Boulder - Mesa Trail

After a few days of cool, cloudy weather, I was on the hunt for a good hike.  I decided to try a bit down south and head to the Boulder Mountain Park.  The target of my hike was South Boulder Peak (8549').  I had been to Bear Peak (8461'), slightly north of South Boulder Peak, last year.  It was a stiff climb the last few yards.  Off to Boulder I went.

Cloudy Flatirons

Buds on the bushes

The trail starts well east of the Flatirons, so the early going was pretty easy.  The hint of spring was in the air; a few songbirds singing, and some early buds on the bushes.  I was curious how this area was affected by the 2013 flood.  I soon found that many trails were closed due to flood damage, but there were many others open to get me to my first objective; Shadow Canyon Trail.   I met a couple of coyotes on the way, but failed to get a decent picture.  We noticed each other, stared at each other, then moved on.  I was soon in sight of Shadow Canyon and along the way encountered an old cabin.

Old Cabin

Raptor Closure

Along the way, I met a couple who were headed up to spend the morning watching a pair of nesting Peregrine Falcons.  Since this was Boulder, I suspected I was going to be in for some adjustments due to Raptor Nesting.  Sure enough, just was I was headed up to really start the climb through Shadow Canyon, I found the trail closed.  Argh.  Well off to plan B; the Mesa trail.

Shadow Canyon

Mesa Trail is a long North/South trail along the base of the Flatirons that pretty much extends all the way into Boulder proper.  I knew I could get a long hike in, see some nice country, and enjoy the day. So turning North, I trekked along the base of the Flatirons.  I didn't know this before, but many of the Flatirons are named, like they were mountains.

A Flatiron

I spent the day meandering around Mesa trail and various spurs along it.  It was getting a bit late and I needed to make sure I was home by 400p to meet the Grandkids.  All in all it was a great day, even though I didn't make it to South Boulder Peak.  Maybe September or October.

Length 13.158 miles

 Start Elevation - 5484.09 feet

 Maximum Elevation - 6621.62 feet

 Minimum Elevation - 5415.78 feet

 Date of hike - 3/17/2015 

 Start Time - 911a

 End Time - 300p

 Total Duration -     5:49 hours:min

 Total Ascent - 2809.88 feet

 Total Descent - 2878.18 feet

 Net Ascent - -68.31 feet

 Maximum Grade - 17.27%

 Average Speed -  3.32 mph

 Maximum Ascent over Mile - 2809.88 feet

 Maximum Speed over Mile -  5.13 mph

 Maximum Gain over Mile (%) -  8.64%