TUES 8/20/19> Starting hiking at 2:15am. about 20 cars there. First 6 miles is a nice hike (about 3000ft gain). Then the fun begins at the Boulderfield! It is real climbing from there. Slow and steady. Watch each foot placement and hand hold. Take your time and enjoy the rest of the way up!
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Full exposure for most of the trail. Very hot. The dirt gets hot once the temp goes above 74 or so, so watch your pups feet. The trail is beautiful and there are some nice stream crossings but this trail is better enjoyed during cooler weather than summer sun.
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Plenty of wildflowers blooming along most of the trail. Shade interspersed with full exposure for the full length of the trail. This trail always has others on it, but is not usually too busy or crowded. We got there at 7:45am and we were the only ones there. By the time we got off the trail, there were probably 7 or 8 other cars there. Restrooms available at the trailhead. It's a there and back trail and the turn around point is clearly defined (it's a beautiful lookout), with a bench in the shade and plenty of large boulders to sit on, if the bench is taken.
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The wildflowers were spectacular for this hike, one of the top wildflower hikes in Boulder County. The mountain scenery views are awesome and Lake Dorothy is a magical place.
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Summited Longs Peak via the Keyhole route on July 20, 2019. Route was in great shape, the trough was snowy in the middle, but easy enough to scramble around to the left side going up. The homestretch was totally clear, except for a few, easy to avoid wet patches. Started hiking at 215AM and got back to the car at 1245 PM!
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Great views of Iron Mountain and beautiful meadow. Muddy in spots but not bad. Good place to see moose.
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Spectacular hike to Pear Lake, 7/13/19. Only a couple snowfields left that we’re right before Pear Lake and we’re easily navigable w/out snowshoes. Lots of moose tracks, but no moose. We did see a really pretty golden colored Fox w/ black feet at Pear Lake. One thing to note, while it’s totally possible to make this hike from the Allenspark TH, their is no parking lot there anymore. Looks like someone has shut it down to the public, so we left from Finch Lake TH in Wild Basin of RMNP instead.
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Challenging for inexperienced hikers, from the very onset of the hike it is uphill and strenuous. Once you hit the meadow there is a bit of a break from the constant uphill climb, however it does pick back up. After you completely pass the meadow you will reach a fairly large area that has been burned by a forest fire. The final stretch to granite falls is completely uphill with very rocky terrain.
The falls were beautiful, that was where my hike ended. It took my wife and I about 2.5 hours there, and about 1.5 back. We stopped occasionally along the way there, didn’t stop on the way back.
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Beautiful views and not too difficult of a hike with the grade being not too steep.
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Jun9-19,
About 2/3 was snow covered with a mix of walking small steps on top to post holing up to waist due to sun and softness of snow.
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We hiked this trail in sunny and warm winter day. It was my second hike in snowshoes after 10 years break. We enjoyed well packed snow with no ice. First section up to the Rogers Pass trail fork could be easily hiked without snowshoes, while upper part provided very interesting experience on some more steep sections, especially on the way down.
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This is a great little hike to just get away from it all for a bit. It is about 4.2 miles. Well marked trail. There are some parts that have a lot of lose rocks and other parts that are nicely maintained. I like to walk the loop in a clockwise fashion so I can get good views of the front range at the end of my hike. The trails can get busy with other hikers, bikers and horse riders. Week days see much less of this. I must say, on my my many tips to Rabbit Mtn, I have never seen a rabbit!!!
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Moderate hike through open grassland and prairie dog towns along valleys and mesa tops. There are a lot of options of other trails to make this hike shorter, or to add on. Great views of the plains and foothills from the high points. The Mesa Reservoir provides some interesting birding. Dogs are allowed off leash on this trail as long as they have a Boulder Voice and Sight tag.
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Moderate hike through open grassland and prairie dog towns along valleys and mesa tops. There are a lot of options of other trails to make this hike shorter, or to add on. Great views of the plains and foothills from the high points. The Mesa Reservoir provides some interesting birding. Dogs are allowed off leash on this trail as long as they have a Boulder Voice and Sight tag.
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I have done this hike in the summer, but just did it in mid-October and you should know that the parking lot at the trailhead is already closed for winter which adds and extra two miles RT to the hike. Also, it just took one snowfall to make the trail very icy about 30-50% of the way. Be prepared for winter hiking conditions!
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Good Sunday morning mountain bike ride at the end of Sept. It was 52 degrees and cloudy, so that kept the crowds away. Some reviewers call this "easy", which you have to take with a grain of salt. It may be easy for some experienced mtn bikers, but this is a challenging trail system with mostly side hill riding on narrow single track. There aren't a ton of long, steep climbs, and the route isn't terribly rocky, which definitely makes it easier than some rides. I think moderate is a good overall rating, with a few easy spots and a handful of difficult sections.
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I'm a photographer and hike this 6 mile loop every fall, and sometimes in the spring also. Here is an uploaded photo gallery from fall 2017: http://tfmorrow.com/photoalbums/RMNP-WildBasin2017/
I just did this loop again a few days ago, and focused on waterfall photography; it will probably take me a few weeks to get those photos uploaded and linked on my website: http://tfmorrow.com/ This is a beautiful trail loop, especially in September. Hiking pace is rather slow because I'm constantly stopping to take photos; waterfall photos take even more time because a tripod is required.
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There are several really nice views from higher up. We went in the late summer so there wasn't much running water but during the spring I would expect to see several streams. There are a few steeper parts but anyone in general good shape should have no problem. Bang for the buck this is a very good hike.
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My 61-year-old father and I backpacked up to Crater Lake, staying Friday and Saturday nights. Beautiful scenery, a little crowded, especially on Friday evening. The final mile up to Crater Lake is quite a climb!
We, like seemingly everyone else, had an easy time catching fish. After a fish taco lunch, I wiled away Saturday reading and ducking under trees for shelter from the sprinkling rain, while my dad snoozed in the tent.
We started out intending to go up to Heart Lake via this route, but had a late start: https://www.gaiagps.com/hike/1425/rogers-pass-lake-via-rogers-pass-trail/.
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