Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Angler Mountain Trail

Distance: 4.4 miles round trip to Ptarmigan Trail, 5.4 miles round trip to Bench
Elevation: 8,542ft -10,112ft
Elevation Gain: 1,571 ft (cumulative)
Date Hiked: 29 June 2013
Bathroom at Trailhead: No
Dogs: Off leash

View of the Tenmile Range in Silverthorne Colorado.  Viewed from the Angler Mountain Trail.
The Tenmile Range and open verdant meadows are only some of the attractions on the Angler Mountain Trail
In summer, the Angler Mountain Trail in Silverthorne, CO will make your eyes pop with the number and variety of wildflowers that dot the route. In the more forested sections Colorado Columbine fill every nook and cranny while on the more open Sagebrush hillsides Lupine, Scarlet Gilia, Blue Flax, Pontentilla, Cushion Buckwheat and many more ebb and flow with each undulation of the terrain. What is also amazingly fun, is the first mile of the hike contains placards identifying these flowers as well as the local trees and shrubs.

The Trailhead
The initial steep hillside.  Elevation gain is a consistent 500ft/mile.
The overall route is on the east side of Highway 9 and takes the hiker up and down verdant hills while slowly gaining altitude. The trail ends with its intersection with the Ptarmigan Trail and from this intersection it is only 0.5 miles to the Ptarmigan Bench, a series of logs in an open clearing with stunning view of the Gore Range.

Heading into an Aspen Grove
Wildflowers line the trail
Angler Mountain is relatively new trail and therefore not any of the maps you are used to looking at. The trailhead is located within the Angler Mountain Townhomes off Bald Eagle Drive in north Silverthorne. Take Bald Eagle Drive at The Ponds, cross the Blue River, and continue around the townhomes to the south and the prominent trailhead. The route starts sharply up a dry Sagebrush hillside and then proceeds to go up and down similar hills, some dry, some covered in young Aspen trees, and some shaded by Lodgepole pines.

Another open Aspen Grove
Approaching the new road at 0.7 miles
The early part of the trail winds through homes being built in the area and crosses a new road at 0.7 miles before gradually tapering off into more pristine areas.  At 1.8 miles the route reached the top of another hill and looking down the other side, the trail seemed to end abruptly at the bottom. I stood there staring for a while because I knew the trail continued having seen its apex on the Ptarmigan Trail but I did not want to descend only to find I had taken some wrong turn somewhere and was on the wrong trail. Finally, I descended the hill to find the trail continued but was totally hidden by the shrubs.

This pleasant Aspen tunnel was the gateway to the  wilder  meadows in the upper reaches of the route. 
Views of the Gore Range abound
After winding 2.2 miles and 1,216 ft up to the Ptarmigan Trail, I decided to head to the Bench, which I thought was only a hundred yards or so further on. It was in fact 0.5 miles.

Heading off into the more open expanses
Lupine line the trail
Despite the few forested sections of the trail, there is very little shade on this route, which made for a hot, dry climb. If you can, start earlier in the day to avoid the heat and the afternoon thunderstorms which build behind the Gore Range and come rumbling eastward as the day progresses.

A sharp switchback heading up another hill with more views of the Gore Range
One of the final pitches to the Ptarmigan Trail

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Capitol Reef: Waterpocket Fold Tour and Hike

Distance Road Tour: 125 miles (just the loop), 6 miles out and back (overlook parking lot)
Distance Hike: 0.5 miles round trip

The Waterpocket Fold in Capitol Reef National Park will make you want to become a Geology Major.  It is that cool!
Looking south along the Waterpocket Fold from the Strike Valley Overlook
There are three scenic drives in Capitol Reef National Park. One is a short meander in the main tourist area of the park and the other two are back country drives (Cathedral Valley and the Waterpocket Fold) over potentially rough terrain. Since the park itself exists because of the latter, we brought along the 4x4 truck, loaded it with the recommended emergency gear, and headed out on a geological journey par excellence.

This driving tour travels straight down the fold where towering sandstone cliffs dominate the western horizon, up a nail-biting series of switchbacks, down a true 4x4 side trip to the Strike Valley Overlook (an unofficial detour), and a serene drive through Juniper plateaus; stunning canyons; and Aspen covered mountains.  It is an all day adventure that will have you amazed at the diversity of terrain in Utah.

Route of the drive.  The Strike Valley Overlook is in the red box and the purple "Aspens Galore" mark the upper mountains.
First the obligatory geology lesson. Pretend you are a kid again making a layer cake with your grandma-ma. Not content with a few layers, you pile on layers of cake and icing and cake and icing making sure that each layer is a different color.  In some layers you add small nuts or M&Ms so they really stand out. That is essentially what happened in what is now western North America over millions of years. As the continents drifted across the globe, the environment changed and layers of "dirt" (sediment) were laid down one on top of each other. Some layers came from marshy mud-filled lagoons (grey) and others from giant Sahara-like deserts (white).  Still with me?  Believe me, if you visit this area you will want to quite your job and get a Phd in Geology.  It is that cool!

So now you have this monster-sized layer cake.  Imagine that after you bake it all those layers get stuck together and the whole thing becomes like a slinky able to bend and twist. When a slinky goes down stairs it forms a monocline, a fancy geological word for a slinky going down a stair.  Seriously, it means a bunch of layers that form a linear stair step, where one end is higher than the other (see technical diagram). This is what would happen if a rambunctious Labrador came crashing into your layer cake and crunched one side of it. In the case of Capitol Reef the Labrador was a really big tectonic plate that scrunching everything in its path.  Kaboom! Note that in geological time that is really more like KKKKKKKKKKK aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa bbbbbbbbbbbbbb oooooooooo ooooooooooo mmmmmmmmmm over millions of years but it is still pretty dramatic.

Diagram of a Monocline, and vertical drop in sedimentary layers.  In Capitol Reef, the left side of the diagram would the the 11,000 ft mountains, while the slope is the Waterpocket Fold.
Back to the kitchen.  At this point all you see is the upper most layer of the cake (the chocolate icing) in a stairstep on the floor were Rex scrunched it. Not terribly interesting. While Grandma-ma was not looking, however,  you decided to take a garden hose to the cake to see what would happen. You pour water on the upper part of the cake and watch it cascade downwards. Wonder of wonders, over time, the water starts to peel away the various layers underneath, so you can see those M&Ms and the other colored layers. That is what the Waterpocket Fold is all about. Rain in the 11,000ft mountains (where the Aspens are on the map) poured down the Fold and eventually eroded the top layers so that all the interesting stuff was exposed. The driving tour takes you parallel to the scrunch, up the far side (all the way to the mountains) and back down again. If you area scenery buff, there is definitely a wow factor in all of this.

A typical early segment with a nice, smooth dirt road and different layers on either side. That is the Chinle Formation on the left.
We took the drive counterclockwise (see map) and headed out on a pleasant dirt road that traverses ranch land before diving down into the Strike Valley (e.g. the scrunch where things go vertical). In this area the layers now lay left to right across the road so that on the left might be the M&M layer (actually the Chinle formation with its various shades of green and gray), while to the right is  is bright yellow layer, and finally the Navajo Sandstone layer, which forms THE WALL of the scrunch. All of this may sound terribly boring, but it is really mind-blowing. The colors, the immensity of THE WALL, and the shear other worldliness of it all will have you running around like a kid spouting scientific terms like "formation", "hoodoo", "hogback" etc.

On the right hand side of the road were these yellow layers
The next part of the route is up the infamous Burr Trail Switchbacks. While the dirt road that ascends THE WALL is wide, there is no guard rail and each turn is an exercise in Lamaze breathing. Going up is apparently less nerve wracking that going down. We talked to some folks in a jeep who did both and almost converted to Catholicism they were praying to the Virgin Mary so hard as their tires slide on the loose gravel. I had been nervous about this segment but going up was less scary than anticipated and over in a few minutes. At the top of the switchbacks is an overlook. Stop there to catch your breath if nothing else.

Looking north along THE WALL
Looking straight across to the wall, which is several thousand feet high.
Around two miles beyond the overlook is a turnoff to the Strike Valley Overlook. To get there, you can hike three miles up a desert wash or drive it in your 4x4. While no other part of this trip really required high clearance, this segment did. The wash was sandy, rocky, and narrow. Driving down it, I was glad we had packed our camping gear in case we had to stay there a few months until rescue. Alas at the end of the road was a large parking lot filled with other 4x4s, coolers with beer, and lots of folks who could have saved us. Most of the folks were heading up canyon. We were the only ones who took the short 0.25 mile jaunt to the Overlook. Never in my life have I worked so little for a view so grand. Looking down into the Waterpocket Fold may just be the most stunning view I have ever seen. Who knew the desert could be so awe-inspiring.

A shot of the switchbacks through the front window
After our trip to the overlook, we continued on the drive, which traversed a high,  Utah Juniper covered plateau before plunging into the Grand Staircase Escalante and another stunning red rock (e.g. Wingate Sandstone) canyon. In the town of Boulder we stopped for a bio break and coffee before turning north.

Looking north at the Waterpocket Fold from the Strike Valley Overlook
The segment of the drive between Boulder and Torrey was a complete surprise. On the map you don't realize how high you are climbing and we drove through the largest Aspen grove I have ever seen.  There were no leaves on the Aspens in May but I kept picturing it in the fall. It would be intoxicating.

A welcome surprise during the drive was this canyon traverse. 
So, you can probably tell by now that I was impressed by this experience.  A few logistical notes.  You can take the route in either direction but going up the switchbacks and not down them is better.  The entire route, with the exception of our side trip to the overlook, would have been passable with a passenger car but conditions change daily, so call the Visitor's Center first to find out. The Park makes it sound like you are heading into outer Mongolia (hence the emergency gear) but we saw plenty of folks on the route.  Still, better safe than sorry. 

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Capitol Reef: Cohab Canyon

Distance: 5 miles round trip, including overlooks
Elevation: 5,463 ft - 5,887 ft
Elevation Gain: 1,057 ft cumulative
Date Hiked: 21 April 2013
Bathroom at Trailhead: No but ones nearby
Dogs: Not allowed, National Park

The stunning views from the Cohab Canyon Trail, Capitol Reef National Park
Capitol Reef National Park is one of the less frequented parks in Utah, which is a shame.  Its towering rock walls, mind-blowing geology, and male, overly frisky, Wild Turkeys is an intoxicating combo. The Cohab Canyon Trail, which starts near the famous Gifford Homestead (think homemade PIES),  is a great way to get above the central valley (Fruita) and look down on all the bucolic splendor of this desert oasis once inhabited by Mormon pioneers. Who out friskied whom, the Mormons or the Turkeys is alas, lost to the ages.

The trailhead
An initial trail segment. Note the Basalt debris covering the trail.
I chose the Cohab Canyon Trail from a guide book but when I stood below the sheer cliff that is the beginning of the route I started to sweat. The people higher up seemed to be throwing themselves upwards in gymnastic moves and the rocky outcroppings seemed impassable to mere mortals. My hiking companion reminded me however that this was a National Park, and sure enough the trail upwards was like Disneyland, perfectly groomed and easy to navigate.  It was only 300 ft to the top of the cliff and I was actually bummed when we reached the top, it was too easy. Commence guilt trip.

Capitol Reef National Park viewed from the Cohab Canyon Trail
View from part-way up the initial ascent
After ascending the cliff, the trail follows an edge before plunging into the canyon.
After the initial ascent up the cliff, with its stellar views, the trail heads down into a canyon that expands and contracts whimsically. Sometimes you are walking between ancient sand dunes and other times over more recent volcanic debris. Utah Junipers dot the landscape while Side-blotched Lizards scurry from rock to rock. There are a few slick rock sections, but most of the trail is on soft sand.

Eroded ancient sand dunes
A segment over slickrock
There are two side trails leading to valley overlooks that are a must do and will provide just enough elevation gain to mitigate the aforementioned guilty conscious.

The Side-blotched Lizard (Uta stanburiana) is the most common in the park and boy can I believe it. They were everywhere. 
This eroded segment of sandstone looked like a Navajo painting.
We had planned on taking the trail all the way down to the highway, crossing over and hiking the Hickman Bridge Trail for a longer outing. Unfortunately, the trail was closed due to a rock slide, so we decided not to descend all the way to the road just to turn back around and hike up again. Hmmm, maybe I was not feeling all that guilty after all.

View from the first overlook at 1.6 miles.  Here the ancient dunes of Navajo Sandstone are clearly visible above the dramatic Wingate Sandstone. A few days in this area and you will be identifying rock layers too.
Enroute to the second overlook
If you visit Capitol Reef and are looking for a quick hike to get your feet sandy, this hike will please.  While not a loop, it looked sufficiently different on the way back to count as a totally different route.
 
View from the second overlook at 1.9 miles
Near the end of the trail
A final logistical note...parking for the Cohab Trail is non-existent. You have to park in the nearby campground or in the Gifford's House parking lot. It is a hundred yard walk to the trailhead from either location. 

Finally, here is one of the male Turkeys we ran across. This boy was strutting his stuff around three hens who were immune to his obvious charms. 

Saturday, June 8, 2013

Antelope Park (Button Rock...Hall Ranch) Loop

Distance: 7 mile loop
Elevation: 5,972 ft - 6,731 ft
Elevation Gain: 1,600 ft cumulative
Date Hiked: 14 April 2013
Bathroom at Trailhead: Yes but up the trail a bit
Dogs: On leash until Sleep Lion Trail

Rock formations and open meadows dominate Antelope Park.
Antelope Park is a long sloping meadow nestled between the Button Rock Preserve and Hall Ranch in Lyons Colorado. At the far eastern end is a large pile of rocks that make for an interesting destination. This loop hike is not on any maps, but is easy to navigate on the ground and will transport you back in time to the age of the Colorado pioneers who lived and worked ranches in the hidden valleys between Lyon's and Estes Park. 

The trailhead parking lot
The first 0.9 miles follows this private road. 
Because this trail is so little used, there are few places where the trail itself fades into the grasses, but most people should be able to navigate these sections with minimal angst.

The turn off for the Sleep Lion Trail
The turn off for Antelope Parks is the small spur trail to the left.  The  loop will end up returning to this  point down the main trail. 
The route to and from the rocks traverses several different Front Range biomes including a Ponderosa Forest, open grasslands, riparian (think frogs) lowlands, and rocky traverses. While it may become "hells half acre" in the heat, in spring and fall it is delightful and in the "lusty month of May" you might just see a fairy or two.

The initial part of the loop goes steadily upwards through Ponderosa Pine and rocks. 
This loop starts and ends at the parking lot for the Sleepy Lion Trail in Lyon's Button Rock Preserve. On the west side of the lot is a gate that allows residents of the area access to a broad flat road that heads east towards the Ralph Price Reservoir.  0.9 miles up the road is the turn off for the Sleepy Lion Trail, which is well marked by a sign. While the main route for Sleepy Lion continues straight up the hillside, the route to Antelope Park splits off only 0.1 miles up the Sleepy Lion Trail across from a green and white sign. This split look like a social trail and decsends down into a ditch but quickly ascends up the other side.

The segment where the trail fades.  
The initial part of the route weaves upwards through a long series of switchbacks that also take the hiker back in the general direction of the parking lot. You will realize this when you end up at a view point looking back down the road. At 1.3 miles is an unmarked trail junction. Stay right. At 1.5 miles is a small social trail to a pile of rocks. Stay right here as well.

A segment in the trees
The route then skirts to the west of two oval hills, which can be clearly seen on the topo map. These hills form the northern boundary of Antelope Park and the route stays close to the hills as it heads steadily upwards and eastwards towards pile of rocks. There are several places along this side of the meadow with views of bucolic downs suitable for garlanded maidens in diaphanous dresses or for the less imaginative, the occasional cow. At 2.4 miles you will go through a fence used by ranchers in days gone by.

Entering the wide meadow of Antelope Park
Approaching the rocks
At 2.8 miles and 6,715 ft the rocks that mark the apex of the loop appear just below the crest of the meadow slope.  They stand starkly puritan over the fairy tale frolics of Thumper, Maid Marion, and Tinkerbell whom I could sense tittering on the wind just waiting for us to leave. Around the rocks are several other trails. The Button Rock Trail, which will be part of our loop, heads back down the middle of the meadow. Someone cut down a large oak tree recently and chunks of log make for a suitable spot to lounge. 

Leaving the rocks and heading down the center of Antelope Park
Further down the meadow
Since it was not quite spring when we did this hike and a bracing breeze was blowing down from the mountains we did not linger long at the rocks but headed back down the meadow at a steady clip. The views in the meadow are even better than those from the side. The two oval hills are obvious to the north, and the trails winds in and out of meadow and forest as it heads steadily downwards. Don't assume the fairies are leading you astray when the trail switches from single track to road to single track again. Just follow the signs. The first one will appear at 3.0 miles.

The trail leaves the road and transitions back into the forest at this sign.
Standing on the Sleep Lion Trail looking back on the route towards the Button Rock Trail (sign in the distance). 
The final section of route at 4.9 miles is on the Sleep Lion Trail as it travels around rock formations, more meadows, and more Ponderosa Forest. By the time you reach the road at 5.9 miles, you'll be glad to stride out for a mile back to the car.

On an open segment of the Sleep Lion Trail
If you like the hikes around Lyons (Lion Gulch, Sleepy Lion, Rabbit Mountain, and Hall Ranch), you'll enjoy this hike as well. Just say hi to the fairies for me.

North Rock Creek Snowshoe

Distance: 4 miles round trip Elevation: 9,180 ft to 9,780 ft Elevation Gain: 600 ft Dogs: Off leash until the wilderness boundary North...