Saturday, May 24, 2014

Skunk Canyon/Kohler Mesa Loop

Distance: 5 miles round trip
Elevation: 5,570 ft - 6,320 ft
Elevation Gain: 750 ft
Bathroom at Trailhead: No
Dogs: On leash most of the way (on Federal property, and protected open space)
Date Hiked: 10 May 2013
Tags: #Boulder, #coloradooutdoors, #hiking, #osmp

Serene Skunk Canyon in Boulder Colorado
Crude map of the route. Note that rerouting of Skunk Canyon is not depicted. 
Very few people do the Skunk Canyon/Kohler Mesa Loop in Boulder because the trails are hidden behind the NOAA complex on Broadway. The government buildings, gate, and Federal police look intimidating,  but the public is allowed to walk across the campus, they are just not allowed to park there. Fortunately, there is an RTD Park and Ride right across the street at the corner of Broadway and 27th Way (entrance is on 27th Way). Park there, cross the street, and walk around the right side of the white NIST building (a cemetery will be on your right and NIST to your left). At the end of the cemetery is a bike path adjacent to the campus child care center. Follow this until it dead ends at a gravel road heading up towards Kohler Mesa (at 0.5 miles). Before the first switchback in the road (at 1 mile), the Skunk Canyon Trail starts on the left at a cleft in the fence.

Starting out across the NOAA campus. The NIST building is just out of frame to the left. Keep following the road.  
Just past the cemetery (out of frame to the right), is a path that heads west, take this and pass the child care center. 
Kohler Mesa is the hill straight ahead. This path will dead end at the gravel road. 
The Skunk Canyon Trail has been rerouted since the Sept 2013 floods and now switchbacks up the side of Kohler Mesa before heading deep into the canyon. In spring this area is a verdant oasis of green grasses dotted with grazing Mule Deer, wildflowers, and Chickadees flitting from pine to pine. Because of its isolation, there are few people on the trail, a rare treat in crowded Boulder.

Starting up the gravel road, which was completely redone in 2013 after the floods  nearly washed it away. 
The start of the Skunk Canyon Trail. Ignore the social trails in the valley to the left. 
With every step up Skunk Canyon, the views of the Flatirons grow closer and civilization drifts away. 
At 1.6 miles and 440 ft elevation gain, is a junction with a spur trail that ascends quickly to the top of Kohler Mesa. Take this for a shorter loop. At the far end of Skunk Canyon, the vegetation becomes more dense, encroaching on the path. It is another 300 ft and 0.7 miles to the intersection with the Mesa Trail. From this lofty perch, south Boulder becomes a hazy post card of streets, trees, and raptors drifting on the wind.

The canyon walls narrow. 
At the far end of the canyon, heading up to the Mesa Trail
On the Mesa Trail
At this point, it is only another 0.4 miles to the start of the well-marked Kohler Mesa Trail. Stop a moment at the junction and look to the left. An old cabin is visible in the trees. A trail passes this cabin and ascends roughly to an old quarry where locals have made lounge chairs out of rocks.

View of Boulder from the junction of the Skunk Canyon Trail and the Mesa Trail. The new switchbacks of the Skunk Canyon trail are visible between the trees on the left. 
Cabin visible near the junction of the Mesa and Kohler Mesa trails.
One of the smoother sections of the Kohler Mesa Trail. 
Kohler Mesa was damaged in the 2013 floods, and the trail is rocky, rutted, and tedious to traverse. Still, the hiker is rewarded with a secluded glen of Ponderosa Pine and resident herd of Mule Deer. At 3.14 miles, the trail comes to a fork. Take the right fork to follow this route or the left fork to descend via social trails. At 3.44 miles, civilization returns as the trail ends and the route follows the gravel road back down to the Federal campus.

One of the few open areas on Kohler Mesa, which is mostly shaded. 
Mule Deer graze all over Kohler Mesa.
Back on the gravel road. Views of Boulder abound. There are a couple of picnic tables under the tree just ahead. 
For those looking for something different to do and who don't mind a little civilization intruding on their day, the Skunk Canyon/Kohler Mesa loop will be just the thing! You can also get to Kohler Mesa via NCAR and the Mesa Trail (view post).

Looking down onto the NOAA campus
Heading back down the road. 

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Cenntenial Cone: Mayhem Gulch and and Juniper Trail Loop

Distance: 5 miles round trip
Elevation: 6,620 ft - 7,542 ft
Elevation Gain: 922 ft (cumulative)
Bathroom at Trailhead: Yes
Dogs: On leash, Jefferson County Open Space

Rolling hills and Ponderosa Pine are the primary views from Centennial Cone Open Space
Centennial Cone Open Space near Golden Colorado is one of the newest open space parks in Jefferson County. Its 3,000 plus acres surrounds a 8,679 ft hill called...you guessed it...Centennial Cone. While there is a very long twelve-mile loop that circumnavigates this monolith, there is no trail up it, which will frustrate any peak bagger looking with anticipation at the topo map. There are a couple of shorter routes from the Mayhem entrance (covered in this post), and the Camio Perdidio entrance off of Golden Gate Canyon Rd. This makes Cenntennial Cone more popular with mountain bikers than hikers, the former getting to ride without interference on alternating days (see the PDF calendar on the official web page).

Trailhead
Trail map showing the Mayhem Gulch-Juniper Trail Loop
The Mayhem Gulch entrance is located 9.5 miles up Clear Creek Rd/Hwy 6 out of Golden, CO. This route follows the twisted path of Clear Creek, which survived the 2013 floods much better than its northern neighbors. There is a large parking lot on the right hand side with an obvious trailhead.

Looking down on the trailhead and Clear Creek
The Mayhem Gulch Trail begins climbing right away in a series of long drawn out switchbacks that weave in and out of the crenelations in the hillside. South facing, this hillside is covered in Sagebrush, Utah Juniper, and Ponderosa Pine. Blessedly, it can feel warm even on a less than ideal day.

A hillside covered in Utah Juniper. The trail cuts across the middle.
At the junction of the Mayhem Gulch Trail and the Juniper Trail (1.7 miles, 518 ft elevation gain) we chose to go left. At 2.5 miles we arrived at the junction of the Juniper and Travois Trails. It is just a short jaunt to get back to the Mayhem Gulch Trail.

Sagebrush and blue skies. A typical Front Range tableau in early Autumn.
Cenntential Cone is typical Front Range Open Space. It is great for shoulder season hiking or a sun fix on a cool day. If you monitor the mountain bike calendar, then you can be assured of hiking free of the two wheelers. For a longer hike, take a side trip up the Travois Trail, which in one mile leads to some interesting rock formations.

Typical trail segment of packed dirt and open views

Sunday, March 9, 2014

O'Fallon Park: Meadow View and West Ridge Trails

Distance: 5.5 miles round trip
Elevation: 6,900 ft - 7,500 ft
Elevation Gain: 600 ft (net) 1,172 ft (cumulative)
Bathroom at Trailhead: Yes
Dogs: On leash (Denver Mountain Parks)
Date Hiked: 16 February 2014
Tags: #openspace, #coloradooutdoors, #kittridge

View from the vista point in the O'Fallon open space
O'Fallon park, located near Kittridge on Highway 74 out of Morrison, is a typical open space park that encompasses acres of rolling hills and Ponderosa Pine. Like all local open space, this park is great for a quick trail run, fresh-air fix in the off season, or as an alternative to 3 martinis after a stressful day. The park is adjacent to Corwina park, which in turn abuts Jefferson County's Lair O' the Bear Park. The Bear Creek Trail, which runs through all three parks, is primarily used by mountain bikers.

Trailhead
Secondary parking area just past the trailhead
The trails in O'Fallon park, like Meyers Ranch on nearby highway 285, are a series of connected loops that can make for shorter or longer excursions. On this trip we started out on the 0.4 mile unnamed connector trail to the Meadow View Loop (unlabeled on the map), to a vista point at at 1.4 miles, then on to the West Ridge Trail, which IS labeled on the map, and then back to the car. While the map itself lacks detail, there are signs on the ground to guide your way.

Heading up the connector trail
Bear Creek
The winter of 2014 has been a series of Arctic blasts followed by hurricane force winds and 60° temperatures. This meant that the day we hiked this, there were plenty of dry patches intermixed with total ice from the inscesent freezing and thawing of the snow. We wore microspikes the entire time and were just fine although we joked that we should have brought along our ice axes.

Junction of the connector trail and the Meadow Loop
Heading up the left side of the Meadow View Loop
The first 0.4 miles of the trail are relatively flat. At the beginning of the Meadow View Loop, we stayed left and climbed a grueling 600 ft  to a small vista point with lovely views of the surrounding hills. A short distance back down the Meadow View Trail (at 1.9 miles) is a three-way trail junction marked by a large kiosk and trail sign. Here the Bear Creek Trail continues southward and an unnamed spur to the West Ridge Trail heads back toward the parking lot. If you choose the Bear Creek Trail at this point, you can catch the West Ridge Trail (at 2.3 miles) at it furthest extent and thus have a longer hike (see map at the bottom of the post).

View of Mt. Evans from the first view point
Trail junction with kiosk
At 2.8 miles is another vista point covered in rocky boulders. You can scramble all over the area or zoom upwards just another tenth of a mile to the high point of the route at 7,500 ft.

A typical dryer trail segment
On the West Ridge Trail
From this point it is all downhill. Note at 3.3 miles there is another junction with the West Ridge Trail going to the right and the Picnic Loop going to straight. There was no trail sign here, but we were hiking with someone familiar with the trail and so made the turn correctly. At 3.9 miles we were back to the Meadow View Trail and at 4.6 miles we finished the loop and started back on the spur trail to the car.

Blue skies and a small Aspen Grove
By the time we returned to the trailhead, the air was warm and the parking lot was a sea of mud. With the schizophrenic weather this season, you need to make sure you have spikes, skis, water wings, and hip waders on every outing.

The map to O'Fallon Park is hard to read, even when printed. The Bear Creek Trail is dark red and obvious, while the hiker only loops are in light purple and are overpowered by the darker contour lines. Our route is outlined in blue arrows.


Friday, February 28, 2014

Canyonlands: White Rim Overlook

Distance: 1.8 miles round trip
Elevation: 6,040 ft
Elevation Gain: 129 ft
Dogs: No, National Park
Bathroom at Trailhead: Yes
Date Hiked: 24 April 2014

Looking down on the White Rim Road from the White Rim Overlook in Canyonlands National Park
The Islands in the Sky section of Canyonlands National Park is filled with short hikes to stunning overlooks that gaze down on the valley below. The White Rim Overlook is one of the most spectacular of these.

The Trailhead. The trail heads straight out over this large slickrock section.
The La Sal Mountains from a sandier portion of the trail.
Our journey to the overlook began uneventfully, with a typical stroll over red sands and short slickrock sections. At the end of the trail however things got a little dicey. My hiking companion decided to work on her fear of heights by walking out onto the sandstone mushrooms that extended from the end of the trail. These pizza shaped rocks extended out into empty space like over-sized stepping stones across a creek. In this case, however there was 1,500 ft of air between each one.

Skeleton of a Utah Juniper overlooks the edge
The rocks my friend was jumping out on.
Not so nimbly moving  from rock to rock, my friend inched her way further outwards. I don't know who was more terrified, she or I. I kept nagging her to come back when she wanted ME to join her on this crusade. My eyes bugged out and I started inching my way back up the trail. It is fine to desensitize oneself of a phobia and quite another to do it in a location where death hovers just a foot away. A sneeze, a gust of wind, or a collapsing wall would have ended this psychological experiment for good.

Nothing but drop offs and open sky
A much safer place to lounge
I finally convinced her to return to terra firma and we lounged about admiring the stellar views. I relate this experience for those with children who have no fear and no sense, who will be equally tempted to stroll out onto these rocks. Heck, you may be too and more power to you! The White Rim Overlook is definitely a place to visit but I'll do it with my back to a size secure rock!

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Canyonlands: Murphy Point

Distance: 3.5 miles round trip
Elevation: 6,040 ft
Elevation Gain: 350 ft (cumulative)
Bathroom at Trailhead: No, nearest one is the Visitor's Center
Dogs: No, National Park
Date Hiked: 24 April 2013

Looking west and down, down, down, from Murphy Point in Canyonlands National Park
The trail to Murphy Point in the Islands in the Sky section of Canyonlands National Park is one of the few longer hikes one can take and still stay on the mesa. It traverses sand and slickrock with ever-changing, end-of-the-world views. Be forewarned! Looking off into that abyss is a transcendent Ozymandias kick in the solar plexus. One's whole life is reduced, in the casual stirrings of the desert wind, to meaningless drivel. Our weak brains can't even register the scale of the scenery without reducing it to a theatrical canvas backdrop. Your only hope is bring along sufficient chocolate chip cookies to stay grounded. A prolonged astral projection on Murphy's Point might just prove to be fatal.

Starting off in the deeply rutted road
Stay to the right here
Sagebrush
The trail to Murphy Point begins 8.6 miles south of the Visitor's Center along a deeply eroded dirt track that looks like it was made by a column of 10,000 cattle all racing to the edge of the world. A half a mile in the route splits. Stay to the right or end up on the much longer Murphy Loop/Hogback Trail, which descends off the mesa into eternity returning a few geological ages later.

Looking northwest at the rock formations obscured by haze
That is a cairn in the distance
After the dirt road, the route eventually switches to an easy "find the next cairn", slickrock trail along a narrowing neck of earth. Utah Juniper and Sagebrush dot the landscape and occasionnaly obscure the views. You can wander all over the area but realize there is nothing but 1,500 ft of open air between you and an "oh heck" moment.

Floating over the desert landscape
Sitting at the point looking down on the Murphy Hogback (that narrow elevation portion). You can see the  Murphy Trail as it travels out and around the area. Bring lots of water if you venture that far. 
I did not go anywhere near the edge and so arrived, sanity intact. We had the entire place to ourselves, which is always a treat. Canyonlands is big and it is easy for folks to spread out...and never to be heard from again...at least until the chocolate chip cookies run out. Then they congregate back at the Visitor's Center where they gobble up T-shirts and refrigerator magnets. So plan ahead and stay awhile at the end of the trail. It is not often we get to transcend our banal existence for something the truly sublime.

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...