Golden Gate Canyon - Black Bear Trail

On Saturday, Nick and I went hiking with three of his friends from Chicago. Two of them just moved to Arvada, and the other was just visiting. We made the short drive northwest of Golden to Golden Gate Canyon State Park. We parked at the Ralston Roost trailhead and took the Black Bear Trail. The day started out overcast, but the clouds burned-off to a mostly sunny sky. There were some chilly gusts, but they felt nice as we were climbing up. We hiked a little over a mile to the top of a hill. There were giant piles of boulders all over. We stopped here for a little bit and took a rest. Then, we headed back down.

   After the hike, we drove up to Panorama Point.

Walk to Stop Diabetes

I signed up for a 5k walk in 9 days. It is a fundraiser for the American Diabetes Association. If anyone would like to donate that would be awesome.

http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR/Events/General?px=7169018&pg=personal&fr_id=7915

Meridian Trail

Last weekend, Nick and I joined Dad on the Colorado Mountain Club photography hike he led. We went to an area just Northwest of Conifer. It was sunny when we began, but it became cloudy and rainy for the last half. I was able to get a few good photographs.

Fall Colors II

Abyss Lake Trail

      On Saturday, Nick and I went hiking with a group of friends in Mt Evans Wilderness. We hiked along Scott Gomer creek towards Abyss Lake. However, Abyss lake was 8.8 miles away, so we did not make it the entire way. Abyss Lake sits right below The Sawtooth, with Mt Bierstadt on the left and Mt Evans on the right. The Aspen were bright shades of yellow. The weather was pleasantly warm, and it was partly cloudy. It was a perfect day. 

      On the way back, we encountered a couple horseback riders. One of them looked pretty familiar and ended up being my Mom. Talk about a small world. I have run into friends a couple times on trails, but never my own mother. Pretty funny.

Fall Colors

Who said Fall is better on the East Coast?

Flattops III

      On the second day, we woke early to and get a head start on the afternoon storms. We climbed the remaining stretch of the valley, over a sketchy waterfall crossing, and up to the top of the Flat top. Once we reached the top, the trees thinned out significantly. Much unlike the lakes, the land became somewhat like tundra. We hiked across the flattops for a bit until we reached Twin Lakes. In the distance we could see Big Marvine Peak and Little Marvine Peaks. We relaxed for several hours that day, and I went for a swim in one of the Twin Lakes. 

     On the third day, we again woke early. We continued to traverse the flat top in the morning. We passed Big Marvine Peak and headed towards to Little Marvine Peaks. We began to descend before we reached them down into another valley. We hiked through this valley all day and passed by many more smaller lakes. By the late afternoon, we had reached the trailhead.