Hike the Y

My roommate Sarah had never hiked the Y before, so I figured I should make her do it. We brought our other roommate, Melissa along too, since she hadn't done it either.  We went on october 15, 2010, at sunset.  It was beautiful.  We had lots of fun :) 

Fifth Water Hot Springs

My friend Katy came to visit me for the weekend of September 18, from Idaho, and me, her, and Emily hiked up to the Fifth Water Hot Springs.  Very fun.  The springs were way too hot for the weather though.  I think we will definitely have to go again when it's not so hot.  It was a fun hike though.  Very quick, only 5 miles roundtrip, if that.

Mt. Timpanogos

Upon my return to Utah for the school year, I was feeling quite deprived of hiking, and so I asked my roommate, Marinya, if she would be interested in hiking Mt. Timpanogos with me on September 11, 2010.  She said yes, because she's awesome, and my buddies Emily and Sydney joined us for our adventure.  The hike was 15 miles roundtrip with more than 3000 feet of incline.  It was a great hike.  Definitely satisfied my desire to hike.  It was an incredibly long hike, and we were exhausted by the end, but it was so worth it.

 Look at that mammoth of a mountain.

 Bright and early!

 There's the summit.  Still have a ways to go.

Utah Lake and the valley.

Sky Pond

So, finally, on August 18, 2010, we re-attempted Sky Pond, and made it up the waterfall!  It was such a beautiful hike, and completely worth every second.  I think this was probably my favorite hike of the season, just due to the beauty of everything around us.  It was 9.8 miles total, and had a pretty decent incline the whole, time, but was easily a day hike.  I would definitely recommend this to anyone wanting an all day hike at Rocky Mountain National Park.  Absolutely beautiful.

Mt. Galbraith

We hiked Mt. Galbraith Jeffco Open Space on August 11, 2010.  It was 4.2 miles.  And we almost died.  Okay, not quite, but Kelly did basically save my butt by pulling me back from nearly stepping on a rattle snake.  Scary right?  Yeah, it was crazy.  Good hike, nice loop, but creepy snake in the middle of the trail gave us a nice adrenaline rush.

Durango Trip!

Over the weekend of August 6, we took a trip to the Sand Dunes, Durango, and Mesa Verde.  Very fun.  The Sand Dunes were great, but it is an incredible workout to walk through that sand up to the top.  Crazy!  I think we hiked at least 3 miles or so through the sand.  Mesa Verde was very cool as well.  I loved seeing all the dwellings.  We also went on a hike called the Petroglyph Trail.  We took some awesome pictures, saw some old writings on the rock walls, and walked through some crazy Last of the Mohicans looking cliff sides.  Good stuff.  Ended up being around 4 miles.

Mt. Democrat

On August 1, 2010, we hiked our fifth fourteener, Mt. Democrat!  This was supposed to be our 6th, 7th, and 8th 14ers as well, as Mt. Cameron, Mt. Lincoln, and Mt. Bross make a convenient loop with this one, but as we closed in on our ascent to Mt. Cameron, it got really stormy, and we figured it would be in our best interest to turn around and leave them for another day.  We ended up hiking about 5.5 miles, with probably around 3000 feet of incline.  It was a good hike, but disappointing to miss out on the other three mountains.

South Valley

We hiked through South Valley Jeffco Open Space on July 30, 2010.  It was a 4.5 mile hike on the Grazing Elk Trail.  It was in the middle of the day, and ridiculously hot, but a pretty easy hike, with minimal incline.

White Ranch

We hiked 7.5 miles through White Ranch Jeffco Open Space on July 26, 2010.  We took the Belcher Hill Trail and the Longhorn Trail.  We underestimated the length of time this hike would take, and it ended up being a good thing we brought our really awesome looking head lamps because it got really dark.  It was actually a little bit creepy towards the end of it, but we got cool views of Denver as night fell.

Deer Creek Canyon

On July 22, 2010, we hiked through Deer Creek Canyon Park, in Jefferson County Open Space.  It was 6.1 miles, pretty mild incline.  Good hike though.  We took the Meadowlark Trail and the Plymouth Trail.  It was a good, easy day hike.  We had a good time.

Mt. Evans

Fourth fourteener!! We took a short break again due to some more summer travels, but then resumed with Mt. Evans on July 18, 2010.  It was a fun hike.  5.5 miles, and 2000 feet of incline.  We started at Summit Lake, and went up and around Mt. Spalding, and up to Mt. Evans.  The top was way crowded with all the cheaters who drive to the top ;-)  It was definitely a hike to remember, since I dropped my camera, and broke it.  And then fell trying to get it.  Very fun.  But Best Buy took it back, and I got a new one, and it was great!  Anyways, the hike was great.  Beautiful views of Mt. Bierstadt form the top, and a cool view of The Sawtooth connecting the two.

Grays/Torreys Peaks

On June 27, 2010, we hiked our second and third 14ers for the season. It was very exciting.    Doing the Grays and Torreys combination was 8.5 miles, and 3,600 feet of incline.  there was still a bit of snow on Torryes, but for the most part, the trails were clear of snow.  However, we started a little bit later than we should have, and just as we were getting down the mountain, some pretty ominous clouds started moving in, and we got down just in time.

Mt. Bierstadt

Our first fourteener for the season!!!  On June 18, 2010, we went up Guanella Pass to hike Mt. Bierstadt.  The top half of the mountain was still covered in lots of snow, which made for an interesting hike, but it was very fun.  It was about 7 miles roundtrip, with nearly 3000 feet of incline.  Just before the summit, it started getting really windy, and really snowy, so it was slower going but eventually got to the summit, and didn't stay long due to the wind and bitter cold.  On the way down, the snow proved to be somewhat of an obstacle,  so we decided to slide down on our butts because it was way easier than trying to hike down it.

Apex Park

On June 22, 2010, we hiked Apex Park near Heritage Square.  It was 5.6 miles, and we did it in the evening, so it was very nice outside.  We took the Enchanted Forest Trail, which wasn't really as exciting as it sounded.  Still fun though.  We were hoping to see fairies or something.

Dakota Ridge Trail

After a short hiatus due to some travels, we finally got a hike in on June 14, 2010.  We went to the Dakota Ridge Trail, across the way from Matthews Winters Park which we had done previously.  It was short, only 4 miles, but it was cool to be up on top of the hill and look over C-470 and look at Dinosaur Ridge.

 View of C 470 from the top of the hill.

View of Matthews Winters Park and Red Rocks.

Elk Meadows

We hiked Elk Meadows Jeffco Open Space on May 31, 2010.  We took the Meadow Trail to the Too Long Trail, up to the Bergen Peak Trail to the summit of Bergen Peak.  It was a long, steep hike, 10.3 miles.  It was a long day, but very worth it.  The views from the top were phenomenal.  We could see Denver, Pikes Peak, Mt. Evans, and all around.  Such a great hike, with a good length, at a slightly lower altitude than the rest of the longer hikes we usually do with the exception of Mt. Falcon.

Pikes Peak

 

Mt. Evans

The view on the way back home, looking behind us.

Three Sisters

On May 29, 2010, we hiked in Three Sisters Jeffco Open Space.  We took the Sisters Trail, Ponderosa Trail, and the Evergreen Mountain Trail.  It was 7.5 miles with a few parts with pretty decent inclines.  The rock formations were cool to see, and the meadows were pretty in the springtime.  Before this year, we hadn't done the Jeffco Open Space hikes, and we were surprised to see that they were actually good hikes, with pretty views, and some actual challenging parts.

Mt. Falcon

On May 23, 2010, Kelly and I hiked through Mt. Falcon Jefferson County Open Space.  It was a great hike.  There was a lot to see, and it was very fun.  We took the Castle Trail, the Parmalee Trail, and the Tower Trail, making for a total of 10.8 miles, which was the longest hike we'd done, not including Longs.  We got to see the Summer White House that was never finished, but planned in the mountains, and the home that had been up there but was destroyed by lightning.  Very enjoyable day.

Lair O The Bear

May 21, 2010 was Bear Creek High School's graduation.  An afterward, Kelly and I went hiking at Lair O the Bear in Jefferson County Open Space.  It was a pretty easy hike, only 4 miles with pretty minimal incline.  We took the Bruin Bluff Trail, and the Bear Creek Trail a ways through the park.  The trees were very pretty, and it was a good short hike.  My family used to go up to this park all the time to climb on the trees and have picnics.  I was surprised to see how high the river was running this year.  Lots of precipitation from last winter.

Matthews/Winters Park

We hiked through Matthews/Winters Park on May 15, 2010. We started at the north parking lot, and hiked the Village Walk (.9 mile), which junctioned with the Red Rocks Trail.  After 1.2 miles, we then turned onto the Morrison Slide which was a pretty steep hike for 1.2 miles.  We then followed the Red Rocks Trail for another 1.2 miles.  Then we turned around and headed back, this time staying on the Red Rocks Trail, making for a total of 7.8 miles.  It was a very pretty hike with good views of the city, and some nice scenery.

Trading Post Trail

On May 7, 2010, we did our first hike of this year at Red Rocks.  This hike was very easy, only 1.4 miles, but was a good first hike to get ourselves warmed up for future hikes.  The trailhead is east of the Trading Post, and loops around to the south.

Hike the Y

I hiked the Y in Provo, Utah yesterday.  It's a short hike, just under 3 miles, but that incline is killer.  Here are a few pictures from the hike.