Royal Arch: Boulder's Stair-Master

Distance: 3 miles round trip
Elevation: 5,680 to 6,950 ft
Elevation gain: 1,270 ft
Dogs: Off leash with Boulder Voice and Sight tag
Bathroom at the Trailhead: Yes
Other trails in the area: Gregory Canyon, Green Mountain, Bear Peak,
South Boulder Peak, Mallory Cave, Mt. Sanitas
Tags: #Boulder, #osmp, #hiking, #coloradooutdoors, #boosttraining, #gearguide
Books: Hiking Guide to Boulder

The last few rocky steps to Royal Arch in Boulder, CO 

Come spring, I head to Boulder, CO and all the trails that ascend along the flatirons. There is no better training for summer hiking than a trail with lots of elevation gain. Royal Arch may be short, but with all the "stairs" it packs a punch. I typically make it to the arch in 50 minutes or less and gratefully suck wind while admiring the expansive views of the plains and nearby rock formations.

Starting out on Chautauqua Road

The first part of the trail is light dirt and rocks in a dark Ponderosa Pine forest

The trail quickly begins to climb up a series of rock steps

The trail itself starts out at Chautauqua and ascends along a flat road to the official trailhead. The Royal Arch Trail quickly becomes narrow and rocky as it switchbacks up the hillside deep in the shade of the rocks, pines, and thick riparian foliage. Most of the trail is large stone steps that are a challenge for short-legged folks and will make you wish you had spent more time on a StairMaster. After the 2013 flood, the trail was rerouted.

The flatirons are visible through the trees

View through the trees from the false summit looking at the rocks ahead

Standing on the false summit and looking down the sharp decent

Three quarters of the way up is a false summit. There are impressive views of the plains here and a nice log to sit and rest on. The trail descends sharply for 150 ft or so before angling upwards again. After more steps, more logs, and more lactic acid build-up, one will finally see the arch. It is actually quite large, and the rocks on the other side provide raptor-like perches for the downing of trail munchies. You can't see the Royal Arch from the road, nor can you see it from NCAR although it seems very close when viewed from the rocks surrounding the arch.

At the bottom of the descent

On the south side of the arch looking back through it

The view from the rock pile on the south side of the arch. The pink building on the hill is NCAR

This trail can get crowded and parking can be in short supply.  I go after work when the days starting getting longer. Don't forget to bring hiking poles, which can provide stability on the return trip and help prevent quad burn out.

Looking north through the arch itself

Mt. Tallac, South Lake Tahoe, CA

Trail Length: 9.6 miles RT
Elevation: 6,480-9,735 ft
Elevation gain: 3,255 ft
Difficulty: Strenuous
Critters: Bears!


Tallac Peak viewed from below
After a week in Reno for the annual Supercomputing conference, a friend and I took off for Lake Tahoe. I used to go there as a kid, but have not been back in over ten years. I was amazed by how blue the lake was.

We stopped into the local visitor's center and puffed out our chests. "We're from Colorado, what is the hardest hike you have around here?". The young man behind the counter gleefully told us about Mt. Tallac and seemed suitably impressed with our hiking ambitions. He said most tourists just wanted 1/2 mile nature walks. We were feeling holier than thou and motivated for the next day. By the time we would finish however, we would gain new respect for the Tahoe area and their "tiny peaks".

The Tallac trail starts upward immediately and winds through ponderosa pines and up and down ridges. There are three lakes to see along the way. Long Leaf lake is very long indeed and the trail climbs up along a high ridge looking down on the lake. You can see views of the casinos in the distance. The other two lakes are called Floating Island and Cathedral lakes. They are more like ponds, the first being filled with Mallards and the second being surrounded by a rocks and drift wood. Above Cathedral lake is a lovely rock terrace perfect for lounging and trail bar munching. You can see Cathedral Lake below and finally a stellar view of Tahoe itself. After the shelf the trail climbs sharply up to the top of a ridge. The trail was steep and rocky, in fact infuriatingly rocky. The forest service laid down large and small gravel the entire length of the trail, so it was like walking on talus for 10 miles. My boots kept slipping and the sharp stones were irritating after a while.

Once on top of the ridge, the trail climbs behind the mountain and the view shift to glimpses of the continental divide for the Sierra Nevada Range. We could not tell which of the scree fields to our right was the summit. It turns out it was still quite a ways away and still a significant up. The views from the summit were spectacular as you can image. Tahoe is impressive in both size and color and the sweeping extent of the Sierras was beautiful to behold.

Without poles, the hike up was harder than I anticipated, particular on all the loose rock. I was also carrying two peoples worth of food, water, and clothing because my friend conveniently did not bring a pack. We had anticipated freezing temps given that this was Nov 17th and a front was due in. The weather held though and I hiked in my base layer most of the day. At the top we donned hats and soft shells to fight the wind but it was quite pleasant.


View from the summit
In November, one is always fighting the lack of daylight. We got started at 9:30 am and reached the top four hours later. It took us 3 hours to decent and we made it down just as it was getting dark, so our time on the top was miserably short. The lateness in the day did bring out the bears, however. I alas only saw a brown furry butt scurrying off into the chaparral. By then I did not care and just wanted to get down and off to our fine dinning event at Tahoe's Evan's Restaurant. A religious experience I will have to relate in a separate post.

Eccles Pass

Distance: 10.4 miles round trip
Elevation: 9,150 to 11,917 ft
Elevation gain: 2,760 ft (net), 2,920 ft (cumulative)
Bathroom at Trailhead: No
Dogs: Off leash until the Wilderness boundary
Date Hiked: 25 August 2007

Looking at Red Buffalo Pass from Eccles Pass near Frisco Colorado. 

The trail to Eccles Pass near Frisco,  Colorado is a grueling climb to one of the most spectacular passes in the Gore Range. Mostly in the Eagles Nest Wilderness, the trail is wild and rocky with little improvements. The majority of the route is through a dense forest with only the final approach to the pass being open and airy.  The destination is worth the suffering, however. The views from Eccles Pass are mythical in scope.

The Meadow Creek Trailhead

A typical rocky trail segment. This shot is close to the trailhead where Aspens dominate. 

The trail starts at the Meadow Creek Trailhead, located at the first Frisco Exit (coming from Silverthorne). This trailhead also serves Lilly Pad Lake, which splits off at 0.56 miles.  For the next 3.0 miles, the route is rather monotonous. Trees block out the sun, and rocks cover the trail. 0.6 miles further on is a the second of three meadows. This one is the first to provide any views of the surrounding peaks and is a welcome break to the relentless climbing.

Junction with the Lilly Pad Lake Trail. Meadow Creek stays left. 

The first of several meadows that provide a welcome break to the dark forest. 

The junction with the Gore Range Trail occurs at 4.45 miles (2,272 ft elevation gain) in the middle of a large meadow. It is here that the first views of the pass appear. Having already completed most of the distance and elevation gain by this point, the pass looked trivial to ascend.  Like most vistas in Colorado, however, looks can be deceiving, and last bit was steeper than expected.

Eccles Pass comes into view. 

The trails through the meadows are less rocky. That is Chief Mountain in the distance. 

The view from the pass looks down upon an idyllic bowl with Red Mountain Pass forming the western wall, Buffalo Mountain the eastern wall, and the Willow Creek drainage cutting through it. Small tarns dot the valley, which on this trip was verdant under late summer skies. With no thunderstorms in sight, we were able to lounge on the pass and wallow in the sunshine. For the uber energetic, it is only another 1.5 miles across to Red Buffalo Pass.

Final approach to the pass. This last segment was harder than it looked. 

Looking down the South Willow drainage on the eastern side of the bowl. 

While other passes are easier to get to,  Eccles Pass has the advantage of being close to civilization yet free of the teaming hordes. Not only will you experience superlative views, you will be able to eat anything you want by the time you return! Just bring along a chatty friend so you don't die of ennui on the long slog through the forest.

Aspen Gauntlet on Kenosha Pass

I grew up in California and my mother and I would take an annual pilgrimage to the Sierra Nevada Mountains in search of any color. It was rare indeed. A single tree would have us all a tingle. A small grove would elicit a near epileptic seizure. We would return from these expeditions ready to cook squash on the backyard BBQ, convinced we were awash in Fall’s mantel. My father, who grew up near Boston, viewed these events with typical East Coast noblesse oblige. He would look at us over the brim of his book with a condescending “foolish mortals” gaze. We were indeed so naïve. While it is true that the East Coast has those vibrant reds and cascading hillsides, Colorado has snow-capped peaks reflected in still lakes dripping with reflected gold. Having to burn a few calories to see it is an added value in my mind.

So, for this weekends leaf-popping expedition, a friend and I headed up highway 285 to Kenosha Pass. I have driven over this pass many times but confess have never stopped to cruise along the Colorado Trail that cuts across the road. We got an early 0730 start from the Denver Metro Area and were parked on the south side of the pass by 0915. While you can see the hillside of aspen from the road, what you cannot see is the sheer size of the Aspen trees in the nearest grove. This was Disneyland for leaf hounds. The trees towered overhead and swayed dangerously in the stiff 25mph breeze. The trail curved seductively here and there leading the walker onward. The path and air were strewn with leaves falling and fallen creating a golden ticker tape parade.

The Colorado trail continues south with sweeping views of South Park and the mountains beyond. We turned around after about two hours because it was beginning to rain. Upon return to the trailhead, we were greeted by 10,000 other peepers crowding into the parking lots and blocking the road. The take home point for this post is get and early start.