Hike 15: Bear Peak West Ridge, Boulder, CO

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Date: Sunday, March 17, 2019

Miles: 8.9 miles

Elevation Gain: 2080 feet

Difficulty: Difficult

Time: 4 hr 30min total

Type: Day hike from Denver (45 min drive)

Trail Head:

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/colorado/bear-peak-western-approach

Notes:

I have been wanting to complete Bear Peak for so long– feeling very accomplished by checking this hike off my bucket list. We chose the west ridge route, off of Flagstaff road in Boulder. Parking is limited so make sure you get there early. This route still had a lot of snow, with traction needed to complete. Warning: AllTrails does not have correct mileage or elevation gain posted for this hike. Out-and-back, we recorded 8.9 miles with 2080 elevation gain. The first 2.5 miles mostly goes downhill through some forests and meadows. From there you climb elevation intermittently, with long breaks of flat trail. The majority of elevation gain is crammed into the last mile. The summit is pretty rocky– if you are afraid of heights, take the climb slow. The route back requires elevation gain as well. We had full sun today, so the hike back was getting a little muddy (be warned).

Hike #14: Bluebell, Royal Arch & Ski Jump Trails, Boulder, CO

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Date: Thursday, March 14, 2019

Miles: 3.5 miles

Elevation Gain: 1467 feet

Difficulty: Moderate to Difficult

Time: 2hr total

Type: Day hike from Denver (30min drive)

Trail Head:

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/colorado/royal-arch-trail

Notes:

The last two days we have been out of school for snow days! While yesterday had awful weather, today the sun came out late morning and roads were clear. We took advantage of our day off and hiked a few trails at Chautauqua Park. The trails’ snow pack was favorable for spikes, with a few patches of mud. We hiked up Bluebell Road first to Royal Arch Trail. This trail is extremely steep in elevation grade, gaining several hundred feet in under a mile. Certain sections of the trail would be impassable without spikes. The trail is up and down, gaining elevation both ways. Royal Arch itself is so scenic– on a weekday, you get the view to yourself. After descending, we took the Bluebell- Baird trail on the left to Ski Jump Trail, descending back to the parking lot. Side note– AllTrails link above lists mileage wrong for this hike, as determined by tracking my hike through the record feature. Screen shot of the trail I created below.

Hike #13: Sleepy Lion Trail, Lyons, CO

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Date: Tuesday, March 12, 2019

Miles: 4.7 miles

Elevation Gain: 696 feet

Difficulty: Easy to Moderate

Time: 1hr 50min total

Type: Day hike from Denver (50min drive)

Trail Head:

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/colorado/button-rock-preserve-sleepy-lion-trail

Notes:

I had to run an errand in Lyons before the blizzard (set to hit tomorrow), so I took advantage of the location and stopped for a quick hike at Button Rock Preserve. The first .8 miles of Sleepy Lion trail is along a dirt road, next to the beautiful St. Vrain. From there, the trail splits left and climbs in elevation through a few switchbacks to a meadow. This part of the trail had melting ice and lots of mud– traction encouraged. The meadow was definitely my favorite part– views of Longs Peak, as well as the Canyon. From there you climb a few more switchback and then have a great view of the reservoir below. About 2.8 miles into the hike, you descend along side the reservoir near the spillway. The next two miles follows the dirt roadway back to the parking lot, along the St. Vrain.

Side Bar #3: Goals, Goals, Goals (sung to Motley Crue’s “Girls, Girls, Girls”)

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I am finding it pretty easy to bag a trail weekly, since for the most part, hiking is my happy place and something that already falls into my routine. I wanted to challenge myself more, so I have tacked on a few extra goals this year to push myself further out of my comfort zone.

While my overall goal is to complete the #52HikeChallenge, I am striving to finish a total of 70 hikes, 300 miles and 60,000 feet of elevation in 2019. I would like to have an average of 2.5 MPH for hiking speed as well.

I have been diligently recording my trail stats through AllTrails and Excel. Thanks to Trav, I have some fun formulas to calculate my current stats and plan future hikes. Here is my goal check-in for the beginning of March:

Hikes: 12 / 70
Mileage: 55.1 / 300
Elevation Gain: 12,516 / 60,000
Average MPH: 2.1 / 2.5

With my current rates, here are some fun stats about what my future hikes should look like (based on completing 70 hikes):

Average Mileage: 4.22 miles
Average Elevation Gain: 818.7 feet

If you have some favorite hikes that fit these margins, visit my contact page and drop me a line! I would love to explore some different trails. Let me know if you would want to complete a hike together too– I am always looking to connect 🙂

Hike 12: Nighthawk, Nelson Ranch & Bitterbrush Trails, Lyons, CO

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Date: Sunday, March 10, 2019

Miles: 10.6 miles

Elevation Gain: 1716 feet

Difficulty: Moderate

Time: 4hr total

Type: Day hike from Denver (50min drive)

Trail Head:

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/colorado/hall-ranch-loop-nighthawk-to-bitterbrush

Notes:

Hall ranch is an easy trailhead to get to with lots of different hiking options. We started off on Nighthawk trail, which gradually climbs about 1500 feet for 4.7 miles. This trail has almost no shade– even for 30 degree weather, the sun was brutal. The first two miles had significant mud– we started at 8AM, so luckily everything was a bit frozen. At the end of that trail, you are rewarded with a view of Longs Peak and several other trail options. We hiked about a half mile to the left on Buttonrock Trail, then ended up changing our minds and heading back east towards Bitterbrush Trail. We made a pit stop to see the old Nelson Ranch House and then continued our descent via Bitterbrush. Bitterbrush is more shaded, but still fairly exposed. This is a multi-use path so we passed several mountain bikers and horses. I imagine the amount of mountain bikers in the summer would make this trail frustrating to hike during peak times.