Nowhere in Particular

I took a modest bike ride today.  It was too nice not to go out, but I was still a little sore from yesterday's hike.  I rode towards downtown, but never really went into the business district proper.  I stayed mostly on surface streets, but used a trail connection or two that I've already grown accustom to after only a handful of rides.  I was going to ride a loop around Washington Park, but my chain was being embarrassingly squeaky so I've saved that for another day..  I've walked the roadway through the park, which is mostly closed to traffic a couple times. 


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Trip Statistics
Length: 28.6 miles
Ride Time: 2 hours 48 minutes
Total Time: 3 hours 15 minutes
Avg. Speed: 10.2 MPH
Max. Speed: 27.2 MPH
Total Ascent: 1,150 ft.
Max Elev.: 5,450 ft.

Elevation Profile

Denver North High School

Englewood RR Stateion

Black Bear Trail / Golden Gate Canyon SP

Yesterday, I pushed a little higher in to the mountains for a hike that if it wasn't as long as my last one was a whole lot harder.  I drove to Golden Gate Canyon State Park, which it about fifteen or twenty miles northwest of Golden.  Along the way, I stopped in the historic mining town of Central City, at its heyday the largest city in the territory.  

After I paid my day-use fee at the park's visitor center, the lady recommended a route that she said would "keep me busy."  The 'busiest' section was the hike up Black Bear trail.  Even in the summer it would be a tough hike with a lot of steep sections including some scrambling over boulders.  This early in the year, there was plenty of snow to add to the challenge.   I stopped to rest at a wonderful spot near the highest point on the trail, Ralston Roost, with spectacular views into the canyon below and of the snow-capped peaks in the distance.

The worst part of the hike was probably the descent down the backside from this peak.   The snow was especially deep here and with each step it seemed I punched through up to my knee.   Keeping to the trail was a challenge in its own right, but I eventually found my way back to terra firma.  At the end of Black Bear Trail, I turned north along Mule Deer trail and followed it as far of Frazier Meadow, named for an early homesteader whose cabin--or at least a few vestiges of it--is still visible.

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From the meadow, I began the return hike.  I could have made a pretty direct hike down Horseshoe Trail back to the road, but decided to investigate a short side trail that the map indicated led to another historic structure.  It was another collapsed cabin, but without a sign to explain its backstory.  In deep snow again, I struggled my way back to the main trail.   The rest of the hike was pretty easy other than some icy spots.  It paralleled a brook so covered in snow, I heard the water babbling over rocks more than I saw it coursing downstream.

Trip Statistics
Length: 6.3 miles
Time: 4 hours 54 minutes
Moving Average: 1.6 MPH
Trailhead Elev.: 8,200 ft.
Peak Elev.: 9,320 ft. ft.
Net Elev. Gain: 1,120 ft.
Cumulative Elev. Gain: 1,500 ft

Elevation Profile

Downtown Central City

Black Bear Trail

Continental Divide from Trail Summit

Mule Deer Trail

Frazier Meadow

Horseshoe Trail

Lookout Mountain Road

I've been itching to travel up Lookout Mountain Road for a while now, but held off because I wanted to save it until I could first ride my bike up the the winding mountain road just west of Golden, Colorado.  Today's weather was perfect for riding and I needed to take the car in for some work at a shop that is just a few miles from the road's beginning.   I purposely avoided investigating any statistics for the ride but post hoc I can report that the 'meat' of the ride was a five mile climb 1,400 feet from the base to peak.

Getting to the starting point was a simple affair.   The first mile of the road presented the most challenging segment, but once my body accepted that my mind wasn't bluffing and I intended to make the summit, I settled in to a slow (apx 3-4 MPH) pace that I could sustain for long stretches.  The further up I got, the better views justified more stops for taking pictures.

Once the sustained climb ended, I found myself near Buffalo Bill's grave.  He's buried on a prominent peak with views into both the plains and the mountains.  After stopping there, I had a small amount of additional climbing before I reached the highest point on the road.  The last two miles of the road were mostly downhill. For some inexplicable reason, rather than turn left at the end of the road and continue my descent along US-40, I went right and continued going up.  My intended destination was, on the map, a small park, but in actuality, was a camp closed to the public.

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After a mile of this madness I reached a good turn around point--at over 7,800 feet, it was the highest point on the ride--just off an exit from I-70 where there was a overlook of a Buffalo herd managed by the City of Denver since the 1910s.  An even better reward for my extra effort was an highway overpass with a grand view of the high, snow-capped peaks much further west.  At this point, I had quite ridden half the total distance of the ride, but easily accomplished ninety percent of the total work.

Next, I began my descent in earnest, which was exhilarating, when it wasn't terrifying or vice versa, whichever implies more fear.  I'm not a accustomed sustained high speeds.  35 MPH is about as fast as I'm comfortable going.  After exiting the mountains proper through the Dakota Hogback, I stopped for a late, well-earned lunch at a favorite pizza place on the western edge of Lakewood.  I ordered a little extra as a reward for my hard work.  I wasn't too concerned about getting stomach cramps during the final six miles of the ride, because, again, it was mostly downhill.


Trip Statistics
Length: 31.4 miles
Ride Time: 3 hours 34 minutes
Total Time: 4 hours 46 minutes
Avg. Speed: 8.8 MPH
Max. Speed: 26.5 MPH
Start Elevation: 5,893 feet
Peak Elevation: 7,828
End/Min. Elevation: 5,487
Cumulative Ascent: 3,000 ft.

Elevation Profile







Speed Profile

I don't usually post a speed profile because, frankly, they're not usually too interesting, but for this ride because I spent so long going so slow and then finished at much greater speeds I thought it worth showing.

Lookout Mountain

Golden, Colorado

Lookout Mountain Road

Clear Creek Canyon

Almost at the top

Buffalo Bill Grave

Genesee Bison Herd

I-70 West into the Mountains

Descending along US-40

Mount Falcon Park

I took advantage of yesterday's warm weather--the first day with a high over 60 degrees--for an extra long hike in one of the nearby mountain parks, Mount Falcon.  I parked on the lower of the two trailheads and started hiking up Castle Trail.  I intended to hike about half the length of this trail and then check-off of couple short spur trails.  Once I reached the trail junction, about three miles in, I realized that I'd achieved most of the elevation gain required of the 3.8 mile trail and started to consider extending my hike.  But first,  I turned left down the first of the two spur trails, Walker's Dream.  Mr. Walker's dream was to build an Summer White House in the mountains and donate it to the country for the President's use.  Though he never completed the project, the cornerstone and some remnants of the foundation of the would-be house lie at the end of this trail.

Returning to the trail junction, I did indeed extend my trek further up in to the park.  I completed hiking the Castle Trail, named for the ruins of the castle-like Walker--yes, the same guy--home, which lie along side it, about a mile for the Summer White House ruins. While I didn't have much more climbing (roughly 300 out of 1,800 feet) to reach the end of the Castle Trail, all the trails in the upper elevations of the park were quite snow covered and I was wearing a pair of old tennis shoes with worn down soles.  Still, I managed to make it to the namesake peak, Mount Falcon before beginning the descent.  I had just enough time to hike the other spur trail, Two Dog, before beginning the relatively easy, if knee-pounding descent back to the car.

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Trip Statistics
Length: 10.5 miles
Time: 5 hours 30 minutes
Trailhead Elevation: 6,020 feet
Peak Elevation: 7,851 feet
Net Gain: 1,851 feet

Elevation Profile

Climbing Castle Trail

Summer White House Cornerstone

Walker Home Ruins

Mount Falcon Meadow

Trail Junction Picnic Shelter

Mountain Shadows on Dakota Ridge

Santa Fe Recap

I drove all the way back from Santa Fe to Denver on Thursday.  I had considered extending the excursion by an extra day, but the weather forecast for Friday looked less than promising.  Thursday's weather, however, was excellent for being outdoors.  I started with a three mile hike in Valles Caldera about an hour northwest of Santa Fe.  The elevation at the trailhead was over 9,000 feet and very much still in the grip of winter.  The trail looped part way up the side of a mountain on the edge of the giant caldera.  It had great views through the trees in to the vast basin.   The snow was especially deep in some sections on the last segment of the hike, but I managed.  Near the end of the hike, I saw a pack of  wolves in the basin across the highway; the first time I've see wolves in the wild.

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After Valles Caldera, I drove to Bandelier National Monument.  Though relatively close, its elevation is much lower, about 3,000 feet lower, and the weather much warmer.  I left most of my winter gear in the car and hiked the main trail through the Indian ruins.  The site in particularly unique because the former inhabitants once carved rooms in the the soft tuft that makes up the walls of Frijoles canyons.   The main trail winds among these cavates, as they're called, and the other ruins this ancient culture.

I didn't have a lot of time after leaving Bandelier, but did manage to check in at the nearby Bradbury Science Museum in Los Alamos, where most, but not all, of the exhibits pertain to the history of the Manhattan Project.


Statistics
Miles: 948.7 (941.5 driving, 6.4 hiking)
Days: 3
States: 2
Total Counties: 74
New Counties: 8
National Park Units: 1
Highest Elevation: 9,170 feet (Palo Flechado Pass, US-64 west of Eagle Nest, NM)
Lowest Elevation: 4,639 feet (Arkansas River, Pueblo, CO)
Pictures Taken: 154
Pictures Archived: 59
Fuel: 28.373 gallons
MPG: 33.2
Cost: $354.70

Miraculous Staircase
Loretto Chapel

New Mexico Museum of Art Courtyard

Palace of the Governors & Santa Fe Town Plaza

Valles Caldera

Cave Dwelling
Bandelier National Monument

Little Boy and Fat Man Replicas
Bradbury Science Museum
Los Alamos, NM