Lyons - Coulson Gulch

We were back from our trip to the Southeast.  What a great place to visit.  It had been almost six weeks since I had last hiked.  I have started to help my son finish his basement, but today, I took a day off and tackled Coulson Gulch.

A few years ago when we were out ATV-ing with the grandkids on Johnny Park road, I saw the trailhead sign for Coulson Gulch.  It looked like an interesting hike, but it had been closed since the September 2013 flood.  However, most of the trail is now available, so I thought it would be a good trail to tackle as a return hike.

Coulson Gulch is one of those trails that can fool you.  It starts at the highest elevation then descends along a gulch to a small meadow where you can branch off and continue to descent to the Ralph Price reservoir.  The fooling part is that while you go down, you feel like all is well, but you must never forget that with every down there is an up that can be hard.  Coulson is like this, the 'back' is more difficult than the 'out'.

The scenery is not spectacular.  The trail follows the gulch along dense forest with only a few views of the surrounding mountains and Higgins Park.  Here are a few pictures.

The trail follows the gulch down

The power of water.  This refrigerator came from somewhere and got stuck in a tree

Higgins Park (it is really dry)

An old cabin with stove and bedsprings

Ralph Price Reservoir (home of Longmont water)

Typical trail conditions

Trailhead

Overall Track Statistics for CoulsonGulch,   1173 data points

 Length 8.397 miles  :  Garmin Length 8.699 miles

 Start Elevation - 7427.89 feet

 Maximum Elevation - 7669.49 feet

 Minimum Elevation - 6440.85 feet

 Date of Hike - Nov 11, 2016

 Start Time - 09:29 AM

 End Time - 01:04 PM

 Total Duration -     3:34 hours:min

 Total Ascent - 1922.28 feet

 Total Descent - 1984.12 feet

 Net Ascent - -61.84 feet

 Maximum Grade - 20.13%

 Average Speed -  2.35 mph :  Garmin Average Speed  2.43 mph

 Maximum Ascent over Mile - 522.77 feet

 Maximum Speed over Mile -  3.02 mph

 Maximum Gain over Mile (%) -  8.97%

RMNP - Hallett Peak

Since I took my daughter and son-in-law to Flattop Mountain, I've always wanted to tackle Hallett Peak (12711').  Today was the day to tackle that.  It was not the best day to hike, the weather was cloudy, it was cool, and their was a small chance of snow, but off I went.  Since I would be parking at the Bear Lake trailhead, I knew I needed to get a reasonably early start, otherwise the parking lot would be full.  Sure enough, when I got there the lot was filling up, even on a less than glorious day.

Some color at Bear Lake

This is a pretty cool look over Emerald Lake

A cloudy and cool day

The hike to Flattop Mountain is long, steep, and uneventful.  It is a popular trail in that it provides stellar views, connects to the trails on the west side of RMNP, and tops out at 12000'.

Color, Color everywhere (below the cloud layer)

Along the trail near Bear Lake (this was taken later in the day)

Note the horses just at the bend in the trail

Flattop is not a trail for the faint hearted, because it is steep and with much of the trail above 10000' there is not alot of oxygen up there.

Long's Peak from along Flattop trail

Joe Mills Mountain (there is a bushwhack up to there somewhere)

On the hike up, I met up with the park rangers that were out looking for elk.  I suggested that there might not be many elk at 11000'.  They agreed, but said they were tracking the radio collar signals of the elk and that 11000' would be a good place to do that.  I agreed.  As we continued to talk for a bit, they mentioned that this is also a way for them to find elk in distress or dead.  It is much easier to locate a non-moving radio collar than searching the ground.

I soon reached the horserack near the top of Flattop, where I sat and took a break.  Soon a couple came up.  They had some rather funny accents.  It turns out they were from Wales.  I suggested that the weather wasn't all that uncommon for them.  They agreed, but said the elevation was quite the challenge.  This was their third day in Colorado.  There were staying with an aunt in Boulder.  We split up, but would meet again at the top of Flattop, where for the first time, I had someone take my picture.  Turn about was fair play after I took their picture.

Robb

Robb

The hike to Hallett from Flattop is along a jumble of boulders and talus.  It is a rather steep ascent but very doable.  I'm sure the view when it is not snowing is spectacular.  Maybe another day.

Tyndall Glacier from above

McHenry's Notch (this is just north of Snowbank Lake)

Glacier basin and the rock wall from Tyndall Glacier 

Looking North along the Continental Divide

Hallett Peak (later in the day)

Summit Hallett Peak (12711')

I can now check Hallett Peak off my list.

Overall Track Statistics for RMNP - Hallett Peak,   1455 data points

 Length 9.764 miles  :  Garmin Length 10.163 miles

 Start Elevation - 9514.70 feet

 Maximum Elevation - 12711.15 feet

 Minimum Elevation - 9318.01 feet

 Date of Hike - Sep 21, 2016

 Start Time - 07:47 AM

 End Time - 01:11 PM

 Total Duration -     5:23 hours:min

 Total Ascent - 3470.08 feet

 Total Descent - 3666.77 feet

 Net Ascent - -196.69 feet

 Maximum Grade - 30.78%

 Average Speed -  1.81 mph :  Garmin Average Speed  1.88 mph

 Maximum Ascent over Mile - 866.83 feet

 Maximum Speed over Mile -  2.68 mph
 Maximum Gain over Mile (%) - 15.67%

Golden Gate - Overnight - Day 2

I had some trouble sleeping, but finally went to sleep and then slept through to six o'clock.  That is pretty late for me.  I got up, went and got my food bag off the bear pole and made a little breakfast.  I was hungry so had two packets of oatmeal and two cups of coffee.  Man, was it good.

I made a water run and began to break camp.  Once gain, I had some challenges in getting my pack all arranged, but eventually got it done.  That pack was just as heavy today as it was yesterday.

Today, I would return to the truck and home, but wanted to take a different route back.  I had originally planned to head north, but decided to go south and follow Deer Creek instead.  The day was very nice, a bit warmer than the day before, but it did look like there might be some thunderstorms during the day.  The rain held off.

I followed the Mountain Lion trail from camp to Forgotten Valley, then started the climb back to the western side of the mountain.  When I got back to Snowshoe Hare trail, I decided not to climb that again and headed up to the Gap Road.  This road would take me to an intersection with Mule Deer trail, then it would be a relatively straightforward hike down to Frazer Meadow and the truck.

There was not much different to see today, so the pictures are few.  I did encounter a fairly interesting rock formation and many wildflowers.

Almost looks like a termite mound

Wildflowers a plenty

More wildflowers

Yet another wildflower

I got back to the truck about one and headed home.  I didn't get the 30 miles I had planned, but 26 was close enough for now.  Once home it was time to turn my attention to getting ready for the trip with the Grandkids to Disney World!

Overall Track Statistics for Goldengate - day2,   4515 data points

 Length 10.867 miles  :  Garmin Length 0.000 miles

 Start Elevation - 7817.91 feet

 Maximum Elevation - 9383.43 feet

 Minimum Elevation - 7607.15 feet

 Date of Hike - May 26, 2016

 Start Time - 07:53 AM

 End Time - 12:54 PM

 Total Duration -     5:01 hours:min

 Total Ascent - 3149.70 feet

 Total Descent - 2812.73 feet

 Net Ascent - 336.98 feet

 Maximum Grade - 18.30%

 Maximum Ascent over Mile - 577.79 feet

 Maximum Speed over Mile -  2.86 mph

 Maximum Gain over Mile (%) -  9.27%

RMNP - Deer Mountain Trail

RMNP - Deer Mountain Trail

It was projected to be a gorgeous day; temperatures in the low 50s, clear, and little wind.  For once the weather forecasters were right.  I headed up to Rocky Mountain National Park to hike the Deer Mountain Trail.  The trailhead is at the junction of US36 and US34.  To the south is Upper Beaver Meadows and Deer Mountain to the North.  The trail reports indicated that the trail was well packed down, so I decided to leave my recently repaired snowshoes at home, but I did take my YakTrax.

Trailhead

The trail starts with a slight climb up to the ridgeline, then a walk along the ridge to the base of the mountain.  While on this part of the trail, I encountered a small band of deer.  They weren't the least bit worried about me, so I was able to stand and take a few pictures.

Deer not worried about me

Looking for something to munch on

The trail conditions were as expected and with the still low temperatures the ice and snow were manageable without any traction.  At this point you can get a good view of the Continental Divide and Upper Beaver Meadows.

Continental Divide & Upper Beaver Meadows

I soon encountered the first turn to climb the first of what would become fourteen switchbacks between the bottom and top of the mountain.  The going was steady, but not difficult.  The trail switches back and forth primarily in amongst the trees, but with occasional glimpses of the Mummy Range to the North and the Continental Divide/Long's Peak to the South.

Mummy Range (Mt Chapin, Mt Chiquita, Mt Ypsilon, Fairchild Mtn)

Mt Ypsilon, Fairchild Mtn

Mt Ypsilon

Long's Peak and the Continental Divide

After the initial climb, you come to a long stretch of rolling forest before the final ascent to the summit.  Lower down on the mountain there were plenty of deer tracks, with a few fox and coyote tracks.  However, up on the plateau there we nothing but trees and snow.

Snow & Shadow

Trees & Sky

After the climb to the summit I encountered breathtaking views in all directions.  To the east stretched Estes Park, the Big Thompson Canyon, and the Plains beyond.  A picture just does not do this view justice.

Estes Park, Lake Estes, Big Thompson Canyon, & Plains

To the North & West lay the Mummy Range

Mummys (Fairchild Mtn, Hague Peak, Mummy Mountain)

 Mummys

To the South lay the Continental Divide

Continental Divide

Continental Divide

and Longs Peak

Long's Peak

Right then and there, I decided that this was the best hike yet of 2016.  I sat down had a bit of a snack, admired the view, and was thankful for the opportunity to be there on such a stunning day.  I headed back down.

The trek back down was uneventful, but by now the snow and ice had a thin layer of melt on top of them, so the YakTrax were in order for the lower half of the descent.  There had been no one on the trail during the ascent, but it was starting to get busy on the way down.  I ran into about 10 people along the way.  While it was only a six mile trip, I think it may have been the best six miles in the last six months.  Awesome!!

Overall Track Statistics for RMNP - DeerMtn,   1027 data points

 Length 6.005 miles  :  Garmin Length 6.229 miles

 Start Elevation - 8900.10 feet

 Maximum Elevation - 10024.05 feet

 Minimum Elevation - 8899.11 feet

 Date of Hike - Jan 22, 2016

 Start Time - 09:11 AM

 End Time - 11:59 AM

 Total Duration -     2:47 hours:min

 Total Ascent - 1630.81 feet

 Total Descent - 1592.85 feet

 Net Ascent - 37.96 feet

 Maximum Grade - 19.64%

 Average Speed -  2.15 mph :  Garmin Average Speed  2.22 mph

 Maximum Ascent over Mile - 592.95 feet

 Maximum Speed over Mile -  2.98 mph

 Maximum Gain over Mile (%) - 11.02%