August 1, 2011

Trail Report

This may be my first - and hopefully not last - accidental hike. Having wanted to explore the Amphitheater Trail for a while now, Ramius and I set out to see what we could see. 

Baseline Trail - Beginning our hike around 12pm, we set out from the Chautauqua Park Trailhead with about three liters of water and a ton of optimism. This trail veers to the right of the Flatirons and is characterized by a mostly level grade, eventually descending to the Gregory Canyon Trailhead. Despite it being midday, the heat wasn't that intense at this point, but was definitely noticed.

Amphitheater Trail - From the Gregory Canyon Trailhead we headed southwest up the trail and really began to feel the heat. It had rained heavily the night before, and the moisture caused a miserable combination of heat and humidity within the tree cover. We ended up stopping a couple of times at various points early on to cool down and so Ramius could drink. While we were on these breaks we had great views of some of the climbers taking advantage of the rock formations around the Amphitheater Express Trail. Ramius took quite an interest in one particular beetle as well. The trail eventually opens up a bit with a rock formation just north of the trail that, if climbed, allows great views of the Chautauqua Trailhead and South-central parts of Boulder. We skipped the views this time because of a group of school children having lunch there. 

Saddle Rock Trail - From here the trail snakes back up into the trees, climbing at a moderate grade up to a point when the trail seemingly dead-ends near a drain outlet. This is actually a switchback that requires one to scramble up about six or so feet of a hillside. It was about halfway up the following hillside that Ramius just plonked down and refused to hike any longer. We took about a ten minute break to cool down and have some water. Oddly enough, as soon as we started hiking again a breeze began blowing and the trail opened up to a fantastic view of Boulder. Soon afterward the trail opens up to Saddle Rock Pillar (6,988 ft), where we stopped for a quick cool-down. The previous night's rain filled many of the cups worn into the stone on top of Saddle Rock, and Ramius took advantage of this water source with gusto. From Saddle Rock Pillar, the trail turns South along a ridge below the backside of the First and Second Flatirons. We were afforded great views of Longs Peak whilst enjoying a welcome breeze. The trail takes a mild dip and then climbs to a point where the Saddle Rock Trail splits into two parts of the EM Greenman Trail.

EM Greenman Trail - The split that occurs at the end of the Saddle Rock Trail is mildly confusing for a dog owner. Happily, there is a dog station with a map that details where dogs are and are not allowed and whether or not they are required to be on a leash. It was at this point that I truly debated whether or not to end the hike since the map displayed on the Dog Station doesn't quite do justice to the actual distance between it and Bear Peak. Regardless, we continued on and headed down the trail, which takes a lower and more northern route. I can remember cursing that we were headed back into the thickness of the trees, dreading the heat and humidity more and more with each step. Despite the dreaded heat, the trail here is actually quite picturesque, especially the area surrounding the stream that cuts through the path. Past the stream, the trail passes through a couple of meadows that were teeming with butterflies. The trail continues to drop down, eventually bottoming out at the junction between the EM Greenman Trail and Ranger Trail.

Ranger Trail - At this point we continued south on the trail, avoiding the Northern leg of the Ranger Trail partially because it lead away from our goal and partially due to a bunch of signs warning of recent bear sightings along it. This trail began to climb pretty quickly and soon overlooked the trail junction before wrapping around a bend and losing sight of it. After this bend the trail begins to gain a fair amount of elevation, and Ramius insisted upon a rest at one point. Luckily, the breeze reappeared at this point and we were able to cool off pretty quickly. When the trail finally topped out, it opened up into a few clearings before beginning to climb again. This time though, the trails climb was characterized by a number of switchbacks that hugged the side of the ridge, allowing great views of Boulder and the Flatirons. There were also a number of old Ranger Trail signs along the way, which were sometimes quite blended into the environment - I enjoyed searching for them. Eventually the trail came to a junction between the EM Greenman, Ranger, and Green Bear Trails.

Green Bear Trail - The Green Bear Trail is essentially a continuation of the Ranger Trail in that it continues a roughly southern bearing. Immediately after taking the Green Bear Trail, it begins to drop into an open meadow that was full of at least a dozen types of wild flowers. This eventually gives way to a portion of trail that passes through some moderately dense trees and looks almost as if it has been washed out by rain over time. Soon after this we encountered a stream that runs through Bear Canyon. Following the stream, the trail took us through a meadow of tall grass and wildflowers, eventually running into the junction between Bear Canyon Trail and Bear Peak West Ridge Trail. Here I was faced with a choice of going to Bear Peak or avoiding it and getting home sooner. Having come this far, we continued on toward Bear Peak.

Bear Peak West Ridge Trail - Immediately after leaving Bear Canyon Trail, this path begins an upward climb that lasted us about twenty minutes. The trail remains firmly hidden underneath the trees and was quite muggy due to the lack of a breeze. Eventually, after making a long, horseshoe turn, the trail begins to even out into an easy upward grade. This was by far the longest part of the trip, and I think both Ramius and I began to feel the strain of a lack of food and water. By now we were about 3.5 hours into the hike and had consumed about half of our water supplies. At one point I thought I was hallucinating since it appeared that a rock was moving, but really it was just a white-tailed ptarmigan (Lagopus leucura). We ran into a few of these along this trail, which was rather disconcerting since they seem to try to remain hidden as long as possible before bolting away just before you step within a foot of them. Anyhow, this trail is characterized by long, wide meadows and great views of Bear Peak, Boulder, and the sides of the Flatirons and, had it not been for our water situation, I think we would have enjoyed it immensely. The last half-mile or so of the trail becomes quite steep with quick, short switchbacks. This is when we met our first other dogs of the day who were not friendly by any means. They appeared to be exhausted and wanted nothing to do with me or Ramius, much to his chagrin. The end of this trail is marked by the divergence of the trail between the Bear Peak Trail and the Fern Canyon Trail. Oddly enough, one must follow the Fern Canyon Trail to summit Bear Peak.

Bear Peak's Summit - The summit of Bear Peak is guarded by some of the most slick rock I have encountered on any of my trips to date. My trailrunners had a hard time getting tracktion on the rock, making it somewhat more precarious but not impossible to get to the summit. The views offered by Bear Peak are amazing. To the South one can see South Boulder Peak, while Boulder appears to the Northeast, and Longs Peak is visible to the Northwest. We weren't able to see Denver due to thunderstorms on the horizon, but I'm told it is often visible from the summit. We hung out on the summit for a while, taking photos, having some water, and simply enjoying the view. 

Fern Canyon Trail - Let me begin by stating that I absolutely hate this trail. It is long, it is steep, and it made my descent miserable. From the summit, one must only follow the path down, down, down, down. There are numerous short, quick switchbacks that seemingly go on forever. It was in the middle of one of these switchback clusters that I finally ran out of water. Eventually, the trail runs into Shanahan Mesa Trail (go Broncos!), but we remained on Fern Canyon to cut down our trip time. After about another half-mile or so we came to a big sign that welcomed us to Bear Canyon. Just behind the sign was a slow-flowing creek. Beyond thirsty, I waited to see if Ramius was willing to drink the water - he was - and then filled up my platypus. Note that I DO NOT RECOMMEND DRINKING UNFILTERED CREEK WATER. The water was crisp, but had a gritty mouthfeel. To date, I am fine and without any kind of contaminants as far as I know. Anyhow, we followed the trail with renewed energy until it met up with Mesa Trail.

Mesa, Kohler Mesa, and Four Pines Trails - From the (glorious) end of Fern Canyon Trail, we took Mesa Trail North. By this point my legs were pretty tired and continuously checking myself on the downward grade was proving too taxing, so we jogged most of this portion of our trip. Mesa Trail will eventually take you all the way back to Chautauqua, but we were not fortunate enough to have a complete map at the time. We took the trail, which has a unique red color at times, until it met with Kohler Mesa, which we took until it became Four Pines Trail. All of these trails are relatively flat, which makes sense considering their names, and tend to remain within the trees. There was a comfortable evening breeze at this point and we were able to finish out the hike without much incident. I will say that walking onto lands operated by NCAR was a little disconcerting due to all of the government warning signs. Anyhow, the trail eventually opened up to a welcome view of Boulder just as it became Four Pines Trail. This path spat out out at the Four Pines Trailhead on the corner of 17th and King. Needless to say, walking on pavement again felt wonderful after an impromptu seven hour hike.

Totals:

10.4 miles on the trail

12.3 miles round trip

7 hours and 25 minutes round trip

1.65 mi/hr - average hiking speed

Overall, this hike was amazing and I'd recommend it to anyone with some free time on their hands. That said, I'd definitely suggest bringing enough water for the conditions expected and some snacks. I'm also quite excited that I discovered this loop, as it will hopefully prove useful when testing gear and conditioning for my planned hikes in 2012 on the Long Trail and Colorado Trail.