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

Alberta Falls Trail

Bear Lake Parking Lot                                                    Trail Length : 1.7 Miles/ Round Trip
Rocky Mountain  National Park                                        Elevation Gain : 200 ft
GPS CoOrdinates :                                                            Degree of Difficulty :Easy      
 N40 18.716 W105 38.761                                                Start Elevation : 9450 Ft

         First time we hiked searching Alberta falls in May 2013. The trail was completely covered with snow that time. We asked few people on the trail, direction to the falls but they did not know. We were scared that we might miss the trail to get back, so we returned thinking to come back some time again.

          This time we did it while camping in Moraine Park campground in Rocky Mountain National Park. We started at 3 pm from the Bear Lake parking lot. Its just a short hike. The Trail was pretty filled with good number of golden Aspen trees.

    Before reaching the falls there was a small falls. I thought that must be the Alberta falls, and i was arguing with my hubby. He said it is a pretty big one we must go further. Finally we found the main one which is the Alberta Falls. We had to climb on huge rocks to get to the top. Their were many people taking pictures. As usual my hubby was busy taking pictures.

  I sat on the rock relaxing and enjoying the beauty of the falls. I took few selfie's. My hubby wanted to hike more. There was another trail continuing up. But i did not let him. And we returned back. While nearing there was a good elevation in one part which was ankle breaking. It took almost a hour and a half to complete. We went to bear lake and sat in a lake side bench. Took few snaps. And we rushed for sunset to our camping area.

  It was a Nice pleasant short hike.

Thank You,
Dhamaya

Great Sand Dunes Hike

Great Sand Dunes National Park                                            
10945-11191 Colorado 150                                               Trail Length : 3 Miles / Round Trip
Mosca, CO 81146                                                              Time : 2 Hrs 30 Minutes
Gps Co-ordinates:  N37 44.370 W105 31.048
           
               This was my favorite hike and enjoyable hike. We did camping in Pinon Campground inside the national park for Labor day weekend. We took the trail from Pinon Campground area. We thought of starting the hike on the 1st day evening, so that we can reach top for sunset photography. But half the way, the sand was blowing like anything and poking our legs. So we returned back to our camping site. We planned  to wake-up early the next morning and begin our hike for sunrise.
 

          I woke up first and went to brush my teeth. The sunrise almost started, we rushed ourselves to begin the hike. The weather was pretty cold. I wore my wind jacket and gloves.I packed water bottles and snack bar and started at 7 am.  The shadows on the dunes looked great. My hubby enjoyed taking picture all the way. We must have been 15 to 30 minutes early to capture good pictures. We thought to hike until the top most part. Nice up and downs all the way. 

           No specific trail routes to follow, we made our own trail. It was really a fun climbing in the sand. If we took a step-up, felt like coming back to the same place. The final part was really challenging with nice ups, took 10 steps and rested. Finally reached the top most part. The Hiking to dunes were so different from normal colorado mountain hikes.

            WOW.....Amazing  Dunes all around, couldn't really say in words how wonderful it was. We could see all other smaller dunes below us. People below looked tiny as Ants in a row. We just sat on the sand enjoying the view. We also saw our foot paths all the way. It took almost 1.30 Hr to reach up.

           The wind started blowing again. I pulled my hoodie and tied up. We planned to get down quickly. Getting down was very easy and fun. We reached the bottom pretty soon within 15 minutes. And from the Medona creek it took almost another 15 min to reach the camp ground. 

The Dunes were stunning, well worth the visit. Definitely will hike once again.

Thank You,

Dhamaya.

Mt Bierstadt Trail - Colorado's 14'ers

Mt Bierstadt trail                                                      Trial Length: 7.4 miles /round trip
Guanella Pass Road,                                                 Summit Elevaion    : 14,060 Ft
Georgetown,                                                             Trail Elevation        :11699 Ft
CO 80452                                                              Level of Difficulty : Difficult
                                                                               Elevation Gain : 2,404 ft

 First time to Mt. Bierstadt - August 2013
     
              We made a sudden plan to Mt.Bierstadt trail on Gunella pass road, it took almost 10 am to start from home and we reached there by 12pm. We packed our lunch (coconut rice) from home to have during our hike. There was a large crowd in the trail and almost plenty of cars parked all sides of the road. The trail begun from the road through a wide valley. We crossed a small creek running across the trail.Then we also meet a huge beautiful lake. It took almost 1.30 Hr to reach the foot hill and a gradual elevation from there. We picked up huge rock to have a break and our lunch. With steep elevation my jaws started aching. Any how managed to climb up and reached the first mountain. My hubby was very energetic asusall. But couldn't rather make it even a little. We were just half the way got exhausted , it would have taken 2 more hours to reach the summit. We started getting back. On the way we saw a father and son,back-packing to the summit. We thought we should have been earlier to hike to the summit. It was 5.30 when we reached the car.

   
 Second Time to Mt. Bierstadt - July 26 th, 2014
              
             This time we started earlier from home and reached George town visitors center for restroom. The weather was much cooler in summer. We started  the trail at 8.30 Am. We just took a light hoodie with us from home thinking any weather changes might help. We did not expect such a cold wind there. The wind was blowing at  25 mph. We started the trail any how thinking, wind might stop and temperature would become warmer. Even when we crossed the creek which was in 0.4 miles,we thought whether we can do it or back from here, we had oscillation. Finally made our mind to continue the hike. On the way we met Alex, his girlfriend & his dog, my hubby's office colleague. He said they were leaving without going to the summit as it was snowing at the top and his girl friend could'nt stand the cold up there. Moving further made my hands freezing. My hubby said its not a problem we will return back. But i was energetic to climb expect the unbearable such a cold. It was almost 90-95 F in Denver but here it was a miracle. We reached the point where we came last time and continued up almost another 0.5 miles. The view of the valley was awesome. We saw few people resting behind the rock seemed to escape hiding from the wind. The wind was getting worse than before. Finally we backed down, i was disappointed that we couldn't make to summit even the second time.

 Third Time to Mt. Bierstadt - Aug 16 th, 2014

           This was our third time visit to Mt. Bierstadt, i was not much interested this time but my hubby was very curios to hike till the summit, we started at 9 am. This time hike was much easier than the previous ones. We passed the two place where we backed last couple of times. On the way a man told its still half a way to reach the summit, i was shocked. I thought we have almost reached up there.

      We had to climb on huge rocks and steep elevation which was ankle breaking after that. Took 10 steps....rest...10 steps....again rest. This how i was climbing. I was totally exhausted and told my hubby to continue and i'll wait for him until he gets back. He gave me the car key and asked me to go to the car. I took a long break all the way. And reached the car at 2 pm. And my hubby reached the summit succesfully, his first 14ers. Congratulation to my man. I will definitely make one day. My hubby showed me the snaps, the view was really very awesome. I felt that i really missed it. I should have tried a bit hard.

A View from the summit.

Thank You,
Dhamaya.

Chicago Lake Trail

Chicago Lake Trail

12334-12932 Squaw Pass Rd,                                 Trail Length : 11 Miles/ Round Trip

Idaho Springs,                                                          Elevation Gain : 1,116 Ft

CO 80452, USA                                                      Degree Of difficulty : Difficult

GPS Direction :                                                       Start & End Elevation : 10,617 - 11,733 Ft

N39 39.548 W105 36.369                                      Time : 7 Hrs

            

               We started 6 am from home and reached echo lake at 7.45 am. On the way we bought our breakfast from McDonalds. I felt nausea after having it. It was a very cool morning with temperature around 30s and we bought our fleece, gloves and woolen cap with us. I had to use the rest room before heading to the trail. We saw few people lying in their sleeping bags in that cold in echo lake picnic area. The echo lake was beautifully covered with fog/clouds. My hubby was capturing pictures. We followed the echo lake trail for about 100 meters.We saw Chicago lake trail sign board at the right. And we took are way on the trail.  

This was very different experience. We had get down with a nice drop for about a mile until it hits chicago creek. We walked heading to the Idaho Spring Reservoir and had a short rest. It was a good fishing area. On the way we saw a old private cabin home in nice location. And we also saw few cars parked on the side way. There was a off-road which took till the Reservoir. But had no idea,where that off-road started from. Following the trail, we found a trail map and a drop box asking our names and contact information.We dropped the slip and started climbing onto chicago lake trail, We continued on the trial with many ups and downs. 

Most of the places was wet. Plenty of wild flowers on the way was simply beautiful. We saw many back packers and as well as campers on the way. Then again had a break to fuel our-self. We also saw few people returning back after their night camp. We were able to see the lower chicago lake trail from far away.

          It was amazing from the top,we did not get down to the lake as it was far away from the trail. We rushed up to the Upper lake which took into the bushes and climbs, up-on the rocks. We had to cross huge rocks while nearing. I felt like my ankles were numb. Just wanted to see how beautiful the lake is. A such a nice look, a heaven on earth. We turned around to see the lower lake, we couldn't imagine our eyes itself. It looked like a wallpaper we have seen in the computers and Tv. The lower lake was heart shaped. 

          Then we went near the lake and sat on the rocks and removed my shoes. I just removed my hoodie and spreaded to lay down. I just felt like sleeping for sometime. But did not. Then had a small snack. Me and my hubby put our legs in the water. It was freezing chill.Just wiped my face in the water. Suddenly we saw two para-gliders jumping from top of the mountain. They just reached down within few minutes. Usual my hubby enjoyed taking snaps. Then we went to have view of the lower lake from top. We took almost an hour at the top. And decided to walk back. I dream upped it would be nice if there was a zip line to get down in minutes. Lets see in future if someone builds up a Zipline adventure for lazy hikers like me. I usually get tired while returning. I always enjoy a loop kind trails.

               I was totally exhausted half way back, my hubby was encouraging me telling that we have almost reached, about to reach. Any how managed to get, till the reservoir. My legs were begging me not to take a step. I was dragging my legs to walk. It was a painful moment, tears ran down my eyes. Just thought of my goal what i was struggling for. I motivated myself to push. I was asking my hubby to carry me. He too felt exhaused. Again we headed to the chicago creek. We had to climb a mountain to reach our car. This was the most hardest part, but climbed taking stops. Once we reached the upper part where i found no more ups hereafter, i took a deep breathe. Finally reached the echo lake. It was 3 pm. This was our long hike and the most beautiful hike ever for us.

Thank You,
Dhamaya

Delicate Arch Trail

Arches National Park                                                    Trail Length : 3 Miles/ Round Trip
GPS : N38 44.135 W109 31.229                                           Elevation Gain : 480 Ft
Arches entrance road,                                                         Time : 3 Hrs
UT 84532, USA                                                                   Starting Point : Wolfe Ranch Parking Area

         This is our third visit to Arches National Park. The first time we visited delicate Arch from the Lower view point which was just beside the parking lot. And Second time we saw its view from Upper view point trail 0.5 miles. My hubby was curios and wanted to hike till the delicate arch some other time. We made this hike during our trip to Zion National Park. This was on our final day trip. We started early from the hotel and reached Moab, Arches National Park Visitors center by 9am. 

           We all-most started the hike at 10 am, very sunny day while the temperature was hitting above 90's. We had to climb on the rocks all over the trail. The heat from the rock was reflecting like anything. It took almost an hour and a half to reach there. There was no shade at all. While nearing the Arch a huge rock gave us nice shade. We did not take a break all the way until we reached the Arch. Few place were scary,and i was bit afraid of heights.

 The View of the Delicate arch was simply awesome. To reach the delicate -arch was really challenging, which was slippery.Our shoes helped us well.We had to climb up a rock to get into the amphitheater. Once i got into it my legs were shivering. And i couldn't rather even take a step. Slowly cooled myself. It was like a amphitheater.

                                     

         We headed till the arch took some snaps, i tried going underneath the arch but i was scared, bcoz it was very sloppy nearby. But i managed to get till one end. My hubby was busy taking snaps. I found a nice shady place to rest, with my legs spread. Mean while my hubby joined me. Took some selfie and video.

           Had water and a snack bar. While we thought to start Utsab and Samarpita reached. They took some snaps and started getting down. Again my hubby started taking snaps. Then we also started getting down. On the way down we saw a hole ,my hubby climbed on the rock to take pictures. There were two chinese guys taking picture for a long time. My hubby got bored waiting for them, finally came down. Utsab and samarpita were faraway from us. We took a brisk walk and reached them. And over took them and reached the car. The car was hot like a conventional oven, opened all the windows and turned on the AC. Washed our face with the ice cold water. It was 12.30pm. It was just as spectacular. 

Thanks to my hiking pole.

ThankYou,

Dhamaya

Echo Lake Trail

Echo Lake Trail
12334-12932 Squaw Pass Rd,                                    Trail Length : 1 Miles/ Round Trip
Idaho Springs,                                                             Degree of Difficulty : Easy
Co 80452, USA                                                           Elevation : 10,617 Ft
GPS Direction : N39 39.548 W105 36.369

                   We had a sudden plan to drive to echo lake. This was our second visit here. We knew that it would be cold out there. So we packed our jackets and gloves. It took almost 2 hours to reach there. When we reached there weather was too good and not much chill.

         

             Echo Lake was amazing covered with ice. Beautiful lake at 10,617 ft elevation. White... White every where.....What a wonderful views of mountain and lake and extremely romantic. This is a place where you need to see in all seasons. 

            There were only few cars in the lot. I just wanted to have a short relaxed hike. We Started and my hubby was busy with his camera. We were here for picnic last summer, it was totally different compared. 

       We thought of going round the lake which was wooden fenced. The snow was piled up nearly 7 to 8 feet approx. We had to safely place our legs on the snow. In some places our legs were burying till our knees. There were many bench around the lake to sit and enjoy the views.

        Even the trail boards was buried in snow. We met a ranger on the way, we asked him the direction to Chicago lake and distance to get there. He said its 5 mile trip one-way. We also saw few people coming from that trail. We enjoyed the snow very much. Almost after half of trail. the trail was bad piled up with lots of snow. We did not want to risk ourselves going further. We wanted to drive till Mt.Evans but the road was closed expecting to open on Memorial day weekend. Finally took our selfie. 

This place is definitely a paradise. My Hubby's favorite plces.

Thank You,

Dhamaya

Maxwell Falls Lower Trail and Cliff Loop trail

Maxwell Falls Lower Trail                                             Trail Length : 4.5 miles/ Round Trip
S Brook Forest Road,                                                        Level of Difficulty : Easy/moderate
Shawdow Mountain,                                                         Elevation Gain : 1100 ft
CO 80433                                                                          Time : 3.5 hrs

               Me and my hubby started from home at 7.30am and reached lower maxwell falls by 8.30am. By the time the parking lot was almost full and we parked the car beside the road. Luckily we got a spot, there was space for just one more car left.

               

 When we entered there was a group of hikers preparing to start. They were coming behind us. The trail had lot of shade with plenty of pine trees. Trail route continued along with the maxwell creek running quietly with gradual elevation upto 1000 ft. This trail was much easier. While nearing the falls we had to climb the rocks to reach the falls which was a ultimate workout on that part. The falls still had frozen bergs. My hubby was taking snaps and i went and rested myself on the rocks.

 We took a break, had some snacks and Snaps. We walked along the creek side and i was forcing my hubby to take some pictures, i stood on running water for him to take pictures. He said we need a tripod to take pictures as you think. Then again we continued on the maxwell falls trail from top of the water falls, along the creek for another 0.2 miles to the cliff loop trail which made a loop connecting to the main trail. We climbed a little bit on the rocks with ups and downs, which gave a very beautiful view of the valley below. Me and husband thought of taking a selfie and i grabbed S5 from him. Unfortunately the mobile slipped and fell down on a rock. Luckily nothing happened to the mobile. It was just a week he got his new mobile.I asked him to keep the mobile in his pocket safely. We saw glittering paper tied on the trees. We thought it may be a trail sign or someone might have tied it. The signs was not much clear so we took the down loop but any how we managed to get back to the main trail.  And reached our car.

Nice shady and cool place to hike on Summer days.

ThankYou,
Dhamaya.

Eldorado Canyon Trail

Eldorado Canyon State Park                                          Trail Length  : 7.5 Miles/ round trip
9 Kneale Road,                                                                   Elevation gain : 1000 ft
Eldorado Springs,                                                               Degree of difficulty : Difficult
CO 80025                                                                            Time : 6 hrs
Park Fee : $8

             
               Eldorado Canyon Trail is located in Eldorado Canyon State Park, Near boulder, Co. It is a famous rock climbing spot for the rock climbers. That day we reached there by 8.30 am, the parking lots was almost filled up and as well as the road side spots. We gotta parking finally far away from the trail. We did not have a look on any trail spots. We decided a spot by seeing the parks brochure. Eldorado CAnyon trail looked hidden nearby the visitors center. The weather was perfect today.

               The trail looked super busy and crowded with families and kids. The first 700 ft was a nice steep gain. This time i wore my new Reebok shoe just for a try which made me mad. This was really a different experience like crossing many hills. Few places was scary with steep slopes. We crossed many runners on the trail. We saw a railroad in other side of the mountain and suddenly heard khoo-khoo noise, what a amazing view, a train was coming...

There were several ups and downs on the trail. We heard the noise of running water at the top. Eldorado Trail continued till Walker Ranch loop trail which dropped about 570 ft where you'll meet a huge south boulder creek.There was a nice bridge to take snaps and stop for good break. Washed our face in natural cool water. We saw few people fishing there. Then we started heading back. Had a break after a great climb. Then we once again started.

We saw many old people while returning back, Which gave us energy to do more. Finally we reached the final part which was a nice get down. We got to the car by 4pm. Hope we'll come once again to hike other trails. Really loved this hike.

ThankYou,
Dhamaya

Carpenter Peak Trail - RoxBorough State Park

Roxborough State park                                             Carpenter Peak Trail

4751 Roxborough Drive,                                          Round Trip : 6.4 Miles

Littleton,                                                                   Elevation  Gain: 7160
CO 80125 USA                                                        Degree of difficulty : Moderate
                                                                                  Hours : 4 Hrs 30 min

            This was our first hike in this year 2014. My hubby had a appointment with a chiropractor at
7am and we both planned to hike to RoxBorough state park after his visit. The temperature was pretty good today.  He took a day off on Friday. And we both started from there. It was just a half an hour drive from Greenwood village,Co to the state park. We had to drop $7 at the entrance station. But we thought the national park permit was valid for state parks too. And drove inside. It was a huge parking lot inside with just few cars in the lot. We placed the  permit on the dashboard. And started. It had a pretty good pathway entrance which took to a visitor's center. But the visitors center was closed which usually opens at 9am.

Trail Map

            We saw few trail maps and picked up Carpenter Peak Trail, a moderate one which was 6.4 mile round trip hike of moderate-to-steep terrain. Its summit was the highest peak in the park with elevation of 7160 ft and provided a spectacular view in all directions. At the trails starting point we saw a trail direction board and warning board. We were scared seeing the board with warning sign,
'mountain lion activity in this area'. We just took a minute thinking whether to start or back up. Mean while we saw a ranger coming and spoke to him. After hearing from him, its safe to hike on this trail we started.

Sign Board on the trail

            It was 9am when we started. The trail took through a red rock formation about .4 miles and headed up into the bushes and then elevated into the pines. Several parts of the trail was nice shady. We thought it was round trip trail. We just met few peoples on the trails.

Finally when we headed up to the summit, we were searching for the trail downward. Finally we came to know that it was the end point and we had to return the same way has we came up. We stopped there for resting, had a snack and took photos. Then we started heading down hill which was pretty easy. And temperature started warming up and felt dehydrated. It was 1.45 pm when we came back to the car. It took almost 4.5 hours for us to complete the whole trip.

A snap from the summit

               A Good start for this season. Hope we'll hike more miles.

Thank You,
Dhamaya