Drake - Crosier Mountain & Piper Meadow

My last hike was 26 days ago.  Between going on a camping trip and remodeling the laundry, I haven't had time for hiking.  I took timeout from the laundry remodel to tackle Crosier Mountain Trail.

My first trip to the Crosier Mountain Trail was in 2009 or 2010.  I only hike a few miles, but had decided someday to tackle it all.  For most of 2015/6 the road to Glen Haven was under construction and the TH was closed, then in the fall of 2016 the road through the Big Thompson Canyon was closed.  Last week that road opened up for the summer, so I decided today was the day.

The day was just about perfect.  It was cool in the morning then warmed up to the low 70s by early afternoon, with a nice single digit wind; just enough to keep the sweat manageable.  The trail to Crosier Mountain is basically one long five mile climb; steep in most places, but broken up often enough with small flat meadows to not be a complete killer.

Terrain at the trailhead

First big meadow to break the climb

Several times in the climb I was able to catch a glimpse of the North Fork of the Big Thompson Valley and the Big Thompson canyon.

North Fork Valley, looking to Pinnacle Peak in the BT Canyon

 There were a couple of small caves along the way.  I'm betting at some time there were bears here.

Cave along the way

Actually there are still bear in the vicinity; although I didn't see one, I did see a track.

After about two hours of climbing, I reached the spur trail to Crosier Mountain Summit.  The summit is a 600ft vertical climb in a half mile.  I had more to see, so I skipped the summit and continued on.  On the north side of the mountain, the trail descents through thick pine forest to open into a large area known as Piper Meadow.  

My first glimpse of Piper Meadow

The trail makes a large triangle to circumnavigate the meadow.  The views along the meadow and the variety of scenery and history is pretty cool.

Overlooking the meadow and into RMNP

A Cabin ruin

Knapps Knob ; small hill named after Ira Knapp of Glen Haven

Animal skeletons

I finished the loop and began the trek back.  It was a challenging climb back up to Crosier Mountain and an even more challenging steep descent to the truck.  As you can see in some of the pictures, the wildflowers were out in force and I went wild taking pictures of wildflowers.  Here they are.

Not flowers, actually sun on the leaves

Bumblebees were out too

Overall Track Statistics for Drake - CrosierPiperMdw,   2208 data points

 Length 15.496 miles  :  Garmin Length 16.771 miles

 Start Elevation - 6477.23 feet

 Maximum Elevation - 8719.39 feet

 Minimum Elevation - 6389.67 feet

 Date of Hike - Jun 10, 2017

 Start Time - 07:45 AM

 End Time - 03:56 PM

 Total Duration -     8:11 hours:min

 Total Ascent - 4367.65 feet

 Total Descent - 4455.22 feet

 Net Ascent - -87.57 feet

 Maximum Grade - 23.64%

 Average Speed -  1.89 mph :  Garmin Average Speed  2.05 mph

 Maximum Ascent over Mile - 769.26 feet

 Maximum Speed over Mile -  2.66 mph

 Maximum Gain over Mile (%) - 14.23%

Conifer - Staunton State Park

Staunton State Park is Colorado's newest.  I've been wanting to go there for a couple of years.  As usual this year, I didn't want to tackle snow, so I waited till May to try and tackle this one.  I finally determined that the trails were mostly dry, no snow, so this week was the week.  I decided to go on this day because we are scheduled for about a foot of snow in the mountains and foothills in the next couple of days.

The drive to Staunton is not bad, except that you must navigate Denver traffic; always an interesting experience.  I was a bit late getting out of the house, so I didn't get to the trailhead till almost 9:30.  One of the interesting aspects of this hike was that the trail maps were not as accurate as I usually have.  There were many trails that were not on the map or the map had in the wrong position.  There has been alot of work at Staunton, adding trails, routing trails differently, etc.  They are even starting to put in a campground.

I started out on the Mason Creek Trail and was immediately confronted with this sign.

First sign

I thought, 'cool', but alas no bears, no moose today. Sigh...  The Mason Creek Trail follows Mason Creek up the east side of the Elk Creek Valley.  It is a nice flowing stream with plenty of waterfalls and large meadows to enjoy.

Small waterfall on Mason Creek

Many small meadows like this one

The trail eventually moved off Mason Creek and began to climb over the ridge to the next drainage.  The first objective was an old sawmill.  As I moved toward the sawmill, it was easy to see how the area had been logged.

Logged area

It turns out that the sawmill was built in the 20's and operated until the early 60's.

Car parts @ old sawmill

What remains of the mill

The trail moves out of this draining, up and over the ridge.  I took lunch at the top of the ridge.  I had a nice view of the Elk Creek Valley and Pikes Peak in the distance.

Elk Creek Valley

The next destination was Elk Creek Falls lake.  Once at this lake, I would have to decide if I wanted to go on the Elk Creek Falls.  This was a nice, small lake with a small cabin nearby.

Elk Creek Lake

I decided to head for Elk Creek Falls.  One of the new trail additions that was not on the map was a loop trail connecting the Chimney Rock Trail with the Lion's Back Trail.  This would allow me to stop at both Elk Creek Falls and the Elk Creek Falls Overlook without retracing my steps.  The falls are on a spur trail that trail takes a steep descent, but brings you right to the base of the falls.

On this spur trail, I encountered another first.  I've seen ladders and stairs used to help people navigate steep sections of a trail, but this is the first time I've seen and used a chain. I must say, it worked great.

Chain to help descend this short section

I have to say, the climb down and back out was well worth the effort.  These falls were spectacular.  The pictures and video does not do it justice.

The Elk Creek Falls Overlook required another climb and descent to another drainage.  Again, the view was awe-inspiring.

Elk Creek Falls Overlook

Zoomed in

It was time to head home.  As it was, I would be lucky to get back to the truck by four-thirty to be home by 6-ish.  The hike back to the truck required one more steep ridge climb.  I was definitely pooped by the time I got back.

It turns out that by the time I got back to the truck, I had made the longest hike of the year. so far..

Overall Track Statistics for Conifer - Staunton SP,   2200 data points

 Length 16.716 miles  :  Garmin Length 17.672 miles

 Start Elevation - 8330.25 feet

 Maximum Elevation - 9384.48 feet

 Minimum Elevation - 8070.21 feet

 Date of Hike - May 15, 2017

 Start Time - 09:28 AM

 End Time - 04:20 PM

 Total Duration -     6:52 hours:min

 Total Ascent - 3383.43 feet

 Total Descent - 3643.47 feet

 Net Ascent - -260.04 feet

 Maximum Grade - 23.00%

 Average Speed -  2.43 mph :  Garmin Average Speed  2.57 mph

 Maximum Ascent over Mile - 512.40 feet

 Maximum Speed over Mile -  3.16 mph

 Maximum Gain over Mile (%) -  9.07%

Boulder - Walker Ranch Loop & Meyer Homestead

I was in a quandary about where to go today.  I wanted something fairly long, not in the snow, close, but something I had not done before.  With this hike, I got 3 1/2 of 4.  I have been on the Walker Ranch Loop once before, in 2014, and on a portion again in 2016, but I had never been to the Meyer Homestead before.

Parking at the Walker Ranch TH, I was able to get on the trail early and headed immediately to the Meyer Homestead link trail.  The Meyer Homestead trail is an old ranch road that, in about 3.25 miles, takes you up the gulch toward the old Meyer Homestead; hence the name.  Andrew Meyers homesteaded the area in the 1890s, but later sold off to James Walker (of Walker Ranch fame).

The trail begins on a fairly level, rolling part of the gulch, but soon begin a long steady pull up to the area of the homestead.

Early trail conditions on Meyers Gulch trail

I paw an old hay barn so, of course, I had to go off trail and take a look

Walker Ranch hay barn (1)

Walker Ranch hay barn (2)

Walker Ranch hay barn (3)

The trail began to steadily climb and I soon encountered a very nice aspen grove.  It is nice to see the aspens starting to leaf out.

Aspens are finally getting their leaves

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Near the end of this section of trail, I encountered what I think is ruins of the original homestead.  I'm not sure though since rocks can be found in some of the most interesting places and distributed in odd ways.  I usually find other 'artifacts' at homestead, but there was no other detritus, so, I'll let you decide.

Ruins of homestead?

I finally made it to the end of the Meyer's Homestead Trail and looked through the trees and down into Boulder Canyon

End of Meyer's Homestead Trail

Overlooking Boulder Canyon

I retraced my steps back to the Walker Ranch TH and began the Walker Ranch Loop.  Just as I got there a bus load of 14-15 year old teenagers had just started up the trail.  Man, do they talk alot.  The trail starts out with a fairly good climb and I found that I quickly overtook the group, but when the trail started a steep descent, they pushed me hard.  But, I stayed ahead of them and soon lost them in the next climb.

There was not as many people on the trail as I expected, but I did encounter a couple of women several times.  Each time I saw them once of them was talking.  The final time I saw them, the one not talking looked like she had enough talk for one day.

The best part of the Walker Ranch Loop is the two encounters with the South Fork of the St. Vrain River.  It is quite a good flowing stream, has good fishing, and is quite beautiful.

Sign here say "swift current'.  Seems kind of obvious

This part of the river runs through a narrow canyon

One of the river's quieter spots 

The last part of the hike is a climb out of the river canyon and back to the trailhead.  The canyon had many interesting rock formations.

Canyon Rocks

Overall, it was a long and strenuous hike, but one that was very enjoyable.  Although, I was pretty tired by the time I got home.

Overall Track Statistics for Bldr - WalkerMyer 2017,   2082 data points

 Length 15.094 miles  :  Garmin Length 15.710 miles

 Start Elevation - 7216.60 feet

 Maximum Elevation - 8004.20 feet

 Minimum Elevation - 6435.43 feet

 Date of Hike - May 12, 2017

 Start Time - 07:37 AM

 End Time - 01:25 PM

 Total Duration -     5:47 hours:min

 Total Ascent - 3051.84 feet

 Total Descent - 3153.94 feet

 Net Ascent - -102.10 feet

 Maximum Grade - 18.45%

 Average Speed -  2.60 mph :  Garmin Average Speed  2.71 mph

 Maximum Ascent over Mile - 497.87 feet

 Maximum Speed over Mile -  3.45 mph

 Maximum Gain over Mile (%) -  9.30%