Boulder - Green Mtn, Bear Peak, South Boulder Mtn r1 o/b

This was an attempt to tackle the three 'big' peaks in the Boulder Mountain Park.  Due to trail construction and raptor closure areas, this needed to be an out/back (o/b) from the Chautauqua Trailhead.  I could have gone ahead and driven up Flagstaff Road a bit more to one of the closer trailheads, probably should have.  Maybe next time.

I knew from the planning that this would be a difficult hike.  The plan said 12.6 miles and a bit more than 5000 feet of elevation gain.  My 'typical' planning say 2.5 miles/hour and 1 hour for every 1500 feet of elevation gain.  So 12.6 miles and 5000 ft should be about 8.5 hours.  Unfortunately, I did the calculations in my head so I said 8.  Also, it would have turned out to be closer to 15 miles.  So, next time I will plan closer to 10 hours.

The trail takes off from the Chautauqua park trailheads and immediately begins the climb toward the various Flatirons.  About a mile or so in I took a trail that cut off the the Flatirons trails and headed around to the west side of Green Mountain.  After a short descent, I began a long, tortuous climb of about 3 miles to the summit of Green Mountain.  The trail was steep and rocky, but not much exposure.  The steepness of the climb slowed me down quite a bit.

Typical Trail to Green Mtn Summit

I did encounter a nice little view stop on the way up.  This is looking North along the HogBacks of the Front Range.

A view along the Front Range

 As I continued up the the trail, I encountered a new bit of signage!

Attention!  Ladder ahead

There be ladders in my future!  I continued to climb up a gully line that had been severely damaged by the 2013 floods.  That is why there was a ladder ahead.

Gully Washer!

The picture doesn't make it look too bad, but the gully was quite deep and steep.  So I eventually reached the ladder, not much of a big deal really.

The Ladder

I continued the climb and reached Green Mountain Summit.  There was a summit marker that had been made in 1921.

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The views of the Indian Peaks to the west were really nice.

Indian Peaks (1)

Indian Peaks (2)

Indian Peaks (3)

Longs Peak & Mount Meeker

It was now a relatively long descent to Bear Creek Canyon and the crossing at Bear Creek.  When there isn't trail construction, Bear Creek Canyon or Shadow Canyon would have been the descent trails, but Bear is closed because of construction at its mouth and Shadow Canyon is closed for nesting Peregrine Falcons.  Periodically, I would get a glimpse of my next destinations.  As you can see, both are steep climbs once you get close.

Bear Peak & South Boulder Mountain

I continued on, crossed Bear Creek and began the ascent toward Bear Peak.  I reached the burn area and the beginning of the significant climb to Bear Peak.  I had climbed this in 2014, so I knew what to expect.  I decided to do a time and distance check.  After calculating (in my head again) the time & distance to summit Bear and South Boulder Mountain, I decided it was a good time to head back and tackle it another day.  I knew I had some remodeling chores waiting for me at home!

Close but no cigar

I began the long trek back to the truck.  I decided to not re-summit Green Mountain, but took an alternate set of trails down along Gregory Canyon.  That too, was quite the descent.  Man, it was a knee-buster.

I got back to the truck and headed home, not too much worse for the wear and in good time to finish my chores.

The weather was fantastic; temperatures in the 60s, mostly clear skies, and a nice refreshing breeze that kept me from overheating while hiking and chilled on lunch break  All in all another good day.

Oh, I did to a 'shadow' selfie at the Green Mountain Summit.

Shadow selfie

Overall Track Statistics for Boulder - GBSB peaks r1,   1863 data points

 Length 12.303 miles  :  Garmin Length 13.545 miles

 Start Elevation - 5647.74 feet

 Maximum Elevation - 8098.98 feet

 Minimum Elevation - 5640.12 feet

 Date of Hike - Mar 20, 2017

 Start Time - 08:02 AM

 End Time - 03:03 PM

 Total Duration -     7:00 hours:min

 Total Ascent - 4250.39 feet

 Total Descent - 4258.01 feet

 Net Ascent - -7.61 feet

 Maximum Grade - 31.37%

 Average Speed -  1.75 mph :  Garmin Average Speed  1.93 mph

 Maximum Ascent over Mile - 1269.75 feet

 Maximum Speed over Mile -  3.25 mph

 Maximum Gain over Mile (%) - 23.05%