Steam Engine

I hope everyone had a wonderful three-day weekend. I enjoyed a couple of soccer games on Saturday. I did some long neglected chores on Sunday. I did my hike on Monday. I hiked up the Newlin Creek Trail in the Wet Mountains. The trail is about 2.7 miles long. It goes up a canyon to the site of an old sawmill that was run off of a steam engine. The official trail ended at the historic site; however, there was a trail that kept going. So naturally I followed it. The feral trail climbed out of the canyon. The trail eventually disappeared, but a route had been marked by rock cairns. This led me to a high point where I had views of the surrounding valleys, canyons, and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.




Looking up








The Herrick Sawmill








A view from the top








Zoom view of the Sangre de Cristo Mtns.






Looking down on The City.

Can't Complain

Things have been a little busy for me as of late, but I can’t complain. Things have been good. Anyway this post is about a hike I did last Sunday. I climbed to the top of South Boulder Peak. (8,549 Ft.) I had done the approach trail up Shadow Canyon a couple of times, but I had not taken the spur trail to South Boulder Peak until Sunday. The view was great and the weather was perfect. I hung out on top for probably 50 minutes just soaking in the view. As I was going down, there was a rush of people going up. I’m glad I got the earlier start. Here are the pictures.

View of Boulder and Bear Peak from the top South Boulder Peak




Looking south from South Boulder Peak. The railroad is visible in Eldorado Canyon



Me thinking about some hikes for later this summer.

I Must Be In The Front Row

I did two hikes this weekend. On Saturday, I hiked the Spruce Mountain Open Space Trail. It is in Douglas County along the Palmer Divide. The trail is pretty easy. It follows along the top of a small cliff that has some nice views of Pikes Peak.



Looking towards Pikes Peak from the Greenland Overlook







View of Eagle Mtn.








Mushroom rock





Flowers are trying to come out despite it still feeling like winter on the Palmer Divide.



On Sunday, I hiked to the top of Mt. Morrison, which is the mountain above Red Rocks. It is a mountain that I have been thinking about hiking for a while. After climbing it, I wish I had done it sooner. The trailhead is less than 10 minutes from my Lakewood estates. There are several routes up Mt. Morrison. I used the trailhead near entrance 4 of Red Rocks. The trail is not well known. None of the trails are marked or have signs at their trailheads. Which is kind of cool, it keeps the number of people hiking it down. I saw several people on the trail, but it was not bad for the weekend and for being so close to Denver. The open space parks nearby are always overwhelmed on the weekend. The hike up was steep. It wasn’t the cakewalk that I had the day before. The view up top makes it worth the effort, and the weather was extremely nice.



A cactus flower near the top of Mt. Morrison




Looking towards Mt. Evans from the top of Mt. Morrison





Dinosaur Ridge and Green Mtn down below








Red Rocks from the Uecker seats.

Outlaw Man

This weekend, the American Outlaws got an official chapter in Denver. It’s about time. For those who don’t know, American Outlaws is a nation-wide supporters group for the US National Soccer Team. The British Bulldog will be home base for the Denver Chapter. We’re trying to rename it to the American Bulldog for the World Cup, but I doubt that is going to fly. It should be an interesting scene in the bar on June 12th when the US faces England in the World Cup.




Outlaw Man








As far as hiking, here are some pictures from a recent hike near Cañon City that I never got around to posting.



Inside one of the tunnels on the Tunnel Drive Trail







The trail goes through the tunnel







Arkansas River