The Indian Peaks Wilderness, northwest of Denver by only 55 miles (25 west of Boulder) is practically the Front Range’s backyard.  Touching RMNP’s southern border, this gem of an area offers hikes and vistas that rival its neighbor without nearly the crowds and chaos that can exist within the Park.  That’s not to say the Peaks don’t get crowded (they do), or that they’re some hidden secret (the $9 parking permit at Brainard Lake should tip you off, but at least it lasts five days), but to many (certainly non Coloradoans) they remain unexplored.  We recently just ‘discovered’ the area ourselves, and are just starting to get to know all that is there.

 Brainard Lake is probably the most well know point of entry into the Indian Peaks (again, the nine bucks – not that I’m bitter).  There are numerous ways to get there; the most obvious from the metro area is through downtown Boulder, west on Canyon and fifteen miles or so to the funky town of Nederland.  Pick up the Peak-to-Peak Highway north and in about twelve miles it’s obvious.  The access road lasts about five miles and sits above 10,000 feet, closing at some point in the fall for obvious reasons at the ranger station where, if open, you will pay nine bucks (I’m kidding now).  Brainard is the first lake to be passed, but drive further to the Long Lake parking area if you can – space can be limited.  It’s only ½ mile between the lakes, so if there’s nothing there just go back to Brainard and hoof it.

 The lakes themselves are a worthy destination, surrounded by 12,000 foot+ peaks that are partially glaciated year round and open to canoeing and fishing.  There are many hikes around Brainard, Long, and Mitchell lakes that are flat, mellow and suitable for anyone.  Lake Isabelle is about two miles away and well worth the 600 feet or so of vertical to get there, 

crossing streams and waterfalls on some of the most well maintained trails we’ve ever seen.

 More ambitious hikes abound, of course, and most of the summits in the area can be obtained non-technically.  Mt’s Navajo, Shoshoni, Pawnee, and Toll to name a few are all accessible from the Lakes.  All are just a smidge below 13,000 feet (folks obsess over 14ers too much anyways).  On our first trip to the area, we chose Pawnee.  Arriving in the area with no real objective other than to explore, the trail up Pawnee was pretty obvious from Lake Isabelle.  It was early enough, so we went for it.

 The hike itself is 9 miles round trip and well over 2,000 vertical, so it’s a workout.  The views are endless as you climb above tree line, down to the lakes you just left, and north/west to the national park and the Never Summers (another spot dying to explore)…  Many of the summits here can be linked and even turned into loops, but, as we were new to the area we stayed conservative and did an out and back.

 We’ve been back to the area several times over the past few weeks – unlike RMNP you can bring the pooch too!  We’re getting to know Nederland a litter better as well – these posts always have to end with a beer (no?), and after a long day Boulder just seems too far…

This ride is kind of off the beaten track (I did it on the way back to Denver from Steamboat), and it falls into that jeep road, not a technical mountain bike trail but you'll want to be on a mountain bike to do it category.  But if you're looking for a good workout, solitude (I did not see one other bike, car, etc.), and great 360 degree views I'd recommend this one, it was a blast.

To get to Dice Hill from Kremmling drive 10 miles south (27 miles north of Silverhorne) on Hwy 9 and head West on Spring Creek Rd, a paved and then dirt road that's easily driveable in any car, for 6 miles until you see the junction for Dice Hill.  There's only room for a few cars but as stated above I was completely by myself.

The first mile is downhill, something to remember as that hill will be the last one you climb coming back.  The next 2.5 miles are at a decent grade going up, almost 1000 feet of vertical gain over this stretch, but all on a jeep road, nothing technical.  A cattle guard wll be your indication that this part of the climb (the hardest) is almost over.  When you reach the campsites the road evens out quite a bit and you are riding along the west side of Dice Hill, and even though you are below 10,000 feet and therefore the treeline, the views of the Gore Range are incredible.  Ride for another 1.5 miles or so as the road curves to the east before two short steep sections heading south (100 yds or less each) to the top of Dice Hill.  Now your views are to the east and no less remarkable.  The road eventually dead ends so I turned around at the summit and retraced my steps back to the car, there are a few singletrack offshoots you can take along the way but I did not have a map for them.  10.5 total miles, just under 2 hours ride time.  A random trail but one worth checking out if you are near Silverthorne or Kremmling.

Feeling the need to beat the Front Range August heat this past weekend, we headed up to Rocky Mountain National Park and decided to give Hallett Peak (12,713’) a go.  Hallett is one of the park’s more distinctive summits, rising from the western shore of Bear Lake.  Basically a clean hunk of granite with the top seemingly shaved off – the peak had always captured our attention whenever visiting the lakes region of the park.  Kind of begging to be climbed, really.

 The trailhead is at Bear Lake, on of the park’s most popular areas, nine miles in from the Estes Park entrance.  An early start is requisite for two reasons:  Given the altitude, typical rules apply about afternoon storms and lightning – aim to summit and be down below tree line before noon.  Second, the crowds round RMNP in August get fairly nuts.  You have zero chance of getting parking at the lake much past nine (there is a larger parking area four miles away and a shuttle bus, but who wants to deal with that?).

 In all, the hike to the summit is five miles one way, with a vertical of about 3200 feet.  Certainly a workout, but most of the trail is a very moderate grade and does not feel that taxing.  We set off about 7:00 a.m. from the north side of the lake, following the trail to Flattop Mountain.  The first few miles are well shaded by aspen, spruce and fir trees – very pretty and mellow, with lots of great views down to the lakes below and the peaks above.  Long’s, that venerated 14er, seems always to be looming over you.  Shortly, you are above tree line.  It’s about 4.4 miles to the summit of Flattop Mountain, which is largely invisible from anywhere below and predictably flat.  A little dull and plodding here, but what comes next is worth it.  We crossed the Tyndall Glacier, a super steep wall of snow and ice to the left of the trail in between Flattop and Hallett.  As we walked past, two brave souls

 were strapping skis on their feet and getting ready to drop in. 

That’s Colorado for ya…

 The last .6 miles of the trail are certainly the hardest.  Basically a class 2 scree climb marked by cairns and a little tricky to follow.  It goes by quickly though, and soon you are at Hallett’s summit and the views are pretty epic in all directions.

  We chowed down on Clif Bars, snapped a few photos, and headed down the way we came.  Even though it was downhill, the hike home felt a whole lot longer – probably due to the beers we knew were waiting in Estes…

 Estes Park is a quaint little mountain town, predictably a bit touristy.  Plenty of restaurants line the main drag, but we always seem to end up on the back deck at Grubsteak.  Good wings, good burgers (regular, elk, Yak, Turkey, wild boar, or ‘beefalo’), and yes, beer.  Perhaps our favorite hot weather, post hike brew is Long’s Peak Raspberry Wheat - brewed right there in Estes. 

 Allow about three hours to summit Hallett at a pretty good clip, and a bit less to get down.  How much time you spend at Grubsteak is your call.

The Flatirons Vista trailhead on the west side of Rte 93 just South of the 128 turnoff to Broomfield provides some great mountain biking options for the not yet hardcore rider.  The loop we did described below was just over 8 miles and took us a little over 90 minutes of total riding. 

From the parking lot you can take any of the trails (Flatiron Vista North/South or Prairie Vista); each take you on a mellow 1+ miles to a gate that takes you to a number of trail options to the west and north.  We followed the beginning of the Dowdy Draw trail, the only remotely technical part of this particular ride, just a a bit of a rocky downhill stretch of less than a mile.  We then headed left/West to the Spring Brook Loop, which we tackled clockwise (South to North).  The beginning of the loop had a nice steady climb through a pine forest.  At the top those looking for a longer ride could continue on Goshawk Ridge; we just continued along the loop, slighly downhill with a few switchbacks that led us back to the Dowdy Draw/Spring Brook junction.  In hindsight it probably would have been more enjoyable to retrace our steps back to the car but we continued north and then east along a very nice trail, slightly uphill, that left us out on 93 about a mile north of the car.  This part of 93 is not exactly bike friendly, hardly any shoulder, cars and trucks going very fast, and an unwelcome end of ride climb to combine with the fear of getting run off the road.  Other than the 93 part it was a great ride that I would revisit.

Due to some unseasonably late snow runoffs in late June we set our hiking sights at lower altitudes during our last trip to Aspen and were not at all disappointed.

Our first hike started right out of town, a 2 1/2 hour loop starting at the Hunters Creek Trailhead on the north end of town near the Aspen Art Museum and ending more or less in the same place after coming down Smugglers Mountain.  The trail starts climbing at a nice shaded pitch up parallel to Hunters Creek, crossing it several times over well built bridges and allowing for spectacular places to stop and check out the rushing creek.  After a little less than an hour and roughly 1000 feet of elevation gain the trail empties out into a beautiful open meadow and gives the hiker/biker several options, well laid out by clear and well placed maps.  We chose to climb a little more up Smugglers Mountain, taking Smugglers Loop until it left us at the top of the fire road up Smugglers Mountain which is where we descended.  While this part of the hike was exposed and a little more crowded it did have amazing views back south of town and of the ski mountains.

The next day we headed to Snowmass to hike the Rim Trail, a popular trail for bikers as well but not terribly crowded even on a Sunday.  We started the hike at the trailhead on Divide Road, about 1/4 mile past the Conoco station on the right hand side of Brush Creek Road, pretty close to Snowmass Village but on the other side of the road.  The "parking lot" at the trailhead only allows for 5-6 cars but the Village/Mall parking is only a short walk away.  The Rim trail climbs steadily for about 30-40 minutes on a smooth trail that in hindsight would have been perfect for biking (next time!), more or less summitting at a man made yin/yang with some great 360 degree views of all of Snowmass.  The trail then heads North along a sort of ridge, wonderful views of Snowmass to the right/East, and Wildcat Reservoir to the left/West.  After about 90 plus minutes total the trail leaves you out at a residential road (Sinclair Road).  You can continue on Rim Trail, which I assume continues North and parallel to Brush Creek Road; we chose to walk down Sinclair Road, about 15 minutes of walking took us not only back to Brush Creek Road but to a bus stop for the a free bus that took us back to our car.  (The buses supposedly stop every 20 minutes and we caught ours within 5 minutes of getting to the stop but you may want to check into schedules, worst case you're walking about 30 minutes uphill back to the trailhead or Village.) 

One great apres-hike find we stumbled upon that evening was the tasting room at the relatively new Aspen Brewing Company, on 304 E Hopkins Ave near the corner of Monarch.  The storefront is easy to miss, you climb a flight of stairs to the tap room, which is not at all one of those faux microbrew pubs, there is no food, just a small room with (that night at least) a good guitar player, and a small attached deck.  We got a flight of  seven beers for $10 (in Aspen!), five of which were Aspen Brewing Co beers and two others from other local breweries, which I very much respected as a gutsy move.  The Aspen beers stood out, the music and service were fantastic, just a great overall vibe.