Apex Park trail

Apex Park Trail
Heritage Square                                                             Trip Length : 5.6 Miles/ Round Trip
18301 W Colfax Ave,                                                    Elevation Gain : 960 Ft
Golden, Co 80401                                                          Time : 3 Hrs

           It was Daylight end and had extra one hour sleep. We started at 8am from home with our friend. It took almost 9am for all of us to gather. It was 7 people and a kid on this hike. It was bit windy and cool. The trail went all way up in the mountain. The Trail was very narrow with lots of bikers. We had to give way for them very frequently. It was interesting to see them riding the bikes in the hill.

 We took Pick-N-Sledge trail to climb up, for about 0.9 miles. Me and one of my friend were chatting till up. Finally there was a Grubstake loop intersecting , my hubby and other friend was waiting for us to reach. We sat for a break and had a small snack waiting for rest to reach.

We were able to see a wide view of  Golden city. And as well as Denver downtown high rise buildings. Guys were deciding, the trail to go more up. One of our friend returned back. Then we took Pick-N-Sledge trail for another 0.6 miles. I did not feel as we hiked, so wanted to give a non stop hike to burn more calories.

I joined my hubby and took Grubstake trail for about 1.7 miles. The loop took all way down which was nice steep. And then a good elevation. This was a nice non-stop hike made real worth. Finally the Grubstake trail connected us to the pick-N-sledge loop. We took our way back.

           Has getting down we saw Apex Park trail loop, we wanted to give a try. A mountain biker who came in that trail said that trail was really fun. So we took that way. We almost started and my hubby got a call from a friend saying that they missed their daughters hoodie on the way. So we returned back to pick-N-sledge loop. It got exhausted at this point. We reached the parking lot at 12pm and returned back to our home.

This hike was really a different experience and i really enjoyed.

Thank You,
Dhamaya.

Horseshoe Trail

Golden Gate Canyon State Park
HorseShoe Trail                                                               Trail Length : 3.6 Miles/ Round Trip
92 Crawford Gulch Rd,                                                    Elevation Gain : 960 Ft
Golden, Co 80403.                                                           Time : 2 Hrs 30 Min



            We hiked with 3 of our friends family. Me and my hubby have already hiked in this trail. We did not know until we reached there. We went along with our friend. We all started together in two cars from one place. On Crawford Gulch Road we took a wrong route, were GPS took us nearly 6 miles off road connecting Crawford Gulch Road. We reached the visitors center to pay for the parking. It was $7/ day.                

                Horse shoe trail was nearby the visitors center, our friend drove the car to the Horseshoe trail parking lot and my hubby came running. The parking area was very small. Once all reached, we started the hike, it was almost 9.30 am. This was a well shaped trail edged by stream and full of pine trees on both the sides.

            The trail had a gradual elevation up on the mountain. It was fun with lots of people this time. Me and my hubby were pretty fast, along with our friends. We got split into two groups. My hubby started running uphill for few minutes. At a point there was two trails splitting, we could'nt see rest five people behind. We took a stick and marked on the trail path for other friends behind to follow our route. And we took trail again. It was fairly good climb up the hill.

          We four reached up where there was a wide fallen pine trees which looked like few burnt in fire. We went into the woods to rest and had snacks, waiting for the rest to reach. It was almost 15-20 minutes there was no trace of those people coming up. So we planned to return back. We met them coming up. And they joined us together going down. On way out we met a new friend, a snake.... Yeah it was a snake on the trail. This was the first time in Colorado we saw a snake on the trail.

  While returning back it was pretty easy and fun. I felt this place would definitely be a good place to hike in fall season. Should come back next year to enjoy foliage colors.
                                                           
                                                          Here's our group selfie.

Thank You,
Dhamaya