Elevation Gain: About 600 ft.
Time: 8:15 am - 11:00 am
Weather: Cold, crisp, sunny Colorado December morning giving way to a decent snow storm by noon.
Not sure how to count this hike. My last hike was three days earlier in Oklahoma, and I am stopping over in Denver to visit some really great friends for a few days. The mountains here in Colorado are ridiculous. I landed early Wednesday morning, and my friend had me in his car as the sun was rising. The morning was clear, and I literally heard the mountains calling my name.
Now a little about my friend, he and I have been really great friends since first grade. He has a beautiful wife and son, and I am so happy he gets to be a part of my 52 hikes.
My friend and I were going to hike Friday, and I had no problem considering that the 18th hike. Unfortunately, the forecast in Denver was calling for snow Thursday afternoon and very cold temperatures all day Friday. My friend and I decided to get to the park right when it opened at 8am and try to beat the bad weather.
We got to the trailhead with no problem and began our hike on the South Rim Trail. The weather was incredible. It was chilly but sunny. As I geared up at the trailhead, I used my phone to record our hike. I had downloaded a sweet app for my Android phone a few days ago that uses the phone's GPS and Google maps to record your movements. My phone was about to die shortly after we started because, as readers to this blog already know, I am terrible about making sure my electronic devices are charged and/or with me on the hike. It did record the first 35 minutes, and you can see the track here.
The hike was beautiful and a lot of fun. My friend and I were really stoked to be out, and we were loving the fact that we were out early and walking. We had spectacular views and could see all the way to Denver around 8:45am. By 9 am, we could no longer see Denver as the snow storm was circling back and dumping on Denver. We could see the clouds moving our way, but the sun was still shinning brightly in the southern sky. We ended up turning off the South Rim trail and began hiking up to Carpenter's Peak around 9:20 am.
We said at 10:15 we would turn around and head back down. We made it a good way up the trail, and at 10 we stopped and had a snack. At this time, the sky was completely covered with clouds. It was really getting cold, and we bundled back up for our hike back. We came back down and were at the car by 11 am. As I started to take off my gaiters and boots, it began to snow.
Orchid: Hiking with my good friend, sharing a walk in the backcountry.
Onion: Short hike due to the weather.
Picture:
Google Map
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