...as friends from Tennessee would call it....but, we Coloradoans know it as hiking...I got a call from Cam on Monday from school wanting to know if I wanted to do something together on Tues, our common day off...so, I was thinking something 'light' in the area of perhaps a plane flight or even a round of golf....he countered with "let's go hiking"....(something sedate I hoped)...he told me to Google Bear Peak and I immediately discovered he was wanting to climb a 'difficult' rated peak outside of Boulder, CO. So, I had a weak moment and agreed to take on the challenge. When I arrived home from the adventure, I reminded Teri she needs to save me from myself, at times, and today would have been a great time!
This was the view of the beast from the parking lot. Cameron 'thought' that was the peak (yeah, the tallest 'triangle' knob in the photo). I looked at him like he was on crack and was wondering where our college tuition money was going. The parking lot is at 6000 ft, but you descend 500 feet ,and then start the climb to 8400 feet....We headed up.....and up......and up.....and up....
Hummm, our 1st trailhead warning....my college degree and an opportunity to apply it right here with this warning sign...ah what the heck, it's only a Bachelor's degree, so we headed up....2.5 hrs later we were still the only people on the trail, guess all of the smart CU grads went up the alternate route...
Our beautiful red clay....
Now that my friends is a Texas-sized slab of Colorado rock-straight up!
We are at 7600 ft, headed for 8400....at this point I wasn't sure if I wanted to finish it....Cam reminded me "Dad,you finished a marathon"...I reminded him "Cam, that was 3 years and 25 pounds ago"...we continued huffing....
Looking now to the West and our gorgeous Rockies...at about 8000 feet...this is where 'almost 50 year old' men look out in the distance and convince themselves they could easily be rescued by a helicopter...
Cameron in a jovial mood as we are within 300 feet of the Summit, but the most difficult terrain as it is all loose flatstone the rest of the way up.....drinking alcohol prior to ascending not recommended..
ARRIVED!! and check out the view as you look back to the East...we thank our California friends for sending us their haze from their fires...
If you enlarge this photo, you can see the large building immediately straight down toward the meadow....down their is where my Chevy pickup awaits me to return me home...
This is our initial descent back, yeah, a bit dangerous! We took different route back, dropped 2400 feet in about 90 minutes time. Our calves were sore that we actually looked forward when the trail went slightly upward.
Headed to the grocery store..................til next time........
This is our initial descent back, yeah, a bit dangerous! We took different route back, dropped 2400 feet in about 90 minutes time. Our calves were sore that we actually looked forward when the trail went slightly upward.
Headed to the grocery store..................til next time........
