Golden Gate Canyon - Winter

    Last weekend, I attempted to go snowshoeing with Nick and a few friends. We went to Golden Gate Canyon State Park, which is a little outside of Golden, CO. We have gotten very little snow this year, so we did not need the snowshoes. It was a very windy day, but the sky was perfectly blue, and the sun kept us warm. We climbed up most of the way up Windy Peak. It got pretty chilly towards the top. The trail disappeared as the snow deepened, so we turned around. On days like this, I really think winter hiking may be my favorite.

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.

Golden Gate Canyon

On Tuesday, Nick and I woke up early and headed to Golden Gate Canyon State Park. We arrived at 8am, with not another person in sight. We headed up the Burro Loop Trail to Windy Peak. There were endless amounts of wildflowers and the scenery was quite breathtaking in the morning light. We sat on top of Windy Peak for a rest. We were back at the car by noon, long before any storms rolled in for the day.