June 21, 2010 I took advantage of the longest day of the year to take a short walk in early evening, starting at 6pm. Here's our summer house where the hike starts, with the foothills in the background.
The trailhead is only a 2 minute walk from the house. First you walk one block this way, then go right one block.
There's a sign here, but if I didn't know what I was looking for it would have been hard to find the obscure trailhead. The main trailhead for the Viewpoint Trial is actually at a park a few blocks away, but this one is more convenient.
The trailhead! This is my third hike starting here. The first was a 6.25 mile out-and-back to the top of Flatiron 1, and the second a 14 mile loop to the top of Green Mountain, but I didn't take my camera either time.
Surprisingly you get amenities right away.
In just a minute or two you get your first views.
Red Rocks, a cool formation I'll have to visit soon.
Early on you're not so high and can't see much.
The trail switchbacks up this hill, which is steeper than it looks in the picture. You get a good workout right from the start.
Looking down a little higher up.
Toward the Red Rocks.
Downtown Boulder.
The trail continues.
A view down the foothills. Boulder is right at the edge of the plains and where the mountains start to uplift--a perfect location.
CU
At one mile you reach the aptly-named Panorama Point. The top of Flatiron 1 can be seen in the distance.
Views from Panorama Point.
The trail continues and heads for the first of many rock formations you'll encounter.
Flatiron 1 in the distance.
Closeup. Many areas are closed for raptor breeding, and it's cool I seem to have captured one here.
A restroom along the way and a rock pile.
You can see from the chalk marks that people boulder here.
I ran into a deer on the trail.
Here's the mother and kid nearby.
The family together.
Getting rocky again.
Another bouldering area.
If I can't find someone to climb with, I can always stay in shape by bouldering here, less than a 1.5 mile walk from the house.
What goes up must come down...it was dismaying the first time I took this trail to realize I was going to lose all the elevation I'd gained.
The flatirons again.
Down and down.
Nice wide open spaces I'm heading toward.
You go all the way down to the road.
Looking back on the rocky area.
The only bad part of the trail was a couple sections with a stream running down them. Very hard to avoid the mud here.
Glenn Canyon Trailhead. Most people drive here, but I can walk! You can also take surface streets if you don't want the up and down.
I start out on the Baseline Trail.
A cool rock formation--I'll have to find out what this is.
Here's a confusing sign. The right one seems to be pointing left and the left one right, but it's not completely clear. What's more the Ski Jump Trail is unnamed on my map. I went right which turned out to be correct.
Flatiron 1
Flatirons 1,2,3 from right to left.
A closeup of the rock. There's an 8 pitch 5 star 5.6 route up Flatiron 1 which I'd love to do sometime.
A cairn garden.
There are well-marked trails to the base of each of the flatirons, for those who want to climb them. I'll at least hike those trails to check them out. The Royal Arch trail itself is great--over 1000 feet of climb (with some steep downhills) in about a mile.
Note the raptor closures, which includes the entire Flatiron 3. It lasts until July 31, our last day in Boulder, but it seems sometimes they lift the closure early. Flatiron 3 features an 8 pitch 5 star 5.4 climb I'd love to do.
A big pile of scree. I'm glad I don't have to go up that.
Flatiron 3 from the trail.
Sentinel Pass. Only 0.23 miles to go, but what a 0.23 miles! First a very steep downhill, and then a very steep uphill.
Here's the downhill.
After the uphill, the arch finally comes into view.
There were a half dozen or so college students hanging out here enjoying the views.
I went down the Mesa Trail and finally you start to get an overview of the flatirons.
The final Bluebell Road leading to Chautauqua.
View of the foothills to the north, with Red Rocks visible.
The ranger hut at Chautauqua, where I drank some much-needed water.
Chautauqua is a cool place which features classical music concerts in July. This year the theme is Brahms so I'll be be able to see both his piano concertos performed here.
Flatirons 1-5 from right to left.
I finished by walking on streets to get home. This is Grant Place.
Grant Place deadends at a cemetery.
You turn left toward the foothills and make your way back.
The elementary school on 7th Street.
A nice 6.6 mile loop with 2400 feet of climbing. It took me 2.5 hours at a leisurely pace stopping to take all the photos.
