Hiking in Colorado

4May2008

Fallen Timbers Loop

Posted by kris under: Trails.

Name of Trial: Fallen Timbers Loop
Total Distance: 5 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Hike Type: Loop
Starting Location: Trailhead at South end of Fox Run Regional Park

The Fallen Timbers Loop is part of the Fox Run Regional Park in Black Forest Colorado. I entered the park from the South side and if you keep left you will see some open fields, a playground and picnic areas, just follow the signs to the Fallen Timbers Loop trailhead.

There is not an actual trailhead sign that says “Fallen Timbers Loop” but there is a circler packing area that is where it starts. The loop is about 2 miles long and the trial is at least 6 feet wide throughout. The over all terrain is rolling hills and there is a 316 foot difference from the highest point and the lowest point in the park. It is a great walk trough the black forest and you will forget that you are over ten miles away from the mountains. There are spots were you can see Pikes Peak through the trees and one spot that has a perfect view of the mountains with a bench there for your enjoyment.

This is a multiuse tail so I saw many horses, bikers and hikers. Like the New Santa Fe Trail, there are some great signs along the path that inform you about the area as well as the plant and wildlife. It makes for a great walk as well as very informative.

I did not just stick to the loop because there are a lot more trails in the park, so I continued around the whole park and saw some of the other things that this park has to offer. Along with the picnic areas and playground they have a few ponds that are great for walking around or just sitting there and enjoying the view. Also by continuing along the tails, I was able to get a good 4.5 mile hike in before I got back to my car. If you hike it at a good pace you can get a nice workout.

This was a great trail and park that would be great for people of all ages who like hiking in Colorado.

To see photos that I took while on my hike, visit my Photo Gallery.

29April2008

Heizer Trail

Posted by kris under: Trails.

Name of Trial: Heizer Trail
Total Distance: 5 miles
Difficulty: Hard
Hike Type: Out and back

Today we hiked Heizer Trail which is just up Highway 24 and take the same exit as you would to take the Pikes Peak Highway. The signs for the trail are a little small and do not look like the normal park and recreation sings but once you take the exit you should be able to find your way. Also it is good to note that parking is very limited for the trail, only 4-5 cars can fit at the foot of the tail at most.

This is a beautiful hike through the pine trees with many opportunities to see the hills and valleys throughout the area. It is a hard hike with many steep sections but I was able to keep a good pace and keep myself moving. Most of the terrain is a typical forest floor and some spots a little rocky and gravelly. Towards the second half of the trail, there was still some snow on the trail which you had to maneuver around. The trail is only about a foot wide and in some sections saplings have gown close to the trail so it is a little tight.

The hike up is about 2.5 miles to get to the top of the mountain (or at lest before the trail starts going down again) and you gain a lot of altitude so it is quite a workout. On the way down it is a little treacherous in spots, where hiking poles could be helpful. You have to be a little quick on your feet so that you don’t trip and fall. There are a few place where the drop off of the edge is quick steep and rocky to you have to be careful.

Over all, the roughly 5 mile hike was a hard assent but there was great scenery and the view from the top was gorgeous.

To see photos that I took while on my hike, visit my Photo Gallery.

27April2008

New Santa Fe Trail

Posted by kris under: Trails.

Name of Trial: New Santa Fe Trail
Total Distance: 6.3 miles
Elevation Gain: 230 feet
Difficulty: Easy
Hike Type: Out and back
Starting Location: Trailhead at Castlewood Canyon State Park.
Downloads: Map and Track Points

Today I hiked the New Santa Fe Trail which is part of the Palmer Lake Regional Recreation Area. I started hiking at the northern most point of trail at Palmer Lake. The trail was about 8 feet wide, so it is great for hiking, biking and horseback riding. It was a slight decline which made for an easy hike that is great for family hiking or for a nice Sunday afternoon.

The trail follows the railroad tracks which allowed me to see some of the trains that came from Colorado Springs and Denver. This was very interesting to see the trains up close while hiking. I saw three trains during my hour and a quarter long hike. It also had some great views of the mountains and some red rock views. One thing that I found a little surprising was not being able to see Pikes Peak during the first mile of the hike, and when I was able to see it I was only able to see the very top of it.

One of the other interesting features of this tails was the placards along the path. Each one had some kind of fact about the wilderness that you are walking through or how the area of Palmer Lake came. One of the placards talked about how important the railroad was for the town and that is why they call it Santa Fe Trail because of the Santa Fe railway. There also are some benches a long the way, where you can sit and enjoy the scenery.

The over all length of the trail is 14 miles one way, but I stopped at the next parking spot for the tail that is a little over two miles south of the parking lot a Palmer Lake. This made for a nice four and a half mile hike on a beautiful Colorado day. It is days like these that remind me why I enjoy spring time in Colorado.

To see photos that I took while on my hike, visit my Photo Gallery.

22April2008

St. Mary’s Falls

Posted by kris under: Trails.

Name of Trial: St. Mary’s Falls
Total Distance: 7.5 miles
Elevation Gain: 2000 feet
Difficulty: Moderate to Hard
Hike Type: Out and back
Starting Location: End of Gold Camp Rd.

Today my hiking club decided to go to St. Mary’s Falls Trail which is part of Pike National Forest. It is a little ways into the mountain but it is a great hike. You start out by hiking along the closed portion of Gold Camp Rd. The road is pretty gravely but not a very steep incline. After about a mile on this road you take a trail on the right to St. Mary’s Falls. The trail starts off with a moderate incline containing a few steeper parts. It is a really nice trail that meanders along a small creek which makes for a very pleasant hike. The tail continues to go strait along the creek for about one mile and then the trial starts to have switchbacks. At this point the trail becomes steeper and very gravely. It does make for a more challenging hike but there is a great view waiting at the top.

At one point you have the option to go to the base of the falls or continue on to the top of the falls. We chose to go towards the top, but instead of going all the way to the top we took a detour to a saddle portion called Pebble Beach. This area did not have many trees and looked like a pebble beach (go figure). We then finished off our hike by hiking to the top of a rock outcropping which gave us a great view of Colorado Springs and the mountains around us. You could see every point of interest in Colorado Springs from there and even way out east.

From here you can hike back down the way you came or head to the top of the falls. I found it a little difficult staying balanced on the gravely areas of the trail on the way down. It was nice once we got back to the creek but the last bit on the road was a little boring and we just want to get back to the car. I did not like the gravel areas of the trail, but the creek was nice and the view at the top was spectacular.

20April2008

Edna Mae Bennet Nature Trail and Templeton Trail

Posted by kris under: Trails.

Name of Trial: Edna Mae Bennet Nature Trail
Total Distance: 2.5 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Hike Type: Loop
Starting Location: Palmer Park

Yesterday my wife and I hiked some of the trails at Palmer Park. We started off of Edna Mae Bennet Nature Trail and did a little excursion on the Templeton Trail. That start of Edna Mae is a little challenge especially for bicyclist, because of the many steps and some large rocks that are about 2-3 feet high. The over all train was rocky with few trees and a lot of shrubs. These trails reminded me of hiking in Mesa Arizona, with spars vegetation, even cactus in some places. There were some great views of the city as well as Pikes Peek. Over all it was a challenging hike in some places but a little to open for me. I like hiking more in the forest areas.

Templeton Trail was more flat and not very challenging once you were on it. Once again it was very open and felt more like dessert hiking, epically since the sun was out and it was in the mid to upper 70s. There is some parking on the top so if you did not want to make the trek trough part of Edna Mae Bennet Nature Trail then you could start there.

I did like the labeling on the Palmer Park sighs because they did tell you the difficulty lever using the green circle, blue square, and black diamond classifications. This helped my wife and I pick the right hike for us.

15April2008

Section 16

Posted by kris under: Trails.

Name of Trial: Section 16
Total Distance: 5.4 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Hike Type: Loop
Downloads: Map and Track Points

At Agilent there is a hiking club that meets every Tuesday to hike different trails around Colorado Springs. Today we hiked Section 16 which is a great trail that is about 5.5 miles long and winds through some great forest areas and had spectacular views of the mountains and Colorado Springs. It was I nice hike that had a good set of steep sections that were followed by some nice gradual inclines.

One of the other reasons why I stopped hiking was because I have been having knee problems since midway through college. This made it hard for me to go running, which is something that I was very passionate about in high school and part of college. I really missed it a lot but I feel like hiking is something that I can do and still enjoy. I mentioned my knee problems to some of the people that I was hiking with and they said that they have knee problems as well. One of them told me that if you start to fell pain in your knees, stop and just let your leg hang for a bit. This helps get circulation back into your knee, which is under a lot of strain while you are hiking so it does not get the blood it needs to help with joint problems. He said that he has used this method many times and it works. Also when you are descending on a trail, if you take smaller steps it help to put less strain on your knees.

It was really nice to hear that other people are going through what I am going through and to hear some thing that might help me out. This will make it easier for me to get back into hiking and other outdoor activities.