you are lucky.

If you are looking for snow climbs this late, consider Fair Glacier on Apache Peak. It's a really long day, but the snow there lasts well into August. And you'll probably have it all to yourself.:D

[xjmatt]

Did that one the second week in June. Great conditions, I was an idiot for not bringing skis, but I had no idea there would be that much snow left that late. This was an odd year. Usually it is best in late May, when you can ski an unbroken line from the summit of Torrey's all the way to the parking area if you are lucky.

If you are looking for snow climbs this late, consider Fair Glacier on Apache Peak. It's a really long day, but the snow there lasts well into August. And you'll probably have it all to yourself.:D

Yea we hit Dead Dog in July so it was pretty melted out but still continuous all the way to the top. Had to keep an eye on the sky for rockfall but otherwise it was a great climb.

Skiing from the top of Torreys all the way to the parking lot would be a TREAT. I'll have to keep that in mind for next spring. It was a crazy year for snow this year. Out around Aspen I've been hiking on snow pack in places still and that's at 9-10K'. Even took my chances on a snow bridge over a raging creek, obviously it held. If we get some early snow up in the mountains it'll have been a summer short enough for the record books!

[ArloGuthroJeep]

I hike...locally (smaller hikes) in the spring and fall, and in the midst of summer further up:)

Posing in front of Wheeler Lake on top of Mt. Lincoln last weekend:
http://arlojeep.com/Hiking-Trip-Reports/Democrat-Cameron-Lincoln-Bross-7-26-08/Weberized/IMG_0660_resize.jpg

[zoriloco]

Liz and I are starting to hike. Trying to get in shape to do some snowshoeing during this winter. We hit Beaver Brook Trail this Sunday lots of trails around Golden. Only did half of the 8.6 miles. The baby tagged along and she loved it too.

Im up for a little hiking this weekend, Sunday maybe. If anyone is interested in doing a trail around the Denver area let me know, something not to hard Im just starting.



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[rckkrwlr460]

One of the absolute must do hikes in Colorado is the Goose Creek trail in the Lost Creek Wilderness area. It is very unique scenery wise. If you are not real careful though you will end up on the Hankins pass trail which is really nice but, not the same as Goose Creek.

My wife, the two dogs and I absolutely love hiking and backpacking and would love to get out there with some of you other like minded folks.

[rckkrwlr460]

Liz and I are starting to hike. Trying to get in shape to do some snowshoeing during this winter. We hit Beaver Brook Trail this Sunday lots of trails around Golden. Only did half of the 8.6 miles. The baby tagged along and she loved it too.

Im up for a little hiking this weekend, Sunday maybe. If anyone is interested in doing a trail around the Denver area let me know, something not to hard Im just starting.



http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb50/zoriloco/PIC-0604.jpg

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Do you do the Beaver Brook trail from Genesee or from the top of Lookout Mountain????

Going back up to the parking lot at Lookout Mountain is a bear of a climb.

[Ooompa Loompa]

One of the absolute must do hikes in Colorado is the Goose Creek trail in the Lost Creek Wilderness area. It is very unique scenery wise. If you are not real careful though you will end up on the Hankins pass trail which is really nice but, not the same as Goose Creek.

My wife, the two dogs and I absolutely love hiking and backpacking and would love to get out there with some of you other like minded folks.

See my post earlier in this thread, that was pretty much what I did over the 4th of July weekend, except I started at Twin Eagles trailhead, and did a slight variation of the loop.

I've been doing a ton of hiking lately. I try to do at least one 7+ mile hike per week. Last week I did Rich Creek to Rough and Tumble creek trails in Buffalo Peaks Wilderness Area. I LOVED it, it is now my favorite loop hike. 11.5 miles and last Saturday was a perfect day for it. In addition to that I've done Williams Canyon, Rampart Reservoir, and Palmer Lake Reservoirs lately.

Probably going to go do Waldo Canyon tomorrow, weather permitting.

[zoriloco]

Do you do the Beaver Brook trail from Genesee or from the top of Lookout Mountain????

Going back up to the parking lot at Lookout Mountain is a bear of a climb.

Sorry I never got back to you on this one. I run it from Genesee park. I really enjoyed the trail. Very close to town but no traffic at all. Right after that I went and bought the baby a carrier to make it easier on my back.

We also ran this year

Red Rocks Trail, it is a really great trail. Very close to town. Actually we did it after work and we still got home before dark. It did have some traffic.

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb50/zoriloco/PIC-0654.jpg

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Golden Canyon Park (I think thats what its called)

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb50/zoriloco/Melissa053.jpg

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb50/zoriloco/Melissa062.jpg

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb50/zoriloco/Melissa065.jpg

and Apex Trail near Golden. Sorry no pics of that one. I dont think any of these trails go over 9K feet.

[TwistedObsession]

Well it's been a pretty great summer of hiking for us, until that one split second incident I had with the chain saw.

I just now got around to loading some of our pictures from Hahns Peak, Dome Rock, The Crags and some other Teller County trails to my photobucket.
http://s82.photobucket.com/albums/j255/highestjoker/hiking/


I've been looking into getting some snowshoes this year. :shrug: who knows though, this Polaris RMK 600 is trying to sneak in to the garage.

[rckkrwlr460]

I am definitely getting into some snow shoes this year also. Snow shoes are a real season extender for sure.

[rckkrwlr460]

Zoriloco-- You are an ANIMAL! Running Beaver Brook from Genesee would be bad enough cardiovascular wise but, with a baby in a pack, WOW.

[zoriloco]

The first time was the hardest this Sunday we ran only half of the trail and this time the wife had the baby in her back. Yes I will admit it was way easier

[Ooompa Loompa]

Just got back from a trip up to Barr Camp. I said snow be damned and went for it. Had a great time. Pics here http://s95.photobucket.com/albums/l153/lars9999/Barr%20Trail%20Nov%202008/

[zoriloco]

lucky you man, I was stuck at home with the flu this weekend :D Snow isnt to bad yet.

[rckkrwlr460]

I am looking at the snow being a bonus. The wife and I will be buying a decent pair of snow shoes real soon.

[zoriloco]

Let me know when you guys head out, maybe we can do a run together. Hopefully something not to hard. We bought our snow shoe's this weekend. I got my snow pants today. :thumbsup:

[rckkrwlr460]

This weekend is the sale that I am waiting for on the snow shoes but, I would love to go trek it out together somewhere after I get a few items that I am missing. I am not sure where I want to snow shoe just yet. There are some amazing places to go no doubt. I bet even places that are not normally that spectacular will be really fun covered in snow.

The areas around Grant, Kenosha pass and Guenella pass offer a ton of opportunities.

[zoriloco]

You mind sharing the info on the sale? Im still missing some stuff too.

Wife still needs to get her snow pants and snow boots. We were thinking of hitting the stores the day after thanks giving.

[rckkrwlr460]

The wife and I are REI members and the sale we are going to starts on Friday November 21. There are probably better places to get the same gear but, the people at REI have always seen to it that we got what we needed. The Big Agnes sleeping bags we got this year are a perfect example..... I would have never even looked at them if it hadn't been for the employee help at the REI we go to.

[zoriloco]

checked them out yesterday, man they're pricey. Dicks Sporting goods has better prices. Ill be checking out some other spots today and tomorrow.